Printing at Home

signatures and imprints

A 4-page imposition means 4 pages on a single double-sided sheet of paper (i.e. 2up, 2-sided). 4 sheets per signature produces 16 pages per signature. This is not a 16-page signature; it is a 4x4-page signature. The goal of this process is to create the number of 4x4-page signatures required to print the entire book.

The book is separated into 16-page, 8-leaf signatures (a quaternion). To determine how many signatures there are, divide total pages by 16. Each 16-page increment results in a new signature. There is a cutoff at 112 (7 signatures) and 128 (8 signatures).

References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookbinding
• https://www.designersinsights.com/designer-resources/understanding-and-working-with-print/

rendering PDF as print signatures

Execute make signatures to convert mybook.pdf into a book. The result is two PDFs:

• products/mybook-odd.pdf
• products/mybook-even.pdf

First the odd pages are printed, then the pile is sent through the printer a second time to print the even pages on the other side of the papers.

printing the book

• set up printer for straight-through printing (no rollers/page flips)
• open odd-page PDF; print all sheets
• as the pages emerge, sort them in ascending order (i.e. 1, 3, 5, 7, …)

• put printed pile into paper tray in the following way:

  • face paper tray with landscape-oriented book
  • rotate clockwise 90 degrees; it feels “backwards”
  • place into paper cartridge with page 1 (e.g. title page) on top
  • the ink side from the previous print run is on top

• open even-page PDF; print all sheets
• print the no-bleed cover in ./products