Tips for Printing Your Booklet-Sized Directory

A booklet-sized directory PDF uses smaller 5.5 × 8.5 inch pages. To print it as a folded booklet, your computer, PDF viewer, and printer need to place those pages onto standard 8.5 × 11 inch Letter paper, print on both sides, and fold the pages in the correct direction.

This article walks through recommended booklet print settings for Windows and Mac.

In this doc

Before you print

For best results, we recommend:

  • Use Letter-size paper, 8.5 × 11 inches.
  • Use a printer that supports two-sided printing if possible.
  • Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader when available.
  • Print a short test before printing many copies.
  • Fold the test pages in half to confirm the page order and orientation.

Important: Booklet printing settings can vary by printer. If your print dialog looks different from the examples below, look for similar wording such as Booklet, Two-sided, Duplex, Short-edge binding, Long-edge binding, Pages per sheet, Layout, or Finishing.

Understanding booklet-sized PDFs and booklet printing

A booklet-sized PDF and booklet printing are related, but they are not the same thing.

Booklet-sized PDF means the pages in the PDF are already designed at a smaller page size: 5.5 × 8.5 inches.

Booklet printing is the print setup that places those smaller pages onto Letter-size paper, usually two pages per side, so the printed pages can be folded into a booklet.

In other words, Instant Church Directory creates the booklet-sized pages. Your print settings arrange those pages on paper for folding.

Adobe Acrobat Reader usually provides the clearest booklet printing options. We recommend it for Windows users and for Mac users who have trouble printing correctly from Preview.

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it from Adobe.

Windows: Print a booklet using Adobe Acrobat Reader

  1. Open the downloaded booklet PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  2. Enter the PDF password, if prompted.
  3. Select File > Print.
  4. Choose your printer.
  5. Under Page Sizing & Handling, choose Booklet.

Use these settings when available:

  • Booklet subset: Both sides
  • Binding: Left
  • Orientation: Landscape
  • Pages to print: All

Make sure two-sided printing is enabled. Depending on your printer, this may appear as:

  • Print on both sides
  • Duplex printing
  • Two-sided printing

If your printer asks for a flip or binding edge, start with:

  • Flip on short edge, or
  • Short-edge binding

Print a short test first, such as the first 4–8 pages. Fold the test pages in half like a booklet before deciding whether the page order and orientation are correct.

Tip: Pages may look out of order when they first come out of the printer. Fold the pages in half before deciding whether the order is correct.

Mac option 1: Print a booklet using Adobe Acrobat Reader

If you use Adobe Acrobat Reader on your Mac, the steps are similar to Windows.

  1. Open the downloaded booklet PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  2. Enter the PDF password, if prompted.
  3. Select File > Print.
  4. Choose your printer.
  5. Look for Page Sizing & Handling.
  6. Select Booklet.

Use these settings when available:

  • Booklet subset: Both sides
  • Binding: Left
  • Orientation: Landscape

Make sure two-sided printing is enabled. If asked for a flip or binding edge, start with Short-edge binding or Flip on short edge.

Print a short test section and fold it in half to confirm the page order and orientation.

Mac option 2: Print from Preview

Mac Preview can print booklet-sized PDFs, but the exact settings vary depending on your printer and printer driver.

  1. Open the downloaded booklet PDF in Preview.
  2. Enter the PDF password, if prompted.
  3. Select File > Print.
  4. If you only see a simplified print dialog, select Show Details.
  5. Choose your printer.
  6. Confirm the paper size is Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches.

Look for settings such as Layout, Preview, Printer Features, or Finishing.

Choose booklet or layout settings if your printer provides them. Depending on your printer, this may appear as:

  • Booklet
  • Booklet printing
  • Pages per sheet
  • Layout
  • Two-sided
  • Duplex

If there is no specific Booklet option, try:

  • Pages per sheet: 2
  • Two-sided: On
  • Binding: Short-edge binding, if available
  • Orientation: Landscape, if available

Print a short test section and fold it in half to confirm the page order and orientation.

Note: Some Mac printer dialogs do not include a clear booklet option. If Preview does not give you the settings you need, try Adobe Acrobat Reader or contact your printer manufacturer for booklet printing instructions.

If your printer has a Booklet option

Some printers include their own booklet printing feature.

If your printer has a Booklet setting:

  1. Open the booklet PDF.
  2. Select Print.
  3. Choose your printer.
  4. Turn on the printer’s Booklet option.
  5. Use Letter paper.
  6. Choose two-sided or duplex printing.
  7. Choose left binding or side fold, if available.
  8. Print a short test section.
  9. Fold the test pages in half to confirm the result.

If your printer does not print two-sided automatically

Some printers do not support automatic two-sided printing. You may still be able to print a booklet manually.

Look for an option such as:

  • Manual two-sided printing
  • Manually print on both sides
  • Print odd pages first
  • Print even pages first

Follow your printer’s prompts carefully. Usually, the printer prints one side first, then asks you to reload the paper to print the other side.

Manual two-sided printing tip: Test with only 4–8 pages first. Manual duplex printing can be confusing, and the correct paper direction depends on your printer.

Folding and assembling the booklet

After printing:

  1. Keep the pages in the order they come out of the printer.
  2. Fold the stack in half.
  3. Check that the front cover is first.
  4. Flip through the folded booklet to confirm the pages are in order.

Some pages may look out of order before folding. This is normal for booklet printing.

Troubleshooting booklet printing

The pages are upside down

The two-sided setting likely used the wrong flip edge.

Try printing again and choose the opposite setting:

  • If you used Flip on short edge, try Flip on long edge.
  • If you used Flip on long edge, try Flip on short edge.
  • If you used Short-edge binding, try Long-edge binding.
  • If you used Long-edge binding, try Short-edge binding.

Print a short test again before printing the full booklet.

The pages are out of order

First, fold the printed pages in half. Booklet pages often look out of order before folding.

If they are still out of order after folding:

  • Confirm that you selected Booklet in your PDF viewer or printer settings.
  • Confirm that you selected All pages.
  • Confirm that the booklet subset is set to Both sides, if available.
  • Try printing from Adobe Acrobat Reader instead of your browser or Preview.

The booklet option is missing

If you do not see a Booklet option:

  • Try opening the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Try selecting Show Details on Mac.
  • Check your printer’s advanced settings.
  • Look for similar settings such as Layout, Pages per sheet, or Finishing.
  • Check whether your printer driver needs to be updated.

If you still do not see booklet settings, your printer or PDF viewer may not support booklet printing.

The text is too small

Make sure you are printing the booklet-sized PDF on Letter-size paper and using booklet or two-pages-per-sheet settings.

If the PDF is scaled down more than expected, check for settings such as:

  • Scale
  • Fit
  • Shrink oversized pages
  • Fit to printable area

Try changing the scaling option and print a short test.

The margins are too large

Most printers cannot print all the way to the edge of the paper. Your printer may add extra white space around the booklet pages.

If the margins are larger than expected:

  • Confirm that paper size is Letter.
  • Check whether scaling is set to Fit or Actual size.
  • Try the opposite scaling option.
  • Print a short test.

If needed, check your printer’s help documentation for non-printable margin limits.

The back page is blank

A blank page at the end of a booklet can be normal. It helps the booklet print and fold correctly so the final sheet does not place directory content on the wrong side.

The PDF opens in a web browser instead of a PDF app

Browser print dialogs often have fewer booklet printing options.

If the PDF opens in Chrome, Edge, Safari, or another browser:

  1. Download the PDF to your computer.
  2. Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Preview.
  3. Print from the PDF app instead of the browser.

Printing many copies

If you are printing many copies, or if your printer does not handle booklet printing well, consider using a local print shop.

You can provide the downloaded PDF and ask them to print it as:

  • A folded booklet
  • 5.5 × 8.5 finished size
  • Printed on Letter-size paper
  • Double-sided
  • Left-side binding or side-fold

Still need help?

If you continue having trouble printing your booklet, contact us and let us know:

  • Whether you are using Windows or Mac
  • The PDF app you are printing from
  • Your printer model
  • Whether the issue is page order, upside-down pages, margins, scaling, or missing booklet settings

Still need help? Contact Us Contact Us

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