Booklet printing with or without Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word has a booklet printing option but there’s a simple alternative if it’s not working or you’d like options not available in Word. Here’s how to booklet print in Word and also a simpler alternative.
Word’s Booklet Printing is done in the document (Layout | Paragraph | Page Setup | Multiple Pages | Book Fold.
But that method might not suit you or Word isn’t booklet printing properly (as happened with some January 2019 Office updates).
Adobe Reader alternative
Adobe’s free PDF Reader (Adobe Reader DC) has a booklet printing option which, in some ways, is easier to use than Word booklets.
PDF booklet printing is available in both Windows and Mac.
Booklet Printing from Word via PDF
Adobe Reader takes a standard size and page ordered document then does all the resizing and page re-ordering necessary to make a booklet version.
Make the Word document normally with regular Letter/Legal/A4 pages in normal order (i.e. not the booklet page order).
Save As the Word document to PDF. At the stage you have a PDF with your document as full-size pages in standard order.
Open the PDF in Adobe Reader and go to Print.
Click on the Booklet tab.
Booklet subset – print front or back sides or both (if your printer can print double-sided or not).
Sheets from – which sheets to print
Binding – where are the staples going? Left, Right, Left (Tall), Right (Tall).
Preview
Adobe Reader’s Print Preview is far better than Preview in Word. It will change as you alter the settings so you have a very good idea of what will be printed out.
One more trick …
It’s possible to make a PDF with the booklet formatting and ordering all ready to go.
Both Windows and Mac have an in-built ‘Print to PDF’ option which saves any print output to a PDF file. Adobe Reader’s print can use that separate ‘Print to PDF’ option. In other words you can print a PDF to another PDF!
In this case, from Adobe Reader choose the Print Booklet option then Print to PDF. You’ll get a new PDF formatted for booklet printing. Use that option to check the booklet settings before printing or to prepare a booklet ready for printing on another computer.
Print a booklet from a Word document – free!
Printing tricks for Word and Office
Office 2007 add-ins for PDF and XPS