Exporting a saddle-stitch booklet from an InDesign file with more than one master page

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
February 16, 2023
2 replies
4147 views

Hello. I'm working on a file that needs to be exported as a saddle stitch booklet. I looked up on the process, followed every instruction and everything went well, but when the pdf was created all its pages were messed up because InDesign for some reason created extra blank pages upon export. I checked everything thoroughly and made sure the page count is correct (divisible by four) and after some trial-and-error I figured out that the reason is because I was using two master pages for the book. My temporary workaround is by applying the most used master page design on the entire book and manually pasting over the pages with the design of the other master, but is there an actual process to properly export the booklet with multiple master pages applied on the document?

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Correct answer James Gifford—NitroPress

Multiple Parent pages (the name was changed about a year ago) should not affect proper page layout in and of themselves, unless they are of different sizes. Unless you've done something really odd with the Parent pages, this is probably not the cause of the problems.

But the universal advice here is not to use InDesign's booklet printing/export feature. It's fussy and unreliable. Export the document to PDF with linear pages, and use Acrobat's booklet features instead.

That said, the usual second comment is that unless you are going to print this on a local/office printer, you should not need to do imposition (as this page-ordering process is called). Most printers accept book/booklet/brochure projects as linear pages, and use their press software (RIPs) to sort the pages for optimal printing given their master page size, bindery processes, etc.

If you have a printer requesting a file in booklet page order... you might want to find another printer. It's something of a flag that they don't know what they're doing, or are using very outdated procedures.

But if exporting to PDF doesn't solve your basic problem, give a little more detail on your Parent page and document setup and why you think that's causing the booklet/imposition problems.

Jumpenjax

Community Expert

Send this through package and it will save as a pdf too. You have the chance to change the pdf quality when you do this too. .

Lee- Graphic Designer, Print Specialist, Photographer

James Gifford—NitroPressCorrect answer

Legend

Multiple Parent pages (the name was changed about a year ago) should not affect proper page layout in and of themselves, unless they are of different sizes. Unless you've done something really odd with the Parent pages, this is probably not the cause of the problems.

But the universal advice here is not to use InDesign's booklet printing/export feature. It's fussy and unreliable. Export the document to PDF with linear pages, and use Acrobat's booklet features instead.

That said, the usual second comment is that unless you are going to print this on a local/office printer, you should not need to do imposition (as this page-ordering process is called). Most printers accept book/booklet/brochure projects as linear pages, and use their press software (RIPs) to sort the pages for optimal printing given their master page size, bindery processes, etc.

If you have a printer requesting a file in booklet page order... you might want to find another printer. It's something of a flag that they don't know what they're doing, or are using very outdated procedures.

But if exporting to PDF doesn't solve your basic problem, give a little more detail on your Parent page and document setup and why you think that's causing the booklet/imposition problems.

J

Julius B.Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you for the response. Upon further testing, I found an option in the Print Setting to "print blank pages" which I have left unchecked the entire time. After enabling it the exported booklet pdf didn't have any more issues.

Sadly I am not in the position to make decisions for the client. I know I shouldn't be doing this in the first place, but admittedly I am still not entirely familiar with InDesign. I'm taking these endeavors as opportunities to learn more about the software, as consolation if nothing else.

Thank you for taking the time to providing the info and insight to guide me to the right direction. Have a good day

rob day

Community Expert

All I know is that the company I'm working for has been doing business with this printer for years. However, this is the first time they have made such a request. My guess is that they have someone else dealing with the proofing stage and is printing the booklets separately, just as you have surmised, for this purpose. I'm still required to deliver the finalized packaged files in the end, so I have faith that they're using the prepress ready pdfs for actual mass production.

All I know is that the company I'm working for has been doing business with this printer for years. However, this is the first time they have made such a request.

Sounds like a miscommunication—as the designer it’s unlikely that you know all the press and binding variables needed to provide the correct imposition. Do they really want a 2-up imposition—is the press sheet that small? What’s the sheet thickness—do they need a creep adjustment and how much?

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