Cut a PDF into signature files
Hand binders print signatures, not books — and a print dialog that will only do ranges by hand makes thirteen careful number-pairs out of one 200-page file. This cuts the PDF into signature-sized chunks, one PDF each, zipped and named in sewing order, with the last one squared up with blanks if the arithmetic isn't exact. Then each chunk goes through the booklet imposer for printing.
One zip, named in folding order — because thirteen downloads in a row is twelve you'll miscount.
The workflow it serves
From one long PDF to a sewn book:
- Plan the signaturesThe signature planner says how many chunks and where the blanks go — this tool does the same arithmetic on the actual file.
- Split, here16 or 32 pages per signature, padded or not, one zip in your downloads with files named “signature 01 of 13” and up.
- Impose each signatureEach chunk through the booklet imposer, printed duplex, folded as one unit — then stack in numbered order and sew through the folds.
Questions people actually ask
Does my PDF get uploaded anywhere?
No. The chunks are cut and zipped in your browser's memory; JSZip is the only machinery and it runs in the same tab. Your manuscript never leaves your machine.
Should I pad the last signature?
If the next step is folding: yes — a short final signature folds crooked and sews worse. If you're splitting for reading or review, switch padding off.
16 or 32 pages per signature?
Hand folders: 16 (four sheets). Machine or binder-bound: 32. The planner's table shows the trade — fewer sewings versus more creep.
Can it impose at the same time?
Deliberately not — splitting and imposing are separate decisions, and tools that combine them hide the one you actually wanted to change. Split here, impose each chunk next; both are free and both are fast.
The studio hands the print shop exactly these — signature-imposed, in order.
See it work — freeThis is one of the tools — or see everything we’ve written.