Booklet printing previews with wrong page size for 2-page spread

[BurtonDev]

I've created a document on half-letter size pages in two page spreads. It prints on letter size paper which is then cut in half down the middle and punched for binding.

When I create the booklet in Adobe InDesign and export to PDF it works no problem and prints as desired. But I want to be able to export a normal PDF (with the pages in the proper sequence for reading, not printing) and give the user the option to print a booklet.

The PDF looks and prints fine, but when I select the booklet option for printing in either Adobe Acrobat Pro or Reader, the preview shows the 2-page spread shrunk down to half the size. This means that they will print four pages (i.e. two spreads) in the center of one side of the paper, with a lot of white space on the top and bottom.

Why is it forcing two 2-page spreads to be printed on the same side of the paper and shrinking them down? Is it an issue with Adobe Acrobat or with the way I exported the document in InDesign? I exported 2-page spreads because that's how I want the user to view the document, but I want them to be able to print a booklet so that the pages will be in the right order when printing. This should affect the order of the pages, not the size of the spreads. Acrobat should be able to break up the 2-page spreads into separate pages to reorder into new 2-page spreads for printing.

Please help! Thank you!

[BobLevine]

This is not an InDesign issue. Try asking the Acrobat forum.

You’re likely to get a lot more help there.

[rob day · Accepted solution]

I exported 2-page spreads because that's how I want the user to view the document

You can't export as spreads without doubling the page dimensions.

If you want the PDF to be viewed as facing page spreads in Reader, export Pages and use General>Viewing>Layout to set the initial view.

If you are using an older version of ID and there's no Viewing option you can set the initial view options in AcrobatPro under Document Properties>Initial View