Imposition
Reordering pages on a press sheet so folding and trimming turn them back into a correctly numbered booklet or book.
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What it is
Imposition is the press-sheet puzzle: pages are repositioned, rotated, and repeated so they land in reading order after the sheet is printed, folded, trimmed, and bound. In a 16-page saddle-stitched signature, page 16 sits beside page 1 even though those pages are far apart in the document.
For a booklet, book, or gang-run job, the imposition plan also controls gripper space, bleed, creep, and how many copies fit per sheet. Adobe InDesign's Print Booklet can make simple printer spreads, while dedicated imposition software such as Kodak Preps handles full signatures.
Gotcha: reader spreads are not imposed spreads. Most printers want single pages in reading order and impose them in their own RIP, so sending a hand-imposed PDF without being asked can duplicate the work and break bleed, creep, or binding.
Ask AI for it
Impose this booklet in Adobe InDesign with Print Booklet set to 2-up Saddle Stitch. Add blank pages until the count is a multiple of four, keep 3mm bleed on every outside edge, place crop marks outside the bleed, calculate creep from the finished stock thickness, and return both the imposed PDF and a page-pair map for the front and back of every sheet.