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 | right | Back: left | right |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet 1 | 40 | 1 | 2 | 39 |
| Sheet 2 | 38 | 3 | 4 | 37 |
| Sheet 3 | 36 | 5 | 6 | 35 |
| Sheet 4 | 34 | 7 | 8 | 33 |
| Sheet 5 | 32 | 9 | 10 | 31 |
| Sheet 6 | 30 | 11 | 12 | 29 |
| Sheet 7 | 28 | 13 | 14 | 27 |
| Sheet 8 | 26 | 15 | 16 | 25 |
| Sheet 9 | 24 | 17 | 18 | 23 |
| Sheet 10 | 22 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
Each pair adds up to 41. Print front and back duplex, flipping on the short edge for most desktop printers.
Nested sheets
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.