1. Set up the print
2. Pick up the printed paper
The printed sheets lie in a stack. Drag the top sheet to turn it over: left or right turns it like a book page, up or down turns it like a calendar page. It lands beside the stack with its back facing up, and the next sheet appears. Drag it back to undo. Drag anywhere outside the paper to rotate the whole view, in any direction and all the way around. The text under the preview tells you which pages you are looking at and which way up they are.
Sheet 1 of 8
Reset:
Long edge or short edge: which one do I need?
Flip on long edge and Flip on short edge name an edge of the paper, not a direction. The printer prints the back so that it reads the right way up after you turn the sheet over that edge. Which way that is depends on how you hold the sheet:
- Portrait (tall) sheet: the long edges are the left and right sides, so flipping on the long edge means turning it sideways, like a book.
- Landscape (wide) sheet: the long edges are the top and bottom, so flipping on the long edge means turning it top over bottom, like a wall calendar.
Turn a sheet over the other edge and its back comes out exactly upside down.
| How the sheet reads | How people will turn it | Choose |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Sideways, like a book | Flip on long edge |
| Portrait | Top over bottom, like a notepad | Flip on short edge |
| Landscape | Sideways, like a book | Flip on short edge |
| Landscape | Top over bottom, like a calendar or flip chart | Flip on long edge |
| 2 pages per sheet (the sheet becomes landscape) | Sideways | Flip on short edge |
| Booklet | Sideways | Reader sets it for you |
Why is the back of my landscape printout upside down?
On a landscape sheet the long edges are the top and bottom, so Flip on long edge prints the back for turning the sheet top over bottom. Turn it sideways instead and the back is upside down. Choose Flip on short edge if people will turn the pages sideways. To see it for yourself, set Page shape to Landscape above, tick Print on both sides of paper, then drag the top sheet left and compare with dragging it up.
Which flip setting do I need for 2 pages per sheet?
Two pages per sheet puts two portrait pages side by side on a landscape sheet, so choose Flip on short edge if the sheets will be turned sideways. The same usually applies to 6 pages per sheet. With 4, 9 or 16 pages per sheet the sheet usually stays portrait, so Flip on long edge is right.
How do I print a booklet in Adobe Reader?
In the Print window, choose Booklet under Page Sizing & Handling, set Booklet subset to Both sides and Binding to Left (or Right for right-to-left languages). Reader puts the pages in folding order and adds blank pages to make a multiple of four. Fold the stack in half and staple along the fold. Fold into a booklet in the preview shows the result. If the backs come out upside down, set your printer's own two-sided setting to flip on the short edge.
What do Size, Poster, Multiple and Booklet do?
- Size: one page per sheet, scaled with Fit, Actual size, Shrink oversized pages or a custom percentage.
- Poster: one large page split across several sheets that you tape together, with optional overlap, cut marks and labels.
- Multiple: several pages on each sheet (2, 4, 6, 9, 16 or your own grid), in the page order you pick.
- Booklet: pages arranged so the printed sheets can be folded into a booklet.
Can I try it with my own PDF?
Yes. Choose a file next to Or use your own PDF at the top, or drop it anywhere on this page. Your PDF is opened inside your browser and never uploaded. Its comments and form fields are either all shown or all hidden (choose Document to hide them), so use the example document to see what each Comments & Forms choice does.