What is imposition in printing?
Imposition is how the printer arranges pages or copies on a large press sheet so that, once printed, folded and cut, everything ends up in the right order and position.
What it means for your file
Printers do it themselves, so supply single pages in reading order at the finished size with bleed, not printer’s spreads, unless they ask otherwise.
A saddle-stitched booklet’s page count has to be a multiple of 4, because every folded sheet makes four pages, and the cover counts.
An example
An 8-page saddle-stitched booklet is printed as two sheets folded together. The outer sheet carries pages 8 and 1 side by side on one side and 2 and 7 on the other; the inner sheet carries 6 and 3, and 4 and 5. Folded and stapled, they read in order. Business cards are imposed many to a sheet and cut apart afterwards.
A common mistake
Sending printer’s spreads, with the pages already paired in folding order, or spreads with no bleed between the pages. Unless the printer asks for something else, their imposition software expects single pages in reading order, each at the trim size with its own bleed, and does the arranging itself.
How to fix it
If your printer sent the file back saying “Please send single pages, not spreads,” the fix page has the step-by-step way to do it yourself, and a fixed price if you’d rather have it done.
Where else it comes up
All print terms in the glossary, or run your file through the free print-ready checker.
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