Saddle-stitch imposition

40-page booklet page order

A 40-page booklet uses 10 sheets, each printed with two pages per side, nested and stapled through the fold.

10sheets
40pages
20page pairs

Printer spreads

Sheet (outside first)Front: left | rightBack: left | right
Sheet 140 | 12 | 39
Sheet 238 | 34 | 37
Sheet 336 | 56 | 35
Sheet 434 | 78 | 33
Sheet 532 | 910 | 31
Sheet 630 | 1112 | 29
Sheet 728 | 1314 | 27
Sheet 826 | 1516 | 25
Sheet 924 | 1718 | 23
Sheet 1022 | 1920 | 21

Each pair adds up to 41. Print front and back duplex, flipping on the short edge for most desktop printers.

Nested sheets

Sheet 1 · Front401Sheet 1 · Back239Sheet 2 · Front383Sheet 2 · Back437Sheet 3 · Front365Sheet 3 · Back635Sheet 4 · Front347Sheet 4 · Back833Sheet 5 · Front329Sheet 5 · Back1031Sheet 6 · Front3011Sheet 6 · Back1229Sheet 7 · Front2813Sheet 7 · Back1427Sheet 8 · Front2615Sheet 8 · Back1625Sheet 9 · Front2417Sheet 9 · Back1823Sheet 10 · Front2219Sheet 10 · Back2021

Creep and trimming

With 10 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