[scribus] Using Scribus for book-signature layout

[Peter Nermander]

> If you self-print your book in a copyshop then you need your own imposition.
> If not, your commercial printer will do it for you, as it is not easy
> and depends on his specific machines.

> Have you thought about podofo tools?

I think that Quantum Elephants Bookbinder is easier for the average user.

http://quantumelephant.co.uk/bookbinder/bookbinder.html

I just made a test run. I created a 36 page document in Scribus, pages
5.5"x8.5" with .5" margins. Created a master page with a frame aligned
with the margins, entered a 120pt centered page number. The frame was
set with a 1 pt black border (so I can see whether pages are scaled or
not and that the position on the sheet is correct). Then I exported to
PDF.

I opened the PDF in Bookbinder, entered a custom page size (in
points). Note that bookbinder reports the input file page size in the
upper left box so I just duplicated those numbers as page size. I am
not sure if you need to set the page size, it might work top let it
use the "Full page" option.

Finally I had to enter a custom signatures setup, Bookbinder expects
the numbers of sheets in each signature, so I entered "3 3 3". I
wanted 3 sheets (of 4 pages) in each signature and had 36 pages.

I just printed the signatures and folded them and from what I can tell
they came out perfect.

/Peter