How to print a PDF as a booklet
Event programs, recipe books, small manuals, zines: a folded booklet looks far more finished than a stack of stapled sheets, and any double-sided printer can make one.
Why the pages must be reordered
In a booklet folded down the middle, the outer sheet carries the cover, page 2, the second-to-last page and the back cover. Printing pages 1, 2, 3… in order and folding them does not work. Make a booklet calculates that order for you and places two pages per side.
The printer settings that matter
Double-sided printing, flipping on the SHORT edge (the long-edge option turns every other side upside down), and actual size or 100 % — never “fit to page”. An A4 sheet in landscape gives an A5 booklet.
Thick booklets
More than about 15 sheets do not fold well and the middle pages stick out. Split the document into signatures of 4 or 5 sheets, fold each one, stack them and staple or sew them together.
Before printing
Add page numbers if the document has none, and remember that the total is rounded up to a multiple of four with blank pages at the end — a good place for notes or a back cover.