Since I can’t figure out how to do this using my fingers and toes I thought I would see if someone out there in SDMB land can give me a hand.
I am working on a address directory booklet for our church. The way they are going to make the booklet is really simple but it makes what I want to do really complicated, if that makes any sense. Here is how the booklet is made:
Take (for example) 10 pages of blank paper in a stack and place them in front of you in 'landscape/ orientation. Now fold the entire stack over from left to right. Staple the folded edge, and viola, a little booklet.
These will have to be printed before they are folded, and in printing this of course you have to take into account that each half of the printed landscape page has to have a different section of the directory on it.
For instance the very back of the stack of 10 has to have, on its back side, the very front of the book (cover art or whatever) and the very back of the book. On its front side it would have page ‘1’ (A’s) on one half and whatever the last page is (the Z’s) on the other half. Each half of a page will have 8 entries on it.
The next page in the stack would go the same way with page 2 and the second to last page on the back side, and page 3 and the 3rd from theback on the other side. This is hard to type but if you fold some paper I hope it will make sense.
So, after all that, here is the issue:
If you were doing this when you had a set number of pages it would be easy. You can just look at the example and determine where you need each section on each page. However, I need to do this DYNAMICALLY. I’ll be pulling the information from a database and as more addresses are created I need the pages to re-order themselves as necessary.
I am hoping there is some sort of mathmatical formula I can use based on the properties of this system that automatically calculate what page each set of 8 needs to go on. Any one have any ideas?
What you are talking about makes sense, but you might need to give a bit more information: what database or wordprocessing program are you using?, and what type of machinery are you using to print the result (computer printer, photo-copier, etc.)?
The mathematics is easy: if you have 4n pages, the the page numbers on one side of each sheet will add up to 4n + 1, with the odd-numbered page on the right-hand side. On the verso of each odd-numbered page is the page after it; and similarly on the verso of each even-numbered page is the page before it.
If I’m understanding your needs correctly, Word will do this for you automatically.
Go into File, Page Setup, Margins.
Next to multiple pages, select book fold. This will automatically put the pages into the right configuration to be printed as a booklet, no matter how many there are.
I’ll be using PHP to pull the info from a MYSQL database and loading it into a browser in a form where there would be 8 entries on each half of the page. My original idea was to break up each section of 8 and then use some sort of formula to pull the each section into the right spot on the page dynamically.
I’ll have to experiment with that fold book feature in Word. If it works then I am assuming I could just print out all the information alphabetically and let Word sort it out? Then I could just have them save the webpage, open it in Word, select the fold option, and print.