Expert: Ken Black - 6/8/2009

Question
Hi. I'm doing a small 17page booklet for my school project.
The size I'm planning to use is 5"x7" , double sided Printed on A4. Will this size setting mess cause the printer to print the pages unevenly on both sides ? or will it print out perfectly on both sides?



an additional question: everytime I print, it seems to come out a lot darker than what it looks like on the screen(rgb_. Then I tried changing it to cmyk and it still came out dark.

Answer
Hi Raziq,

The size you are using should not cause any significant problems when backing up. This of course depends on the printer that you use. For instance if this will be printed in professional setting, the imposition will be done by the print shop themselves, if you are printing this on a home or office printer, you may have to alter your positioning manually depending on the printer's individual maximum margin area.

Your real problem here will be with your page count. Booklets are printed in even page counts of 4. If you will be printing this professionally you will need to have a page count divisible by 4. This allows for the printer to impose the pages into 4 page signatures. A single signature involves 2 spreads, front and back, of 2 pages each. Once printed, these signatures are folded in half and then collated and stitched together to form your book. By using a page count not divisible by 4, you will have blank pages to fill the gap.

If you are only printing this on a printer from home or school and will only have single sheets, front and back, then you will only have 1 blank page, or side in this case.

The answer to your second question is a classic case of monitor vs. printer calibration. You can find detailed information on this issue here: http://www.bestprintingonline.com/monitors.htm