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I have to print a book and make signatures for binding. I have modified this solution:

https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/246226/56153

This way:

book-pages.tex

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\begin{document}
\Huge 1 \newpage
\Huge 2 \newpage
\Huge 3 \newpage
\Huge 4 \newpage
\Huge 5 \newpage
\Huge 6 \newpage
\Huge 7 \newpage
\Huge 8 \newpage
\Huge 9 \newpage
\Huge 10 \newpage
\Huge 11 \newpage
\Huge 12 \newpage
\Huge 13 \newpage
\Huge 14 \newpage
\Huge 15 \newpage
\Huge 16 \newpage
\Huge 17 \newpage
\Huge 18 \newpage
\Huge 19 \newpage
\Huge 20 \newpage
\Huge 21 \newpage
\Huge 22 \newpage
\Huge 23 \newpage
\Huge 24 \newpage
\Huge 25 \newpage
\Huge 26 \newpage
\Huge 27 \newpage
\Huge 28 \newpage
\Huge 29 \newpage
\Huge 30 \newpage
\Huge 31 \newpage
\Huge 32 \newpage
\end{document}

booklet1.tex

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pdfpages}
\usepackage[paperwidth=297mm, paperheight=420mm]{geometry}
\begin{document}
\includepdf[pages=-,signature*=32, landscape, angle=180]{book-pages.pdf}
\end{document}

booklet2.tex

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pdfpages}
\usepackage[paperwidth=420mm, paperheight=297mm]{geometry}
\begin{document}
\includepdf[pages=-,signature=16]{booklet1.pdf}
\end{document}

Folding four A3 sheets together gives some creeping, so I should be able to adjust paper margins accordingly. Is there any way to accomplish this in Latex?

Community
  • 1
user56153
  • 999
  • Excuse my ignorance, but I have no idea what you mean by 'creeping' or what exactly you are asking. I assume you're referring to the fact that the edges if the pages at the centre of a signature will extend further than those of the pages on the outside, but this is just a guess. Or maybe you're talking about changes to the whitespace at the centre of the double-spread page which will grow towards the centre of the signature and shrink towards the outside. Either way, what exactly do you want to do? – cfr Apr 10 '16 at 18:58
  • Creeping os the amount of space the pages at the centre of a signature extend on the outside. It should be measured and distributed among all the pages in the signature so that in the end your extrenal margins are in line. – user56153 Apr 10 '16 at 19:02

1 Answers1

2

The amount of creep will depend on the thickness of the paper and the skill of the folder. From my years of experience in printing books using either LaTeX or traditional letterpress printing, and having them bound by expert bookbinders or the shop down the road, I don't believe that there is any (automatic) way of getting what you are asking for. In the majority of instances I know of the text block is assembled (resulting in some roughness around the edges) then trimmed/guillotinued square before the cover is finally put on. In other cases only the top edge is trimmed, which helps prevent dust settling in any grooves. Unless the signatures have over, say, 16 pages it is unlikely that anyone will notice that the outer margins differ.

The answer is to trim the sheets after assembling the textblock.

Peter Wilson
  • 28,066