[Booklet option]

1 hour ago, garrettm30 said:

Until today, I thought the booklet option that Publisher offers did everything I needed to, though I was a happy user of InDesign's print booklet interface previously. Today, however, I have come upon a limitation of Publisher when it comes to booklet imposition—or at least a limitation in my understanding of it.

One of our common formats is a booklet 18cm in height and 4.25in in width (sorry for the mix of units, but that's what it is). We print the booklets to US Letter paper and make a single cut at the bottom of the page. Here is an diagram example in case it helps make what I am describing more clear:

After the cut, the remaining booklet is stitched and folded down the middle vertically.

I set up the print settings to print as a booklet (in Affinity's Document Layout section of the print settings, not the print driver equivalent), and then in the Range and Scale section, I try to alter the orientation between portrait and landscape, but these are the results of the two options:

        

In changing the orientation, it automatically rotates the image, so that the printed result is exactly the same either way. In practical terms, this now means four cuts instead of one.

Is there something I am overlooking? If not, then please consider this post as feedback concerning the limitation of the current implementation.

If it is a limitation, does anyone have suggestions for working around it? I have tried to add a lot of bleed at the bottom, but that didn't seem to make a difference. Of course I could just design the layout with all that extra whitespace, but that is not desirable since we also export the PDF for screen. I am including a simple mockup file with similar dimensions in case anyone wishes to try.

booklet_test.afpub

I suggest you make your life easy by producing individual PDF pages with bleed, then impose with an online imposition software or get Quite Imposing. The resulting page area when you come to print, you can then position it on the sheet where you want, to facilitate offcut and should you wish to utilise the offcut by printing on it at the same time, then I would add that in Acrobat Pro or even try Libre Office. It appears an unnecessary step to go via PDF but especially then when somebody else handles it, it is safer. If you use a printshop it's always best to give individual PDF pages (rather than spreads) with bleed and in CMYK. giving them spreads might cause them to have to do extra work. Make 2 PDF versions: 1 with bleed for a printshop, the other without bleed for viewing and if it's for web or proofing then you are ok to only use 100 or 150 dpi rather than the 300dpi for printing. BTW 300dpi for an image means at the size you are printing it, as if you enlarge a 300 dpi image then the dpi drops inverse square.

[Booklet option]

Booklet creation work around

Hi, if getting a pdf document in the right order, perhaps even from multiple sources (as long as the page dimensions are the same. See note lower down re Powerpoint, also applicaple to software that doesn't allow for bleed) use free programs like Adolix to add, split, merge (to keep it free you might have to do a merge a few times, i.e. add maximum pages and create one pdf, then do that to another group, then merge the two resulting PDFs again etc). Then, to get your pages in the right sequence, layout for your purpose you need to make what the trade calls an imposition. (to get it right get some A4 sheets of paper and fold them individually, then insert them inside each other. then number the pages (straight numbers: if you have A, B, C or Roman numeral pages, for this purpose they are 1st, 2nd etc pages)

Now go to an imposition software, free, online, sign up upload your pages and work through the sequence of steps and at the end, if you've done it right you'll get a pdf which is ready to print and finish (FST fold, stitch (staple) and trim round the edges).
I strongly recommend to have a dummy run with a multiple of 4, something like 8 or 12 pages first, before trying to impose a mamouth stitched maximum of 96 pages  (get the printshop to do that, they have efficient tools for the purpose)
If you have PagePlus X9 still (now legacy) you can import PDFs in the outline or image option, shunt the pages around to your requirements and re-export to an imposed PDF file

(word of caution with Powerpoint: you must go to custom page settings and enter the dimensions in manually, (i.e. Don't use the A4 setting as it's just insuring that the slide fits on an A4 sheet but is NOT A4.) so for A4 that would be in cms: 29.7 x 21 (last time I checked I didn't see a mm option but that was a while ago). and if you have print that goes to the edge you need to allow for bleed (overhanging image to be trimmed off) at 3mm on every outer edge and add that so the dimensions now are 30.3 x 21.6)

Hope this helps to solve someone's problems a little