To create an imposed booklet PDF in Affinity on Mac, use File > Print, choose Booklet under Document Layout, then select PDF > Save as PDF. Affinity documents this route for saving reordered booklet sheets. Affinity’s Print help

This guide covers one task: turning a page-based Affinity document into a PDF arranged for a simple folded booklet. It follows the current Affinity desktop help and includes a numbered example you can use to check the result before printing.

Why the booklet workflow uses Print

Affinity’s documented booklet imposition belongs to the Print workflow. Its PDF Export settings describe All Pages as separate PDF pages and All Spreads as one PDF page per existing document spread. Those settings describe the document’s layout; they do not specify booklet rearrangement. Export Settings

That distinction determines which file you need. A reading spread might contain pages 2 and 3, which readers see together. An imposed sheet side pairs pages according to where they belong after folding. Simply exporting adjacent pages together does not accomplish that rearrangement.

Required result Documented route
PDF with individual document pages Export with Area: All Pages
PDF preserving existing document spreads Export with Area: All Spreads
PDF with pages imposed for a folded booklet Print with Model: Booklet, then Save as PDF

The first two options follow Affinity’s Export Settings; the third follows its Print instructions. For this task, use the third route.

Prepare the document before imposing it

Use a page-based, facing-pages document at the intended finished page size. Make the page count divisible by four, adding intentional blank pages where necessary. Affinity gives A5 pages imposed onto A4 sheets as an example. Print

Keep the working document in reading order. For a neutral eight-page sample, place a large page number and a short label such as “Sample 1” through “Sample 8” on the corresponding pages. This makes the eventual arrangement easy to inspect without relying on detailed artwork.

Count blank pages as part of the booklet. For example, if your sample contains six content pages, decide where two additional blank pages belong before producing the PDF. Deliberate blanks make the result easier to evaluate than unexplained empty positions.

Run Check Now on the Preflight panel before output. Affinity’s checks can identify overflowing text frames, missing fonts, missing or outdated linked resources, and low-resolution placed images, depending on the active profile. Double-click a reported issue to locate it. Preflight

Treat preflight and the booklet check as separate jobs. Preflight helps find document-content problems. Your numbered sample and folded proof establish whether the output has the arrangement you intended. A document with no reported preflight issues still needs that practical check.

Create the imposed PDF in the Mac Print dialog

With the document ready, follow these settings in Affinity’s Mac Print dialog:

  1. Choose File > Print.
  2. Set Fit Type to Scale and Scale to 100%.
  3. Near the top of the settings, choose the output Paper Size—for example, A4 for A5 document pages.
  4. In Document Layout, set Model to Booklet.
  5. Inspect the preview.
  6. Open the dialog’s PDF pop-up menu and select Save as PDF.

These are the controls documented in Affinity’s Print help.

In the save dialog, enter a filename and choose a destination. A descriptive name such as sample-booklet-imposed.pdf helps distinguish this file from an ordinary page-order export. Apple documents the filename and location step in its Save a document as a PDF on Mac guide.

Save the PDF first, then open that saved file for inspection. Checking the actual deliverable gives you a useful checkpoint: you can distinguish a file-arrangement problem from a later printer-setting problem.

Check the result with an eight-page example

The following is an illustrative check for a conventional left-to-right, eight-page booklet with one fold and two nested sheets. It is a paper-layout calculation, not a report of an Affinity test.

Sheet One side, left to right Reverse side, left to right
Outer sheet 8 · 1 2 · 7
Inner sheet 6 · 3 4 · 5

Eight finished pages occupy two physical sheets because each sheet carries two pages on each side: 8 ÷ 4 = 2 sheets. The corresponding imposed PDF should therefore contain four sheet-side pages, each carrying two document pages. The table describes the pairings; inspect your saved PDF to establish its actual sequence and orientation.

Check three things before producing the full booklet:

  • Pairing: the outside cover pair is 8 beside 1, and the center pair is 4 beside 5.
  • Completeness: every sample number appears once, with intentional blank positions accounted for.
  • Assembly: after a two-sided test print, nesting and folding the sheets produces pages 1 through 8 in reading order.

Use a simple numbered proof to diagnose mistakes. If the saved PDF has incorrect pairings, return to Affinity’s output settings. If the PDF’s pairings look correct but the printed reverse sides are upside down, investigate the final printing orientation before rearranging the source document.

When printing the already imposed PDF, preserve its sheet-side layout rather than applying another booklet rearrangement. This follows from the file’s purpose: each PDF page already represents a side of an output sheet. Applying a second imposition would rearrange an arrangement you have already checked.

Understand the PDF export limitations

The documented Print-to-PDF route establishes booklet arrangement. It does not establish that the resulting PDF uses an Affinity PDF/X export preset. Affinity documents PDF compatibility, font embedding, color settings, bleed, and printer’s marks separately under Export settings. Do not assume a preset chosen in Export also governs Print > Save as PDF. Export Settings

Preset names also deserve a closer look. Affinity’s comparison table lists PDF (for print) as PDF 1.7 with the document’s color space, while PDF (press ready) uses CMYK. The PDF/X presets have their own settings. These are documented export contracts, not additional Booklet controls in the Print dialog. Compare PDF export presets

If the recipient requires both imposed sheets and a particular PDF standard, confirm both requirements before handing over the file. The documentation supports the imposed PDF workflow described here, but it does not document a combined “Booklet plus PDF/X export” operation. A filename containing “print” or a visually correct page arrangement cannot establish PDF/X conformance.

If individual pages are requested instead, Affinity documents File > Export > Export, selecting a PDF preset, choosing the output Area, adjusting the required settings, and saving. That is a different deliverable from this article’s imposed booklet PDF. Publishing PDF files

Resolve problems before making another PDF

Start with the symptom closest to the failed result. If pages or text are missing, inspect the source document and run preflight again. Its findings depend on the selected profile, so review the relevant checks rather than assuming every issue type is enabled. Preflight

If the result contains ordinary reading spreads, compare the route you used with the decision table above. All Spreads preserves document spreads; the documented imposition route uses Booklet in Print. Changing image resolution or compression cannot substitute for choosing the required page arrangement. Export Settings

Keep the editable document, the imposed PDF, and the numbered proof together until the output is settled. Finish by checking the saved PDF and folding a small test copy. That gives you a concrete result to assess: complete content, correct page pairings, and a booklet that reads in sequence.

Sources