makebook

A CLI tool to convert a regular PDF into a booklet-printable PDF. Rearranges pages into 2-up layout with proper pairing for booklet printing, then folding and stapling into signatures.

Features

• 2-up booklet imposition: pairs pages as (1,last), (2,last-1), ... on landscape sheets
• Automatic padding: odd-page-count PDFs get a blank page appended
• Split mode: generate separate odd-sheet and even-sheet PDFs for manual duplex (double-sided) printing
• Reverse page order: output in reverse order for printers that deposit face-up
• Dry-run mode: validate without writing output files

Quick start

1. Install dependencies (pnpm is recommended):

pnpm install

2. Build:

pnpm run build

3. Run (dev mode):

pnpm run dev -- input.pdf -o output.pdf

Usage

makebook [options] <input>

Options

| Option | Description | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | -o, --output <file> | Output PDF file (default: booklet.pdf) | | --dry-run | Validate without writing output files | | --split | Generate separate odd-sheet and even-sheet PDFs for manual duplex printing | | --page-order <order> | Page order: normal (default) or reverse (for printers that deposit face-up) |

Examples

Basic booklet conversion:

makebook input.pdf -o booklet.pdf

Split mode (for manual duplex printing):

makebook input.pdf --split -o booklet.pdf
# Output: odd-booklet.pdf (front sides), even-booklet.pdf (back sides)

Split + reverse (for face-up printers):

makebook input.pdf --split --page-order reverse -o booklet.pdf
# Output: odd-booklet-reverse.pdf, even-booklet-reverse.pdf

Reverse only (single file in reverse order):

makebook input.pdf --page-order reverse -o booklet.pdf

Dry run (no files written):

makebook input.pdf --split --dry-run