How to print an A5 booklet order of service on A4
Three settings matter: both sides, flip on the short edge, actual size. Print one copy first.
With a printer that prints on both sides
- Open the home-printing PDF. Its pages are A4, turned sideways, with two booklet pages on each.
- Paper size: A4.
- Turn on printing on both sides (also called duplex or two-sided).
- Choose flip on short edge. Some printers call it short-edge binding.
- Scale: actual size or 100%. Turn off “fit to page”.
- Print one copy. Keep the sheets in the order they came out, fold the stack in half and check that it reads 1, 2, 3.
- Staple twice through the fold, then print the rest.
With a printer that prints one side at a time
- Print only the odd pages of the PDF (1, 3, 5…). These are the fronts of each sheet.
- Put the printed stack back in the paper tray and print only the even pages (2, 4, 6…) on the backs.
- Which way round the stack goes back in differs from printer to printer. Try it with one sheet first, using pages 1 and 2 only, and turn the sheet over on its short edge.
What went wrong, and why
| What you see | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Every other page is upside down | The paper was flipped on the long edge | Choose flip on short edge |
| The pages are a little small, with wide white borders | “Fit to page” or “shrink” was on | Choose actual size or 100% |
| Pages on screen run 8, 1, 2, 7… | Nothing: that is folding order | See the page order table |
| After folding, the pages jump about | The sheets were nested in the wrong order | Sheet 1 (with the cover) goes on the outside, the last sheet in the middle |
| The back of each sheet belongs to a different sheet | On a one-sided printer the stack went back in reversed | Reverse the stack, or print the even pages in reverse order |
Sending it to a print shop instead
Send the print-shop file: one A5 page per PDF page, in reading order. Two UK printers we checked ask for exactly that and do the folding order themselves. Tradeprint says “Please supply your booklet in single page format, in the correct running order from start to finish” and “Please do not supply your booklet as printers’ pairs or as spreads” (Tradeprint help centre). WTTB says “The file must contain single pages (NOT Spreads)” and “Supply pages in numerical order (from front to back)” (WTTB artwork guide). Both were read on 10 November 2026. Ask your own shop what it needs before you order: requirements differ.
Where these settings come from
Microsoft’s booklet instructions say that “to avoid pages from printing upside down, flip the sheets on the short edge of the paper according to your printer’s instructions” (Microsoft Support, read 10 November 2026). The Bloom book-making project describes the same set-up for A5 booklets on A4: landscape, both sides, flip on short edge, with no shrinking (Bloom documentation, read 10 November 2026). Menu names differ between printers; we have not tested individual printer models.
Questions
- Which duplex setting do I need for an A5 booklet on A4?
- Print on both sides and flip on the short edge (some printers call it short-edge binding). The sheet is landscape, so flipping on the short edge keeps the back the right way up.
- Why is every other page upside down?
- The printer flipped the paper on the long edge. Change the setting to flip on the short edge and print again.
- Why do the pages look out of order on screen?
- They are in folding order, not reading order. Page 1 shares a sheet side with the last page so that, once the sheets are nested and folded, the pages read 1, 2, 3 and so on.
The builder makes both files: one for home printing, one for a print shop.
Open the builder