Margin settings for facing pages

[jatclat]

I want to print 4 pages of A5 on one A4 sheet, so the A4 will be landscape but printed on a printer that prints A4 portrait.

The trailing edge needs to be 16mm, the other edges 3mm. Using Facing Pages, Publisher allows me to set the outside margins at 16mm, but I will only want 16mm for the right-hand margin of the right-hand pages. The left-hand margin of left-hand pages needs to be 3mm. Is there a way of doing this? If not, can you please add the facility to the Facing Pages section?

[walt.farrell]

Is it just a 4-page document?

If so, perhaps you could simply setup your document as 4 individual pages, then in the Print dialog print them 4-up, and just set the page margin for the physical page in the Print dialog.

[jatclat]

Thanks. I get the idea, but it's very fiddly, and when it comes to an 8-page booklet, wanting to impose pages, it'll be more fiddly still. I'd find it easier to ignore the faulty margin and add a guide to the master page. I would anticipate that many people will have this issue, so if you could put it on the list for an extra development I'd be grateful.

[walt.farrell]

Good point.

Have you tried telling Publisher to use the Booklet mode for printing? I wonder if that would help with your margin issues. You really shouldn't have to worry about the physical page margins when you're setting up your pages for a booklet. That should be done at print time, and I think it can be (though I haven't had time to try it yet).

[jatclat]

Booklet mode seems okay, but it doesn’t answer my issue. I use margins at design time, to mark out the areas of the page which need leaving blank because the printer won’t print them. I therefore want to set the margins to match what the printer prints. I’m assuming that it would be a small matter to add to the Facing Pages section the facility to set margins for left and right pages independently of each other, rather than making them mirror images of each other.

[Margaret H]

To Affinity managers:

I just found this conversation online. Thank you. I just wasted 2 days of my life trying to set up facing Master pages in a book that do not have the same margins in the gutter as they do on the outside of the page. I have been a graphic designer for over 30 years now and I can't believe that this small function, which is so necessary in many situations when book designing, is unavailable in Affinity Publisher 2.4. For what is touted a professional graphic design program this is inexcusable.. 

Margaret Henkel

Edited March 13, 2024 by Margaret H
Typo

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, Margaret H said:

To Affinity managers:

I just found this conversation online. Thank you. I just wasted 2 days of my life trying to set up facing Master pages in a book that do not have the same margins in the gutter as they do on the outside of the page. I have been a graphic designer for over 30 years now and I can't believe that this small function, which is so necessary in many situations when book designing, is unavailable in Affinity Publisher 2.4. For what is touted a professional graphic design program this is inexcusable..

That can be done easily, Margaret. And it isn't really what this topic is about. This topic is about trying to set up "n-up" printing.

You might want to start your own topic in the Questions section, and we can probably help you.