How do you create a double-sided file?

[angelarrakaj]

Hi guys,

Currently creating a small A5 menu for a restaurant and want to have a document that is double-sided so when it is printed, there will be writing on the front and back of one file? 

Does anyone know how to create this and if there is any other steps I need to include when creating this as well as printing?

Thanks

[angelarrakaj]

And just to clarify - I don't wish to use InDesign and wanting to use Photoshop only if possible. Thank!

[davescm · Accepted solution]

Photoshop only makes single page documents so you would need to make each side separately. To make multi-page documents use InDesign.

Dave

[angelarrakaj]

Oh okay - I thought so.

Thanks Dave, appreciate your help.

[davescm]

You could sort of fiddle it using art boards and the Print selected area function in the print dialogue but that would be awkward to do.  Printing as two docs or using InDesign will be much simpler.

Dave

[Derek Cross]

Additionally, 

– Don't forget to add 3mm bleed to each edge.

– Work in RGB color mode.

– When you've completed the job, Save it as a PDF for supplying your printer and select PDF/X-4 (unless s/he has given you a different spec) and include crop marks and tick Use Document Bleed Settings.

[angelarrakaj]

Cheers Derek - appreciate it

[jane-e]

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@angelarrakaj wrote:

...and if there is any other steps I need to include when creating this?

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Please note that Photshop does not allow you to set tabs, so you will not be able to set a right-aligned or decimal tab and your prices will not line up properly. Both InDesign and Illustrator allow you to set tabs, as does Microsoft Word.

~ Jane

[angelarrakaj]

thanks jane!

[Norman Sanders]

Your objective seems to be to print both the front and back of the menu at the same time. There is a commercial printing technique that makes it possible. It is called “work & turn” (also called “print & turn”) and a similar method called  “work & tumble” (also called “print & tumble”). 

It is keyed to feeding the paper stock into the press by its long dimension and printing both the front and back, side-by-side, then turning the paper over laterally and feeding the same leading edge into the press again. The advantage is that only one plate is required. You end, after cutting, with two copies of the menu from each sheet.

Since you are probably using a desktop printer that feeds paper into the machine by its short dimension, your layout will look like the one below. After printing one side, you would tumble the paper and feed the paper into the printer by its other short dimension.  The advantage is that only one file is required.

I am not familiar with A5 (148mm x 210mm) (5-13/16” x 8-1/4) and what size papers are available to you, so I will leave those details to you. Just remember, when you intend to turn or tumble the sheet, the center line must be consistent in its position on the sheet, bisecting it exactly.  

[angelarrakaj]

wow thank you norman - super useful!

[Conrad_C]

Some of your most important final choices depend on how you are going to get this printed. If it was going to a commercial printer on a press, it would have to follow some strict requirements like the PDF/X version and the bleed amount. But if this is for a single restaurant where the menu changes frequently, I am guessing you are going to print under 100 at a time on a desktop printer like a color laser printer that can print double-sided? If so, this can be much simpler…

…you could set it up as two artboards in Photoshop, then when you’re done, choose File > Export > Artboards to PDF. You’ll get a multi-page PDF file that you can either send to your own double-sided printer, or to a neighborhood print shop that is going to send it to a color laser printer/copier or short-run digital press. (I forgot to set my example’s page size to A5 so that part isn’t correct.)

One potential issue with Artboards to PDF is that it does not say which PDF/X standard it exports to. If you’re printing this on your own desktop printer, that probably doesn’t matter, just print it from Apple Preview or Adobe Acrobat and make sure double-sided printing is enabled in the printer settings. But if you are sending this out to be printed, have them look at the PDF file that Artboards to PDF creates and tell them to let you know if there are any problems with the format.

If you are printing on your own printer, you probably won’t need a bleed unless you have areas up against the edge and you’re trimming it. And I do agree with Jane that the menu text is probably going to have to be centered because Photoshop can’t do tabs to properly align the prices.

[angelarrakaj]

THANK YOU!!! life saver

[melissapiccone]

You can make 2 PS documents and combine them into a PDF for a double sided document. 

[angelarrakaj]

cheers, thank you!!