← Editor test — 1 sheet (4 pages).
Print double-sided · flip on short edge · 100% scale (macOS dialogs sometimes call this “flip on long side” — same thing.)
📖 Full assembly instructions
  1. Print double-sided on A4 landscape, flipping on the short edge. This is what makes the back of each sheet land with page numbers reading upright when you open the folded booklet. Set scale to 100% (no “fit to page”).
  2. Stack the printed sheets in order, sheet 1 on top. The pages are already imposed so this just works — sheet 1 wraps around the others to become the cover.
  3. Fold the whole stack in half along the vertical centerline (the dashed “fold here” line you see in the preview). Crease firmly with a bone folder, ruler, or fingernail.
  4. Staple along the fold (saddle-stitch). Three options, easiest first:
    • Long-arm / saddle stapler — the right tool, ~$15. Reach 5–6″ into the spine.
    • Standard stapler trick — most desk staplers have a swing-out anvil that flips them into “tacking” mode. Open the folded booklet flat on a soft surface (folded magazine works), place the staple-foot at the spine from inside, and press down on the body from outside. Two staples evenly along the spine.
    • No stapler — sew a few stitches with a needle and thread, or use a small bulldog clip; the booklet is small enough to hold its shape.
  5. Trim the open edge if you want a clean edge — outer pages stick out slightly because they wrap around the inner ones ("creep"). Optional; usually a few millimetres.
Why the page order looks shuffled below: that’s the saddle-stitch imposition — when sheet i of 1 is folded around the others, its left half becomes booklet page N − 2i + 2 and its right half becomes page 2i − 1. Trust the numbers: the order on the printed sheets is what becomes 1, 2, 3, … after folding.
Sheet 1 · front · becomes pages 4 & 1
Page 4 4
Page 1 1
Sheet 1 · back · becomes pages 2 & 3
Page 2 2
Page 3 3
How to fold & staple

Make the booklet

  1. Print double-sided, flipping on the short edge.
  2. Stack the printed sheets in order.
  3. Fold the stack in half along the centerline (dashed line below).
  4. Staple along the spine — two staples through the fold.
fold here staple staple