This article describes how to arrange several pages of a multipage document on a paper sheet and print them using Print Conductor.
Apart from being a powerful batch printing software, Print Conductor can rearrange PDF and other documents' layout to print multiple pages per sheet. Printing multiple pages on one sheet (it is also called N-up printing) can arrange data in a compact way and save paper. You can set the number of pages and specify how the pages are placed – either horizontally across the page or in vertical columns.
How to print multiple pages on one page
Print Conductor lets you print several pages of a multipage document onto a single sheet of paper.
To print several pages on one sheet:
- Select a printer that you want to use (on the program main window);
- Add your multipage document(s) into Print Conductor;
- Go to Settings > Advanced;
- Find section Multiple pages per sheet (start typing "multiple" in the search bar);
- Check the box next to Enabled to activate this feature.
Below the Enabled entry, you can change the layout parameters:
- Horizontal pages on the sheet (set the number of pages arranged horizontally)
- Vertical pages on the sheet (set the number of pages arranged vertically)
- Horizontal space (set horizontal margins)
- Vertical space (set vertical margins)
- Draw rectangular frame (add a frame around each page)
- Frame color (select frame color)
Below is the resultant 9-page Microsoft Word document (with added page numbers) as an example:
Let's say you have a document containing 20 pages and want to arrange pages 3 x 3 (three pages vertically and three pages horizontally per sheet). This way, you'll get 18 pages printed on two sheets and 2 pages left on the third sheet of paper:
This way, you can accommodate as many pages tiled together as needed, like a collage.
If you don't need to have all the document's pages printed, just set a specific page range (e.g., 1-9). If you add several documents to Print Conductor's List of Documents and batch print them using this feature – each new document will start from a new paper sheet.
Note
Please note you can use this feature only if the files added to the List of Documents are multipage.
If you want to combine different files into a multipage document, we suggest using DocuFreezer. With this program, you can join several files into a single multipage PDF file. After that, you just add the output file to Print Conductor and print two or more files on the same sheet.
To create a multipage document from two files:
- Open DocuFreezer;
- Add files to the List of files;
- Select Output file type: PDF
- Go to Settings and set Multipage: Merge into one PDF;
- Click OK;
- Click the Start button to begin file conversion.
How to print two pages on one sheet
How to place two pages onto one sheet of paper when printing? If you need to arrange only two pages per sheet, you can easily do it with Print Conductor. However, consider page orientation of your pages – landscape or portrait.
For portrait pages
If your document pages have portrait orientation, a better way to arrange 2 pages on a sheet of paper is to place them horizontally. To do it, set:
- Horizontal pages on the sheet: 2
- Vertical pages on the sheet: 1
At the same time, make sure that your printer is set to printing using the landscape orientation. You can do it by checking the Printer Properties or changing page orientation directly in Print Conductor.
As a result, you'll have two pages fitting a sheet of paper and placed horizontally. The layout will look like a booklet:
For landscape pages
If your document pages have a landscape orientation, arrange them vice versa: two pages vertically, one below another. To do it, set:
- Horizontal pages on the sheet: 1
- Vertical pages on the sheet: 2
In this case, also check that your printer is now set to printing in portrait orientation. You can do it by checking the Printer Properties > Orientation > Portrait or changing page orientation directly in Print Conductor.
This way, you'll get 2 pages on a sheet positioned one below another, which is, for example, a great way to print out Microsoft PowerPoint PPTX presentations. The printouts will look like this:
By the way…
If, as a result, your collage-like printout has poor image quality, try turning on the Print as image feature. This way, processing may be slower, but the rendering quality will be better.
Drawing a rectangular frame around each page
By default, Print Conductor adds a border around every page when Multiple pages per sheet in on. You can change Frame color or disable this feature by unchecking the box next to it:
Adding text watermark to pages
In multiple-pages-per-sheet mode, you can also enable adding a text watermark. By default, it is set to {srcfilepageno} – a page number that is applied to every page.
If you want to set a custom text watermark instead of page numbers on every arranged page, modify Text watermark settings. These settings have the same parameters as a regular Text watermark.
To print multiple pages and add page numbers or text watermark:
- Go to Settings > Advanced;
- Find the Multiple pages per sheet setting (start typing "multiple" in the search bar) and check Enabled;
- Set other necessary parameters;
- Check the box next to TextWatermark.Enabled;
- (optional) If you need a custom watermark, adjust Text watermark settings;
- Click OK.
Please note that watermarks are applied to individual pages (not to the entire sheet of paper).
See also
How To
Get other useful guides on using Print Conductor and see many other useful how-tos, solutions, tips & tricks on effective batch printing. You'll find out how to import & export files, manage print lists, configure document and page settings, set up service pages, and so much more.