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One PDF — made into a booklet in your browser, never uploadedAbout making a booklet from a PDF
A booklet is a small book made from folded paper: you print on both sides of a few sheets, fold the stack in the middle and staple it on the fold. Programs for zines, church bulletins, wedding programs and school readers all do this.
The hard part is the page order. On an 8-page booklet, the first sheet carries pages 8 and 1 on the front and 2 and 7 on the back. This tool works out that order for you, puts two pages side by side on each sheet, and adds blank pages at the end when the page count is not a multiple of 4.
Your pages are copied as they are — text, lines and logos stay sharp and selectable, not turned into pictures. The PDF is never uploaded.
Features
- Booklet page order — worked out for you, for any number of pages
- Blank pages added — the page count is rounded up to a multiple of 4, with the blanks at the end
- Letter, A4 or twice the page size — print on the paper you have, or keep the pages at 100%
- Right-to-left binding — for Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese manga and other books that open on the right
- Sharp text — pages stay vector, so they print as crisp as the original
- Sheet plan and preview — see which pages land on which sheet, and how sheet 1 looks
- Printing steps — including page lists for printers that print on one side only
How booklet printing works
Each sheet of paper holds four pages: two on the front and two on the back. When the sheets are stacked and folded, the middle sheet holds the middle pages.
| Sheet | Front (left · right) | Back (left · right) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 · 1 | 2 · 7 |
| 2 | 6 · 3 | 4 · 5 |
That is the order for an 8-page booklet. With 13 pages, three blank pages are added to make 16, so the booklet uses 4 sheets.
To print it, choose Print on both sides and Flip on short edge. The sheets are landscape, so the short edge is the one the printer turns the paper over on. With Flip on long edge, every back side comes out upside down.
Print at 100% (Actual size). If the printer "fits" the page, the middle fold moves and the booklet is not centred.
Good to know
- Each page is fitted into its half of the sheet and centred, so pages of different sizes all work
- Turned (rotated) pages are kept the right way up
- Filled-in form fields are locked into the pages first, so the answers print; comments and links are not copied
- A password-protected PDF must be unlocked first with Unlock PDF
- Your settings are remembered in this browser
Common uses
- Zines and comics — fold a few sheets of Letter or A4 into a small magazine
- Church bulletins and service programs — one or two sheets, folded
- Wedding and event programs
- School readers, worksheets and short stories for children
- Manuals and guides to keep next to a machine or in a bag
- Recipe booklets, menus and poetry chapbooks
Frequently asked questions
How do I print a PDF as a booklet?
Upload the PDF here and click Download booklet. Open the new PDF, press Print, choose Print on both sides and Flip on short edge, landscape, at 100%. Fold the stack in half and staple it on the fold.
Why are there blank pages at the end?
Every folded sheet holds exactly four pages, so a booklet always has 4, 8, 12, 16… pages. When your PDF has, say, 13 pages, three blank pages are added at the end to make 16. If you want the blank pages somewhere else, add them to your PDF first with Organize PDF or Merge PDF.
Should I choose "flip on long edge" or "flip on short edge"?
Short edge. The booklet sheets are landscape, and a landscape sheet must be turned over on its short side. With "long edge" the back of every sheet prints upside down.
My printer cannot print on both sides. Can I still make a booklet?
Yes. The tool shows two lists of page numbers. Print the first list (the fronts), put the printed stack back in the tray, then print the second list (the backs). Try it with one sheet first, because every printer feeds paper a little differently.
How many pages can a stapled booklet have?
With ordinary 80 g/m² (20 lb) paper, about 10 sheets (40 pages) fold and staple well. A thicker booklet is hard to fold, and the inner pages stick out at the edge. For a long PDF, cut it into parts with Split PDF and make a booklet from each part.
Will the text still be sharp?
Yes. Each page is placed on the sheet as it is, not as a picture, so text and lines print as sharp as in the original. The pages are made smaller to fit half a sheet — about 65% for Letter pages on Letter paper, 71% for A4 on A4. Choose Twice the page size to keep them at 100% (then print on Tabloid or A3, or let a print shop do it).
How to use it
- Click Click to upload, or drop your PDF onto the box
- Choose the paper you will print on (Letter, A4, or twice the page size)
- Choose the binding: left for most books, right for books that open on the right
- Check the sheet plan and the preview of sheet 1
- Click Download booklet, then print it on both sides — Flip on short edge, landscape, 100%
- Fold the stack in half and staple it on the fold
