PDF Booklet Maker
Rearrange pages into print-ready booklet spreads. Blank pages are added where needed, and you set the duplex flip edge.
Select a PDF fileor drop it anywhere on this page, or paste
Opens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
PDF Booklet Maker, free and private
Make a booklet from a PDF that reads in the right order once you print it double-sided and fold it in half. In an 8-page booklet, the outer sheet carries pages 8 and 1 on the front and pages 2 and 7 on the back. Printers call this imposition, and it is easy to get wrong by hand.
This booklet maker does the reordering for you. It puts two pages side by side on each landscape A4, Letter, A3 or Tabloid sheet, adds blank pages when the count is not a multiple of 4, and gives you a PDF ready to print. It is free and the file never leaves your browser.
How to make a booklet from a PDF
- 1
Add your PDF
Press Select a PDF or drop the file onto the page. You will see the page count and how many sheets of paper the booklet needs.
- 2
Choose paper and duplex flip
Under Paper, pick A4, Letter, A3 or Tabloid. Under Duplex flip, keep Short edge for most printers, or pick Long edge to turn the back sides for printers that flip that way. For thick booklets, pick a signature size to fold the sheets in smaller groups, and turn on Right-to-left for books bound on the right. The print preview shows the front and back of every sheet with its page numbers.
- 3
Press Make booklet
The summary shows how many sides were laid out and how many blank pages were added. Check the spreads with Preview, then press Download booklet PDF.
- 4
Print and fold
Print double-sided at 100% scale. Keep the sheets in the order they come out, fold the stack through the centre, and staple along the fold if you like.
Why use PDFToolz for this
Page order worked out for you
The outer sheet carries the first and last pages, and each sheet inside moves one step closer to the middle.
Blank pages added
A folded booklet needs a multiple of 4 pages. Shorter files get up to 3 blank pages at the end, so your content stays in sequence.
Sharp, upright pages
Pages are placed as vector content, not pictures, so text stays crisp. Each page is drawn upright, the way your viewer shows it, even if it carries a rotation setting. Only the visible area is used, so cropped pages stay cropped.
Free, no upload
The layout is built in your browser, with no account, watermark or page limit.
How the booklet page order works
Each folded sheet holds 4 booklet pages, 2 on each side. Every page is scaled to fit half the sheet and centred. A4 pages on A4 paper come out at exactly A5. Letter pages on Letter paper shrink to about 65%, with white space above and below, because half a Letter sheet has a different shape.
For an 8-page document, Booklet Maker makes 2 sheets in this order:
- Sheet 1, front: page 8 left, page 1 right. These are the back and front covers.
- Sheet 1, back: page 2 left, page 7 right.
- Sheet 2, front: page 6 left, page 3 right.
- Sheet 2, back: page 4 left, page 5 right. This is the centre spread.
Short edge or long edge
To print the second side, a printer flips the paper along its short or long edge. Booklet sheets are landscape, so flip on short edge is the usual print setting and Short edge is the default here. If your printer only flips on the long edge, or back pages come out upside down, choose Long edge. The whole back side of each sheet is then turned 180 degrees, so its two pages also swap places, and the spread lines up once flipped.
Before a long print run, print only the first sheet, front and back, and check that page 2 sits upright behind page 1.
When a booklet prints wrong
Most problems come from print settings, not the PDF:
- Pages too small or off-centre: print at 100% or Actual size, not Fit to page.
- Back pages upside down: switch Duplex flip here, or the flip setting in your print dialog.
- Pages out of order after folding: keep sheets in printed order and fold them as one stack.
- Pages at different sizes: each page is scaled on its own, so make sizes match first with Resize PDF Pages.
- Blank pages in the wrong place: blanks always go at the end. To put one elsewhere, add it to the source file first with the + button in Delete / Reorder.
What the booklet PDF keeps
The booklet is a new PDF built from the visible content of your pages. Web links keep working. Links that jump to another page in the file, bookmarks, comments and form fields are not carried over. Flatten a filled form with Flatten PDF first so the answers stay on the page.
Booklet Maker or N-up PDF
N-up PDF also puts several pages on a sheet, but keeps them in reading order. Use it for handouts you read flat. Use Booklet Maker when you will fold and staple.
Frequently asked questions
Make the booklet PDF here, then print it double-sided at 100% scale, flipping on the short edge, or the long edge if you chose that option. Keep the sheets in order and fold them in half.
Each folded sheet holds 4 pages, so the total must be a multiple of 4. The tool adds up to 3 blank pages at the end and tells you how many.
Yes, if your print dialog supports manual double-sided printing, where you feed the stack back in for the second side. Test one sheet first, because the way you reinsert paper differs between printers.
Your printer flips the paper on a different edge than the setting you chose. Switch between Short edge and Long edge here, or change the flip setting in your print dialog, and print one test sheet.
Yes. There is no sign-up or watermark, and the PDF is rearranged on your device without being uploaded.
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