How do we setup a booklet for folding and stapling in the gutter?

[StephenSacramento]

We are creating a new booklet of about 60-80 pages we hope to print from Word
2003 files sent to the in-office HP rinter until we can email the files to a
local printing company who will print the document, cut the paper into the
final size from sheets to the final user's size of a Passport book size 3
5/16" x 4 15/16".

The original data for the booklet is currently in a format of 8 1/2"x11"
sheets. The desired end is to have the booklet sized to fit in a shirt pocket
when gutter-stapled.

Is Word 2003 the better choice for this, or Publisher 2003? None of the
templates for either is a match for what we are intending to do.

How do we need to setup the document so that the print-shop people will have
the least setup issues and will receive the pages in an order that will
translate into booklet format?

We might need to limit ourselves to creating the booklet in a two-page per
sheet format using 8 1/2x11" paper oriented to landscape format instead of
portrait in order to use a standard printer in the office.

Thanks for any feedback,
Stephen

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

I would suggest that you ask the Print Shop how they would like to receive
it.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You can use "Book fold" to create a 2-page-per-sheet booklet, but unless you
start with smaller paper, you can't make it the size you describe: if
printed on 8.5" x 11" paper, it will be a 5.5" x 8.5" booklet. You could
start with that (the pages would be in the right order) and let the
(commercial) printer reduce it. Keep in mind that you'll need to oversize
the fonts. Alternatively, you could create a booklet the desired size by
increasing the margins; just be aware that there is a bug in "Book fold"
that reverses the Inside and Outside margins, so your Outside margin is
actually the gutter margin. Doing it this way, you could use the target font
sizes (no need for reduction).

You might also consult the print shop about the desired format; my printer
wants books as single pages, converted to PDF; he then performs the
imposition in-house.

 

[StephenSacramento]

Thank you, Doug. I will contact a print shop as you suggest.
Stephen

 

[StephenSacramento]

Thank you, Suzanne. The response you submitted was very helpful in the many
laters of a solution you suggested. Your insight about the gutter margins
being set as Outside Margin is a tremendous tip! It might have been an entire
day wasted attempting to understand and troubleshoot that bug. I bet the
developers blush at such an "undocumented feature".

Thank you again for your fine reply. Now, it is time to test what you
conveyed.

warm regards,

Stephen