pdfbook

Put pages of PDF files into 2-up signatures for booklet printing

TLDR

Create a booklet from a PDF file

$ pdfbook [input.pdf]

Specify output file

$ pdfbook -o [booklet.pdf] [input.pdf]

Create booklet for A4 paper

$ pdfbook --paper a4paper [input.pdf]

Create booklet with a 16-page signature

$ pdfbook --signature [16] [input.pdf]

Create booklet for short-edge double-sided printing

$ pdfbook --short-edge [input.pdf]

SYNOPSIS

pdfbook [--short-edge] [options] file...

pdfbook is a simple wrapper for pdfjam that arranges PDF pages into 2-up signatures suitable for printing as a booklet. Pages are reordered so that when printed double-sided and folded, they form a properly ordered booklet.The default output is suitable for long-edge binding. Use --short-edge for short-edge binding. All options not listed above are passed through to pdfjam.

PARAMETERS

-o file

Output file name. Defaults to input filename with "-book" suffix.

--paper size

Paper size (e.g. a4paper, letterpaper, legalpaper).

--signature num

Pages per signature (must be a multiple of 4, default 4).

--signature* num

Pages per signature for right-edge binding.

--short-edge

Format for short-edge double-sided printing. Must be the first argument. Requires the LaTeX package everyshi.

--booklet bool

Enable or disable booklet reordering (default true).

CAVEATS

Requires LaTeX with the pdfpages package installed. Page count should be a multiple of 4 for best results. Output file defaults to the input filename with a "-book" suffix. The --short-edge option requires the everyshi LaTeX package.

HISTORY

pdfbook is part of pdfjam, a collection of shell scripts using the pdfpages LaTeX package, created by David Firth. It has been largely superseded by pdfbook2, which provides additional features like margin control.