Split A4 page into A7 sections

[Chris P. Bacon]

I print A7 booklets using my own printer and A4 paper (that I am going to cut in 8 pieces of A7 pages, each), doing my own hand-made binding.

How do I create A4 templates that have A7 templates incorporated in them so that I could edit each A7 page also separately, yet keep them incorporated in the A4 pages?

Can InDesign do nested templates?

The margins should cascade proportionally for both A4 and A7.

Or I should just do A7 pages, and then when printing, choose to print them all on an A4, but how?

I need both the A4 and A7 views because the full booklet will be cut out from multiple A4.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Do what? It's a statement that your app, your print driver settings and your printer have to be using the same size paper. That's pretty basic knowledge and practice. There's no hidden message there.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Removed some more space with the use of the printer settings:

At the form lenght 127 is the maximum (this is somehting I assume is the height of the print area in portrait orientation) but when I try to save the bottom margin with zero lines, it jumps back to 3 when saving.

However in this window is where I managed to eliminate some space visible in my comparison in the screenshot.

Must set paper size to custom to eliminate non printing space, but I have set the custom to A4.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Playing around with various free Android advanced print apps and Brother apps and setting I almost entirely removed the left and right print margins, despite that Brother support told me that 3 mm is unremovable on each side due to hardware limitations. That's more like 1.5 mm, on the 2 sides, left.

But I still cannot access legacy SCP settings (see screenshot in my  previous post in this thread) from Android because it would be handy to print from mobile.

Does anyone know how I do that from mobile phones?

And still couldn't remove the bottom 3 lines from the legacy SCP settings from the PC interface, it would jump back to 3 lines when I try to save 1 or 0 lines. Why?

If someone has a Brother printer and could see how much margins can be removed?

"Fit to paper size" instead of fit to page size should remove any driver imposed margins, right?

Now I am getting a Canon PIXMA TR150 that can do borderless printing on A4 out of desperation that I can't solve this issue, which is twice as cheap printer than the Brother PJ-883.

[Chris P. Bacon]

If anyone has Brother printers that won't do borderless printing, can figure out how to get the same thin print margins on the top and bottom, like I got on my monkey print above, on the sides?

The rolling mechanism is on the sides, so I am sure if on the sides there was no hardware limitation, it wouldn't be on the top and bottom either.

Or at least to figure out how to enter SCP legacy settings that I made a screenshot previously on PC , on mobile, preferably Android?

And to get the same thin print margin that I posted previously, but from mobile?

Fit to paper instead of fit to page should remove all driver margins, right?

I am.getting a Canon PIXMA tr350 that can do borderless, out of desperation that I cannot remove borders, but I only need this for image transfer, tracing to artist papers, from digital, so a portable mini printer like the Pocketjet PJ-883 would be better, if I could remove the margins (more).

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I don't think any new solutions have arisen in the last three months. If you want borderless prints, you have three options:

1.  Print on a larger sheet and cut down to borderless size.
2.  Print on a (usually photo-grade) printer that does borderless printing, usually using costly ink and paper.
3.  There is no third option no matter how much you try to trick the print drivers.

It does seem characteristic, though, that you've spent months struggling and agonizing over getting rid of literally mm-wide margins... while printing at what resembles old fax machine resolution and quality.

[Chris P. Bacon]

Say you don't know or don't say anything instead of coming with your characteristic answer that doesn't answer my question.

You said from the beginning of this thread that I can't remove more borders, since then I advanced twice:

first, compare the 2 sheets with the numbers printed on tthat I posted in my previous screenshots in this thread, on the second, there are less borders.

Then look at the monkey print, I further removed borders.

So it's clear you are not on it, just come with patronizing downvoter tones.

I am still on it.

And you just ignore the rest of the issue, like the 3 lines on the bottom, and the SCP settings from mobile.

If you can't help, it's better to stay silent.

And your comment on print quality is also irrelevant as I mentioned that I only use this for tracing and digital image transfer for art.

[conny_0516]

So I bumped into a similar problem and read all the comments here, then I was stuck.. but then I asked chatGPT 😉  and there rolled out a wonderfull solution, so I love to share it with you. I have used your question to ask chatGPT, (English is not my native language and your question was so clear) Enjoy the bookmaking! : 

Solution: 

Yes, InDesign can handle nested templates, which is a great way to design and manage A7 pages on A4 sheets. The key to this is setting up a master document in A4 size and placing A7-sized pages within it. Here’s how you can approach this step-by-step:

### Steps to Create A7 Pages Nested in A4 Pages in InDesign

1. **Create a Master A7 Template:**

   - First, create a new document with the dimensions of A7 (74mm x 105mm or 2.9” x 4.1”).

   - Design or leave space for content that will go on each A7 page.

   - You can use this document as a template for each A7 page you need. Each page will be designed individually.

2. **Set Up the A4 Document for Printing:**

   - Create a new A4 document (210mm x 297mm or 8.3” x 11.7”).

   - Use margins and guides to divide the A4 page into 8 sections, each representing the size of A7 (you'll need 2 rows and 4 columns).

   - This grid will help you place the A7 pages in the right position for easy cutting and folding.

3. **Place A7 Pages in the A4 Document:**

   - In the A4 document, use the **"Place"** command (File > Place) to import the individual A7 InDesign files you created. 

   - Place each A7 page into its corresponding section of the A4 grid.

   - As you place the A7 files, InDesign maintains links to the original documents. This allows for dynamic updates—when you update the A7 template, it automatically updates in the A4 layout.  🙂

4. **Design or Edit Individual A7 Pages:**

   - When you need to update the content of any A7 page, simply edit the corresponding A7 InDesign file. 

   - Once the changes are saved, the A4 document will automatically reflect those changes because of the linked file.

5. **Print and Bind:**

   - Once all the A7 pages are laid out on the A4 sheets, you can print them. After printing, you can cut the pages along the grid and bind them by hand.

### Key Benefits of This Approach

- **Editable A7 Pages:** Each A7 page is editable as a separate document while still being part of the A4 layout.

- **Dynamic Linking:** Changes made to the A7 templates are automatically updated in the A4 document.

- **Efficient Layout for Printing:** The A4 document is formatted for easy printing, cutting, and binding, with the exact positions of the A7 pages.

This process effectively creates a nested system in which the A7 pages exist as independent, editable files within an A4 printing template. It's perfect for small booklet production like yours, where you need flexibility and control over individual pages and the final print layout.

Voila! So cool right? 

[leo.r]

So I bumped into a similar problem and read all the comments here, then I was stuck.. but then I asked chatGPT 😉  and there rolled out a wonderfull solution

Voila! So cool right? 

By conny_0516

In all fairness, this was one of the first solutions offered on this thread back in March 2023 by @Peter Spier:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/split-a4-page-into-a7-sections/td-p/13695569#:~:...