Alex Ruben
How To Print a Booklet Style in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader: A Complete Guide
Printing in a booklet style is kinda weird sometimes. If you’ve ever tried it, you know it’s not as simple as checking a box. Usually, the pages come out all out of order, or the double-sided stuff doesn’t line up. The idea is to make a neat little foldable booklet that looks professional — perfect for manuals, presentations, or even zines. But getting it right means jumping through the right hoops, especially if your printer isn’t exactly built for booklet mode. This guide walks through the real-world steps, using Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader 2025, to help you make it happen, even if everything looks complicated at first glance.
How to Print Booklet Style in Microsoft Word & Adobe Reader 2025
Save the Word Document as a PDF — Without It, You’re Dead in the Water
First off, you need to convert your Word doc into a PDF. That’s because Adobe Reader’s booklet printing features work best with PDFs. Here’s how to do that:
- Open your Word file, obviously. Then go to File > Save As.
- Choose where to save it and, in the Save as type dropdown, pick
PDF. - Hit Save. Now you’ve got a PDF version of your document, which is way easier to manipulate for booklet printing.
Pro tip: make sure your document layout looks good before saving — messed-up margins or weird page breaks will come back to haunt you later.
Open Your PDF in Adobe Reader — Because Google Chrome Just Won’t Do
Next, find that PDF you just made. Right-click on it, choose Open with > Adobe Acrobat Reader (if that’s your default, double-click works). Adobe’s got the right tools, plain and simple.
On some setups, opening the PDF directly from the file explorer works better than trying to preview it in-browser, just so you’re aware.
Access the Print Dialog & Set Up for Booklet
When your document is open, go to File > Print or hit Ctrl + P. The print settings window pops up.
Here’s where it gets fun. Look for the section named Page Sizing & Handling. In Adobe Reader, you should see a dropdown or options that include Booklet. If it’s not showing, you might need to update Adobe Reader, because versions earlier than 2025 could lack this feature.
Click on Booklet — this rearranges your pages into the correct order for folding. If your printer supports duplex (double-sided) printing, keep that in mind; otherwise, prepare to do it manually.
Print the Back Side — Because Starting with the End is Easier
Depending on your printer, you might want to print the back sides first. In the print dialog, find the Booklet subset dropdown and choose Back side only. This tells Adobe to print only the pages that make up the backs of your booklet.
Hit Print and watch it go. Sometimes, on some printers or driver setups, the printing might fail or skip pages. It’s kind of weird, but just recheck your settings and try again.
Reinsert the Printed Pages — In the Right Orientation
Once that’s done, take the printed back pages out and reinsert into your printer’s input tray. Make sure they go in the correct orientation — if unsure, print a test page first. The goal: to ensure the front of the page is facing the right way when printed again.
Tip: make sure the pages are aligned properly, so they don’t feed crooked. It’s annoying when pages get skewed mid-print, and you’ll have to do it all over again.
Print the Front Side — Almost There
Go back to the print dialogue, and this time select Front side only under Booklet subset. Hit Print again. Hopefully, this works smoothly, but watch out for weird page order issues. If so, double-check your page order and orientation.
On certain setups, Adobe sometimes fails to produce perfect layouts the first go. Repeating this step sometimes adjusts things.
Finish Up & Fold — Turn It Into a Real Booklet
Once everything’s printed, stack your pages in order, fold them in half along the middle crease. Voilà — you’ve got a booklet. Just be gentle at first; the fold can be tricky depending on paper thickness.
Pro tip: double-check the order before folding. Nothing worse than a reversed chapter or two at the end of your “book.”
Extra Tips & Common Pitfalls
- Double-check your printer’s double-sided setting. If it doesn’t have duplex, you’ll need to do the pages manually, flipping and refeeding.
- Always preview the print layout before hitting print, especially in Adobe, to avoid wasting paper.
- Use some decent paper if the booklet’s for presentation — cheap paper tends to look amateurish.
Fair warning: Sometimes, Adobe Reader’s booklet feature is temperamental. The first time you try it, it might not work perfectly. If that happens, restarting Adobe or your PC can help, or try printing one page at a time using custom settings — yikes.
Summary
- Convert Word docs to PDF in Save As > PDF
- Open in Adobe Reader, go to File > Print
- Select Booklet layout in print options
- Print the back pages first, then the front, refeeding properly
- Fold and assemble, enjoy your homemade booklet
Wrap-up
All in all, it’s not super straightforward, but once it clicks, printing booklets becomes kinda manageable. Just a mix of correct settings, some trial and error, and a bit of patience. Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone. Fingers crossed this helps you finally get that booklet to look right without tearing your hair out.