[pdftex] producing a5 booklets from a4

[Hans Hagen]

At 02:06 PM 10/8/2002 +0100, Kester Clegg wrote:
>Hans Hagen <pragma at wxs.nl> writes:
>
>[...]
>
> > >When I run that command (texexec --pdfarr --paper=A5A4
> > >--print=up) on a pdf document here, the a5 booklet has the cover
> > >correct, the second page positioned identically to the first, which is
> > >wrong for a book. The third is correct and so on.  That means the left
> > >hand and right hand margins are the *wrong way round* on the second
> > >page.  Facing pages should mirror their margin spacing (placing the
> > >mirror along the binding), so that the space either side of the binding
> > >is always equal.  At the moment, it's unequal which is unattractive and
> > >like no professionally produced book on earth!
> >
> > hm, but is your original typeset as doublesided book? it's up to your
> > macro package to produce the mirrored margins, isn't it? since the
> > postprocessor has no knowlegde about the page layout.
> >
>
>No, as I said.  I want something that does what psbook & psnup can do.
> >From the man page
>
>DESCRIPTION
>         Psbook rearranges pages from a PostScript document into
>         ``signatures'' for printing books or booklets, creating a new
>         PostScript file.
>
>It rearranges pages from an existing ps document, I don't think whether
>it's double-sided makes any difference - unless the problem is with our
>printer's duplex function?  But I don't think so.  I had hoped texexec

then try texexec with --noduplex

>was doing the rearranging in a similar fashion for existing pdf
>documents, but it appears it doesn't, or doesn't quite.

When you want to arrange an arbitrary single sided document with an 
assymetrical layout automatically, the arranging app really needs to know 
about the margins, page dimensions, etc.

texexec is a wrapper around the page imposition built into context and that 
mechanism is rather versatile in producing n*m sheets, but it has to know 
what it is dealing with

if you have an symmetrical layout (text area centered on page), texexec 
should work ok; if you have an assymmetrical layout typeset single sided, 
you can let texexec play a bit with the margins using the --backspace 
directive, but again, you need to know what the margins are.

If you have an asymetrical layout typeset doublesided (i.e. with swapped 
margins, aka backspace in context) on the right paper size, texexec should 
handle that ok automatically

if you need to start at another page, you can add empty pages (or first add 
a titlepage) wherever you want;

texexec --help pdfarr :

TeXExec 3.1 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2002

          --pdfarrange   arrange pdf pages
            --addempty   add empty page after
          --background
                           =string  : background graphic
           --backspace   inner margin of the page
            --markings   add cutmarks
            --noduplex   single sided
               --paper   paper format
         --paperoffset   room left at paper border
           --textwidth   width of the original (one sided) text
            --topspace   top/bottom margin of the page
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Hans Hagen | PRAGMA ADE | pragma at wxs.nl
                       Ridderstraat 27 | 8061 GH Hasselt | The Netherlands
  tel: +31 (0)38 477 53 69 | fax: +31 (0)38 477 53 74 | www.pragma-ade.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        information: http://www.pragma-ade.com/roadmap.pdf
                     documentation: http://www.pragma-ade.com/showcase.pdf
-------------------------------------------------------------------------