Lay out PDF pages for booklets and N-up printing
Two-up, four-up or saddle-stitch booklet order on A4 or Letter sheets.
Free: 3 jobs per UTC day, 25 MB per file. PDF exports include a visible Made with Bindery watermark. Pro exports clean PDFs.
Prefer the full studio? Open Booklet & N-up PDF in the app →
Bindery places original PDF pages onto new print sheets while preserving vector sharpness. Choose two pages per landscape sheet, four pages per portrait sheet, or booklet mode for saddle-stitch front-and-back ordering with automatic blank-page padding.
Booklet output prepares page order and placement; printer duplex and short-edge settings still depend on the physical printer. Test a small copy before a long print run. Bindery runs entirely in your browser — your file is never uploaded, so there is nothing to delete from a server afterwards.
How it works
- Drop the PDF and open Booklet & N-up
- Choose 2-up, 4-up or Booklet plus A4 or Letter
- Download the imposed PDF and test the printer settings
Imposition, in plain terms
A printer prints sheets; a reader reads pages. Imposition is the step that places pages onto sheets so that, once printed and folded, they read in order. Two-up puts two portrait pages side by side on a landscape sheet — handouts, review copies. Four-up puts a 2×2 grid on a portrait sheet — thumbnails, contact sheets, draft reading. Booklet is the interesting one: it pairs the first page with the last, the second with the second-last, and so on, so a stack of duplex-printed sheets folded down the middle becomes a saddle-stitched booklet with the pages in the right order.
How Bindery builds the sheets
Each original page is embedded on the new sheet as a page object, scaled to fit its slot, so text and line art stay vector-sharp and the file stays small. Booklet mode pads the document with blank pages to a multiple of four — the arithmetic of folded sheets — and orders the pairs for front-and-back printing. Choose A4 or Letter sheets to match your paper.
Duplex settings live in the printer, not the PDF. Most booklets need “flip on short edge”; if your first test comes out with every other sheet upside down, that setting is the reason. Print two sheets first, fold them, and check before running a whole batch.
Imposing in the browser versus uploading
| Booklet & N-up | Bindery | Upload-based tools |
|---|---|---|
| Where the file is processed | In your browser tab, on your device | Uploaded to the service’s servers |
| Output | Vector pages placed on sheets; no rasterising | Varies |
| Modes | 2-up, 4-up, saddle-stitch booklet on A4 or Letter | Often booklet only or N-up only |
| What exists afterwards | The original and the new file, both on your device | A server copy until the retention window ends |
| Works offline | Yes, once the app has loaded | No |
Before you impose
- Make every page the same size first with Resize; mixed sizes scale unevenly in the slots.
- Add page numbers before imposing — numbers belong to pages, not sheets.
- Sending the file to a print shop instead of printing yourself? They usually impose themselves; give them a PDF/X file with bleed rather than a booklet.
Questions people ask
What is N-up printing?
N-up places multiple source pages on one physical sheet. Two-up uses two pages per landscape sheet; four-up uses a two-by-two grid.
How does booklet mode order pages?
It rearranges pages into saddle-stitch pairs and pads the document to a multiple of four so folded, duplex-printed sheets read in normal order.
Does the output stay sharp?
Yes. Original PDF pages are embedded as page objects rather than screenshots, so text and vector graphics remain crisp.
How many pages can a saddle-stitched booklet have?
Any multiple of four works arithmetically — Bindery pads to it — but paper thickness limits folding. Around 40–60 pages of ordinary office paper is the practical ceiling before the inner pages creep outwards; beyond that, print in sections.
Why is the page order in the file strange?
Because sheets, not pages, are in order. Sheet one carries the last page and the first page side by side; that is correct for folding. View the imposed file as sheets, not as reading order.
Can I make a booklet from a landscape document?
Booklet mode pairs portrait pages on landscape sheets. For a landscape source, use 2-up on a portrait sheet, or rotate the pages first and test with a couple of sheets.