How To Paginate & Print A Booklet

How to paginate and print a double sided booklet in InDesign.

First of all make sure that your documents’ page number is a multiple of four, then chose Print Booklet from the drop down menu.

In the first window that appears ensure you have the Print Blank Printer Spreads box ticked and the Booklet Type menu is 2-up Saddle Stitch.

Go to the preview window and you’ll see that the document doesn’t fit the paper size, this is rectified by clicking through to Print Settings...

Before rectifying the page orientation make sure you click the Print Blank Pages box, it has to be ticked in all the dialogue boxes.

Select Setup from the side menu and then slect your paper size (remember that an A5 portrait page needs to be printed on A4 landscape).

You should now have a print preview that shows your booklet fitting inside the print dimensions. There may still be an error message, but as long as there’s no red overlap outside of the print area it wont affect the print out.

When scrolling through the print preview you should see that the total of the two page numbers will always equal the total page number, plus one.

After making sure that your pages are oriented the right way and in the correct order select Printer from the Print Settings box

Select Two-Sided printing and Short-Edge Binding.

If you’re using a different paper stock than what comes standard in the printer select Tray 1 (Manual) from the Paper Feed drop down menu. Give everything a final check, press Print and rejoice in your lovely double sided booklet.