# How do I print half-letter-size pages on letter-size printer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064 "2015-08-17T11:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/21 "2015-08-17T20:56:41Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Oh - what you described is quarter size as kayla’s dad pointed out. If this is the case, do them 4-up. It’s not the case. Please read entire thread, thanks… it will make communication easier, although I sympathize with the tendency not to do so. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/22 "2015-08-17T20:56:54Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > ?? > > So I end up with two copies of the book when I’m done? > > Yeah, I guess that would work… > > ETA: I would be walking into Staples with the document on disk. You saying they should be able to “just do it” without further assistance from me, I just tell them to make it happen? They aren’t a “printing press”. I suppose they would qualify as “a printer” in some sense of the word? No - your document would have to set up that way. Sorry. What is your page layout now? ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/23 "2015-08-17T21:09:36Z")
Ah, I see. To make things back up properly, the first page should be blank so page 1 is on the right. Wait, that won’t work either. Let me think some more. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/24 "2015-08-17T21:15:26Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > A 300 page book in which each page is 8.5 x 11 is a bit unweildy to tote around. A 300 page book in which each page is half that size is considerably less so. It’s not a pamphlet. I’m missing something here. Assuming you keep the font size/line spacing the same, wouldn’t the 8.5x11 version be approximately 150 pages? I say “approximately” because it depends on the margins, which you might want to set differently on the smaller copy. If you don’t and you have 1-inch margins all around on both sizes, the print area on the half-page copy would be 3.5x6.5, or 22.75 square inches of space available to print. The print area on the full page would be 6.5x9 or 58.5 square inches. If the half-size book is 300 pages, I’d estimate the full-size book to be about 117 pages. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/25 "2015-08-17T21:25:50Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > I’m missing something here. Assuming you keep the font size/line spacing the same, wouldn’t the 8.5x11 version be approximately 150 pages? My original intention was to print the original document (which is 300 8.5 x 11 pages in length) to PDF and then open it in Adobe Acrobat and tell Acrobat to print that document to real paper of Page Setup size 5.5 x 8.5. Acrobat would then shrink the print-image that was originallly formatted for 8.5 x 11 paper to make it fit on the smaller paper. The font size and line spacing would not, therefore, be the same. At this point I have not figured out what size I will make the font or otherwise adjust what I’m doing. The remaining intention is to print the book out to something akin to 300 pages (plus or minus) where those physical pages are 5.5 x 8.5. And to do that, it appears that I will need to print “two pages to a page” and then slice them in half, as discussed above. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/26 "2015-08-17T21:42:46Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > My original intention was to print the original document (which is 300 8.5 x 11 pages in length) to PDF and then open it in Adobe Acrobat and tell Acrobat to print that document to real paper of Page Setup size 5.5 x 8.5. Acrobat would then shrink the print-image that was originallly formatted for 8.5 x 11 paper to make it fit on the smaller paper. The font size and line spacing would not, therefore, be the same. > > At this point I have not figured out what size I will make the font or otherwise adjust what I’m doing. The remaining intention is to print the book out to something akin to 300 pages (plus or minus) where those physical pages are 5.5 x 8.5. And to do that, it appears that I will need to print “two pages to a page” and then slice them in half, as discussed above. I get what you want to do, but I’m still not sure I get what your objective is. If the book is readable when the font/line spacing are reduced to make 300 full-size pages into a 300 page half-size book, why not just reduce the font and line spacing on the full-size copy and reduce the number of pages accordingly? How are you planning on binding the book? A larger book that is half (or less) the thickness of a smaller one may be easier for the reader to deal with for some bindings. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/27 "2015-08-17T22:27:00Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > If the book is readable when the font/line spacing are reduced to make 300 full-size pages into a 300 page half-size book, why not just reduce the font and line spacing on the full-size copy and reduce the number of pages accordingly? Ever toted a book around for pleasure reading? Diana Gabaldon, John MacDonald, J K Rowling? Would you prefer a physical form factor of 5.5 x 8.5, or 8.5 x 11? This is not me self-publishing in high volume. This is me creating a tiny handful of “examples” to put into a select few people’s hands. So never mind how I’m binding it, Staples will advise me. ---
**Author:** ![AdamF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/adamf/32/6246_2.png) [@AdamF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdamF)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/28 "2015-08-18T00:02:01Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Let’s try an [illustration](http://home.earthlink.net/~ah3files/Stuff/like%20this.jpg). Click linky, please. [See if this helps.](https://techinteract.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/print-microsoft-word-in-booklet-format/) (I do understand that instead of folding you want to cut the sheets in half, but the printing method is the same.) EDIT: Acrobat Reader should be able to print to file, so you can create a properly formatted PDF that you can take to Staples. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/29 "2015-08-18T00:56:40Z")
Before reading this thread, I did not know the term “imposition.” However, faced with such a task myself, I would perform the imposition by hand, after first making sure that each page retained its full text after being shrunk to the the desired size and oriented for landscape printing. OP, does your printer have a document feeder that will automatically reverse the paper and re-feed it, or do you have to take it in two passes to get two-sided pages printed? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/30 "2015-08-18T16:36:10Z")
**AdamF** , that link looks very promising. I can’t test it right at the moment due to the 6$#@@!@#! toner cartridge being out of toner. And of course Adobe Acrobat is uniquely unable to print to PDF. Expect to be able to test it later on. ---
**Author:** ![AdamF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/adamf/32/6246_2.png) [@AdamF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdamF)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/31 "2015-08-18T19:18:51Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > And of course Adobe Acrobat is uniquely unable to print to PDF. Adobe insists that it is able, after digging into [advanced settings](https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/quick-fix-print-pdf-image.html). Otherwise, a [virtual PDF printer](http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/49721/pdfwriter) is a good thing to have installed. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/32 "2015-08-22T00:23:15Z")
Home again, with working laser printer. This technique totally works 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064/33 "2015-08-22T15:16:53Z")
My mother has used this software for over 15 years and swears by it. > **[Booklet Printing - ClickBook for Windows](https://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/clickbook/)** > > Booklet printing - Turn anything you can print into reduced sized booklets, brochures, posters and banners. Free to try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-print-half-letter-size-pages-on-letter-size-printer/728064.md?page=1)