How to print a PDF as a booklet on a Mac
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
To print a PDF as a booklet on a Mac, select it and run Pages › Booklet in FileDial, which lays out two pages per landscape sheet in fold order. Print the result double-sided, flipping on the short edge, then fold the stack in half. It runs offline and saves a new file.
How a booklet layout works
A folded booklet does not print its pages in reading order. If you fold a stack of sheets in half, the outside of the first sheet carries the last page and the first page side by side, and the inside carries pages 2 and the second to last. The arrangement of pages onto sheets so that they come out in order after folding is called imposition.
Doing that by hand for a 16-page document is a puzzle. FileDial's Pages › Booklet solves it: two pages per landscape sheet in fold order, ready to print double-sided. The page count should ideally be a multiple of four, since each sheet holds four pages (two per side).
Make the booklet with FileDial
Start from a finished PDF, because page changes after imposition are painful.
- Select the PDF in Finder.
- Hold the right Option key to open the dial and choose the Pages category.
- Release on Pages › Booklet.
- Open the new PDF and check that the first sheet shows the last page next to the first.
- Print double-sided on landscape sheets, flipping on the short edge, then fold the stack in half.
Printer settings that matter
Two settings decide whether the booklet comes out right. Choose double-sided printing, and set it to flip on the short edge. Choosing the long edge will make the back of each sheet upside down. Print at actual size, not scaled to fit, so margins stay as designed.
Printer dialogs word these options differently, so print a single sheet first, and check that its back is the right way up. If your printer does not print double-sided automatically, print the odd pages, put them back in the tray, and print the evens, though how the tray should be loaded depends on your printer. A test with a four-page file will teach you the way yours behaves.
- Landscape, double-sided, flip on the short edge.
- Actual size, not fit to page.
- Test with one sheet first.
- Fold the whole stack together.
Padding to a multiple of four
If your document has 14 pages, the last sheet will have blank space. Add blank pages with Organize › Insert blank page at end, which adds a blank page at the end, or decide where blanks belong: a blank back cover is normal, and a blank inside back cover is common. If you want the blanks in a different place, use Organize › Reorder pages… to move them before making the booklet.
Long booklets stack thick and the inner pages push outward when folded. For more than about 20 sheets, consider several smaller booklets, or accept some creep.
Not every print job wants a booklet. Pages › 2 pages per sheet puts landscape A4 sheets with two pages each in reading order, which saves paper for proofs. Pages › 4 pages per sheet uses A4 sheets, and Pages › Pages per sheet… lets you choose. These are for reading copies. Only Booklet puts pages in fold order.
For a double-sided print of a scan with fronts and backs in separate files, see our guide on interleaving fronts and backs.
A worked example: a 12-page event program
Take a 12-page program sized A5 pages to fit two to a landscape A4 sheet. Twelve is a multiple of four, so you need three sheets. Run Pages › Booklet, open the result, and check it: the first sheet should show page 12 beside page 1, and its back should show pages 2 and 11. Print one sheet double-sided with a flip on the short edge, fold it and read the two pages in order. If they read right, print the full run.
Print a test copy before a large print run for an event. A mistake in the print settings costs a few sheets at that stage and a whole stack later. Staple at the fold if you like; the tool does not add bleed or crop marks, so trim by hand if the edge needs it.
Common mistakes
The first is printing single-sided, which produces the right pages on the wrong sides. The second is scaling to fit, which shrinks the already half-size pages. The third is editing the booklet PDF after imposition; make changes in the source PDF and run the tool again. The fourth is forgetting that page numbers printed on the pages will look wrong next to each other unless the source numbering is right. Add numbers before you make the booklet, with Pages › Add page numbers.
Honest alternatives on a Mac
The macOS print dialog has a Layout section with Pages per Sheet and a two-sided option, depending on your printer and app. That gives reading-order sheets, which is not the same as fold order. Some printers add a booklet mode of their own in their driver options. If your printer offers one, it can be simpler than preparing a file; the advantage of a prepared file is that you can see and check the exact result before you print.
Booklets are often handbooks, programs and manuals. Preparing them locally keeps unreleased material off third-party servers. FileDial runs with Wi-Fi off and leaves the original PDF as it was.
Questions
What does flip on short edge mean for a booklet?
When the sheets are landscape, flipping on the short edge turns the page like a calendar, so the back of each sheet is the right way up when you fold it. Flipping on the long edge would print the back upside down.
How many pages should a booklet have?
Ideally a multiple of four, since each sheet carries four pages, two on each side. If your count is not, the tool leaves the extra space blank at the end, so add or place blank pages deliberately before you make the booklet.
Is a booklet the same as 2 pages per sheet?
No. Two pages per sheet keeps reading order, which suits proofs. A booklet puts pages in fold order, so that after double-sided printing and folding, the pages read in sequence. Use Pages › Booklet for folding and 2 pages per sheet for reading copies.