A simple example for the Assistant

Let us suppose you have a 32 page document and want to order it for saddle stitch imposition, that is, a single fold for the whole document. This would be two pages per sheet.

You'd select 2 columns, 1 row and 32 pages.

Click Next and type in the two boxes 32 and 1. (This order is because when opening the outside of the book, the front of the first sheet, the back page is to the left).

Quite Imposing will work out the required rules and ordering so when you click Finish the rules are prepared. Note that you will see a group size of 4. This is correct: do not alter it.

A more complex example for the Assistant

In this case we have a 64 page book, but each sheet will be folded separately. There are four pages on a side, and the sheet is sideways. After making a folding model, you see that the front and back look like this:

So, after choosing columns 2, rows 2, and page count 64 you first enter a screen like this:

The order is correct, but the pages are not rotated correctly. We can see that they all need to be sideways, so we click Pages are sideways and get:

This is close but pages 4 and 5 (on the front) are still the wrong way round. Just click the 180° button below 4 and 5, and you have the result you need.

Importance of the page count

The page count is important, because it tells the assistant the highest numbered page. It may sometimes happen that your document is "short", that is, that it doesn't have enough pages to completely fill all the sheets. For example, in a document that is printed 2 on each side of a sheet, a 14 page original will need 4 sheets. In this case you must tell the assistant that you have 16 pages, not 14, to completely fill the sheets.

You also may need to enter the numbers of missing pages. For instance, you might have to enter 16 and 1, for the 14 page case above.

Note also that page numbers you type must start at 1, even if that is not what you think of as page 1. Some printed materials might start at page 3, because a separate cover, wrapped around, provides page 1. Still, to work with the assistant you must treat your page 3, as if it is page 1. Simply subtract 2 from each page number in this case.

Types of imposition that the Assistant knows

The Imposition Assistant can recognise many of the common imposition patterns from the front only. It does not know the layout of these patterns, this comes from what you type, but it knows how to repeat these patterns onto the back, and onto the later sheets. Those it currently understands are as follows:

• Single sided impositions, where you type in all of the pages that appear. For example, if the page count is 12 and you select 4 rows and 3 columns, this must all fit on a single side.
• Two sides only. This doesn't have to be repeated, but the assistant will make sure that the front and the backs are paired up, and not repeated. For example, if the page count is 8, and you select 2 rows and 2 columns, this must all fit on two sides.
• Single sheet signatures. In this case each sheet is fully folded before being combined. For example, if you select 2 rows and 2 columns, and the assistant finds pages 1 to 8 on the front and back of the first sheet, this must be a single sheet signature. The page count can be any multiple of 8.
• 2 sheet signatures. In this case each 2 sheets are folded together, then combined. The order repeats after each 2 printed sheets (4 in all, front and back).
• 4 sheet signatures.
• Saddle stitched documents, which have their final fold all together. For instance, if you choose 96 pages and the assistant finds pages 1 and 96 on the front, this must be saddle stitched.
• Cut stacks documents, where you will cut the pile of sheets into separate stacks and lift them one onto another. Note that only double sided cut stacks are supported.

More patterns may be added in future.

Working with rules directly

You might choose to enter the rules directly. Perhaps you have an imposition that is not recognised by the assistant. Perhaps you want a special purpose shuffle. Perhaps you worked with rules in Quite Imposing 1.x and want to continue to do so. Perhaps you can type a complete rule more quickly than setting it up in the assistant.

A worked example

Let's suppose you have folded up a sheet of paper, or looked up information in a reference book, and you conclude that each page must be rearranged like this:

That is, the bottom row are all upside-down.

You can combine pages into this 4 by 2 arrangement using n-Up Pages but first you will have to re-order the pages. You will need to enter the following information:

Group size 8

Page order 5 4 3 6 7* 2* 1* 8*

This example is simpler than most. Often, the front and back of the sheet will make a single rule, since the front and back aren't identical. Just remember that the rule can cover more than one sheet, and that n-Up Pages will work through the pages, filling sheets, in the order they are arranged.

Another worked example

This example shows how to make sheets that appear to be incomplete, by inserting extra blank pages before running n-up. Although you can use Insert Blank Pages , it is easier to insert the blanks at the same time as shuffling pages, if you already have to shuffle.

Here is a possible layout of the first four sheets:

To obtain this layout you would arrange for blank pages to occur wherever there is a space on the sheet.

Group size 12

Page order 12 1 8 5 2 11 6 7 10 3 X X 4 9 X X

The X entries will insert the blank pages which are shown on the layout above surrounded by broken lines.

Shuffling for a 4-up booklet

Quite Imposing has built-in support for simple booklets which appear with 2 pages on each sheet. One reason it does not include support for booklets with 4 pages per sheet is that there are a great many different ways to lay out 4-up booklets. The following gives just one suggestion, but it is not ideal, as we will see on the next page.

This sequence can be used to make a 16-page booklet, or to make a booklet of any size containing 16-page signatures (essentially a number of booklets bound together one after the other, as in a bound book).

This illustration shows the layout of four sheets (intended to be printed double sided onto two sheets of paper).

This is a group size of 16 and a page ordering rule of
16 1 9* 8* 2 15 7* 10* 14 3 11* 6* 4 13 5* 12*, followed by using n-up to lay out 2 by 2.

After printing onto the two sheets of paper:

1.      Place the two sheets together, and fold along the line between a and b, so that 16-1 is facing you.

2.      Now fold in half again, so page 1 is facing you.

3.      Trim off the bottom edge (cutting off the fold a-b).

Folding models may seem complicated but this only took a few minutes.

Shuffling for a larger saddle stitched booklet

There are two problems with the rule we discussed on the previous page.

1.      You might not want to type the long sequence necessary to shuffle a larger booklet or magazine.

2.      In practical terms, the method we suggest is not suitable for a thick booklet, because of the physical limitations of paper. Putting all the sheets together to make the first fold (a to b) would be awkward, and would tend to cause the contents of pages to shift.

For the second reason, impositions intended for thick booklets with a single fold (called saddle stitched) will usually make one or more fold to each separate sheet (perhaps 2 sheets). Only the final fold, for the spine, might be done after combining sheets, but even that is normally folded in advance, and the folded sheets slipped together.

Quite Imposing can deal with the rules for saddle stitching.

Using the Repeat button you select saddle stitching. Then, you define a rule which covers all folds except the last one. That is, you consider how many sheets are folded together before they are combined and folded along the spine.

Most often this is just one sheet, so the rule has to cover just the front and back.

A booklet with no additional folds (except the spine fold) can be completely described by the rule 4 1 2 3, and the saddle stitch option, no matter how many sheets it will contain.

Details of the Repeat function

The Repeat button can be used to select between four choices as to how the groups will be repeated. What these actually do can be fairly complex to describe mathematically, so it is probably best to think of them in terms of how they are used.

• Normal, or perfect bound . The rules are repeated again and again from the beginning. For instance, if you have a group size of 4 and a rule of 4 1 2 3, the pages will go 4 1 2 3 then continue with 8 5 6 7 12 9 10 11. The sequence just starts again. The rule is typically the front and back of the first sheet, but can be multiple sheets.
• Saddle stitched. Use this when the final document is to have a single fold right through. Often the front of the first sheet will have the first and last page on it. A rule of 4 1 2 3 will produce different results depending on the page count. For an 8 page document, the result would be 8 1 2 7 6 3 4 5 For a 12 page document, the result would be 12 1 2 11 10 3 4 9 8 5 6 7.

The basic idea to generate a saddle stitch rule is to reduce your imposition to two sides, the front and back of the first sheet. Prepare this as if it is the whole book, for instance if there are 4 pages a side, your rule will number 1 to 8. This will stretch automatically as required.

• Single sided cut stacks . This will be printed on only one side of the paper. After printing, it will be cut, and without turning any piles of paper upside down, will be combined into two. For instance a group of 2 and a rule of 1 2. If there were actually 8 sheets, the final order would be 1 5 - 2 6 - 3 7 - 4 8.

The rule must always list only the order for the front of a single sheet imposition - imagine the job reduced to one sheet.

• Double sided cut stacks. Like single sided, but printed on both sides of the paper. For instance a group of 4, listing front and back, might be 1 3 4 2. If there were actually 8 sheets the final order would be 1 5 - 6 2 - 3 7 - 8 4.

The rule must always list the order for the front and back of a single sheet imposition.

A new example for a 4-up booklet

This example returns to our earlier problem, a 4-up booklet. But this time we will define the rule using the saddle stitch option (on the Repeat button). Here is the layout for the front and back of a booklet made from a single sheet:

This sheet would be printed on both sides, folded along the line a to b first, then the final fold.

This has the rule: 8 1 5* 4* 2 7 3* 6* and group size 8.

If you try the same rule with larger booklets and the saddle stitch option, you will find it automatically adjusts to any number of pages. For instance this is what will happen with two sheets. Remember that each sheet is folded separately along the line a to b before being combined.

So long as you select the saddle stitched option under Repeat , the same rule is used, with a group size of 8, no matter how many pages are in the document.