How can I make a booklet in pages?

It has been asked & answered many, many times. You don't need another program but using CreateBooklet service or CocoaBooklet (Leopard & earlier) makes the imposition of pages much easier.

The manual way:

This involves setting your Pages document in File > Page Setup… to landscape orientation & then paginating the document manually. I originally wrote this for Pages 2. In Pages 3 or 4, use the page layout mode.

Use linked text boxes. This is easier done with the layout showing. First you need to add a page break to have two pages. Click in the body area & then Insert > Page Break. Now click outside the layout area to enter object mode & click the "T" in the tool bar or Insert > Text to create a text box & type something in it. This is to keep the box from disappearing if you click elsewhere & the text can be replaced later. If you already have some text to paste in you can just paste while in object mode & a text box containing your text will be created. You will now need to click outside the layout again & drag the cursor toward the text box to select it. You can now position the first text box in the lower right of your 2-page document. It is easier to see where it goes if you have the document set up with 2 columns. Click on the blue-outlined tab at the lower right of the text box to create a new of the same size & move the box to the upper left. Repeat for a box for the upper right & again for the lower right. You will now have 4 linked text boxes.

The easy way:

For users of Leopard or earlier, use Cocoa Booklet. For a folded US letter-size booklet start with your Pages document in Legal size & larger than normal font size. Export the Pages document to a PDF & then drag the PDF to the icon of Cocoa Booklet. It will create a new PDF in booklet form. For international paper sizes, create the Pages document in the larger size with a larger font, i.e. create A4 pages to create A5 folded booklets. You can also use US tabloid or A3 to create larger booklets. CocoaBooklet no longer works in Snow Leopard so you'll need to use Create Booklet Service to create a booklet with any number of pages (best in a multiple of 4).

Hi Jake,

I don't know that there is a "best way" to do this in Pages.

Several variables will have an effect on the procedure:

• What size paper will you print on?
• How many booklet pages will fit onto a single side of that piece of paper?
• How many pages will your booklet have (including front and back covers)?

For a 4.25" x 8.5" booklet, the Catering Brochure provides a good starting point.

The default Catering brochure (above) has 2 letter size pages, each in a separate section (as is always the case for a Page Layout document.

The top section holds the brochure's outside pages (4 and 1), back cover on the left, front cover on the right.

The bottom section holds the inside pages (2 and 3), inside left on the left, inside right on the right.

The Pages button in the Toolbar offers a choice of four types of page to add the the document: Additional copies of the cover or inside layout, a Text page or a Blank page.

Each inserts two brochure/booklet pages. Add two for both sides of a second sheet of paper.

Note that you're not restricted to using a "Text" page for two pages of nothing but text.

For an eight page booklet, the pages are laid out as follows:

1. 8 (bc) 1 (fc)
2. 2 7
3. 6 3
4. 4 5

Document pages 1 and 2 are printed on opposite faces of a letter sized sheet.

Document pages 3 and 4 are printed on opposite faces of a second sheet.

Catering is one of only two 'single fold' brochures on the Brochure page of the Template Chooser in Pages. The main difference between this one and the Landscape Brochure is in the treatment of the gutter between the two pages on each sheet of paper. Catering treats the pages as separate, with an empty gutter running between them. Landscape runs an illustration across the gutter, which is fine for the inside and outside pages of a four page brochure, but not great for booklets made with more than a single sheet of paper.

The advantage to "another program to help out" is that it frees you to compose the booklet pages in the order they are to appear in the booklet, and as full size pages, then let the 'helper' application impose those pages onto sheets of paper in the order needed to comprise the booklet. Either of the applications noted by Peggy will do that job.

I haven't used one, but my booklets (concert programs) are all the same number of pages (8) and all have the pages in the same, or a very similar order. Generally, I'll produce a pdf for each pair of pages, print a sample of each and staple them in the correct order for the booklet, then take the files and the sample to the local copy shop and let then do the printing, folding and stapling.

Regards,

Barry