Leaf & Spine

Saddle-stitch imposition

12-page booklet page order

A 12-page booklet uses 3 sheets, each printed with two pages per side, nested and stapled through the fold.

3sheets
12pages
6page pairs

Printer spreads

Sheet (outside first)Front: left | rightBack: left | right
Sheet 112 | 12 | 11
Sheet 210 | 34 | 9
Sheet 38 | 56 | 7

Each pair adds up to 13. Print front and back duplex, flipping on the short edge for most desktop printers.

Nested sheets

Sheet 1 · Front121Sheet 1 · Back211Sheet 2 · Front103Sheet 2 · Back49Sheet 3 · Front85Sheet 3 · Back67

Creep and trimming

With 3 nested sheets the inner pages stick out at the fore-edge by roughly the combined thickness of the outer sheets. Professional imposition shifts inner pages toward the spine (creep compensation) and trims the fore-edge flush. Keep text at least 6 mm from the outside edge.

Need a different count? The booklet imposition calculator works for any page count and adds blanks as needed.

Other booklet sizes

8 pages16 pages20 pages24 pages28 pages32 pages36 pages40 pages44 pages48 pages52 pages56 pages60 pages64 pages

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