Saddle-stitch imposition
52-page booklet page order
A 52-page booklet uses 13 sheets, each printed with two pages per side, nested and stapled through the fold.
13sheets
52pages
26page pairs
Printer spreads
| Sheet (outside first) | Front: left | right | Back: left | right |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet 1 | 52 | 1 | 2 | 51 |
| Sheet 2 | 50 | 3 | 4 | 49 |
| Sheet 3 | 48 | 5 | 6 | 47 |
| Sheet 4 | 46 | 7 | 8 | 45 |
| Sheet 5 | 44 | 9 | 10 | 43 |
| Sheet 6 | 42 | 11 | 12 | 41 |
| Sheet 7 | 40 | 13 | 14 | 39 |
| Sheet 8 | 38 | 15 | 16 | 37 |
| Sheet 9 | 36 | 17 | 18 | 35 |
| Sheet 10 | 34 | 19 | 20 | 33 |
| Sheet 11 | 32 | 21 | 22 | 31 |
| Sheet 12 | 30 | 23 | 24 | 29 |
| Sheet 13 | 28 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
Each pair adds up to 53. Print front and back duplex, flipping on the short edge for most desktop printers.
Nested sheets
Creep and trimming
With 13 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.