2 Sided PDF Conversion

September 17, 2009 10:57 AM

Is there a way to take a brochure made in Microsoft Publisher 2007 and convert it to a 2 sided PDF that can be printed out and folded as a brochure?

I have no problem converting the file, but I cannot, for the life of me find any sort of option for either creating a 2 sided PDF, or for printing a 2 sided document in Acrobat. What am I missing?

posted by dortmunder to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Are you trying to do an automatic duplex in your printer? What kind of printer do you have?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 10:58 AM on September 17

Maybe I'm not understanding correctly, but you don't really make a 2-sided PDF. You make a 2-page PDF, which is then printed 2 sided.
posted by The Deej at 10:59 AM on September 17

The printer is a Xerox Phaser 7700. Yes I am trying to do an automatic duplex, which works fine in Publisher. There is no option to do it, when printing from Acrobat, however. I've tried everything I can think of, and all I get is two pages every time.
posted by dortmunder at 11:02 AM on September 17

PDFs are inherently single sided, like all (?) computer documents.

A "two sided" document is just two normal pages, and when printed you re-insert the paper between pages... or if you have a duplex printer (rare, expensive), it does the flipping for you.

It might be easier for you to make two documents: brochure-front.pdf and brochure-back.pdf.
posted by rokusan at 11:04 AM on September 17

On non-preview: Oh, you have a duplex printer. Then your problem is almost certainly in your printer setup, not the actual PDF. A two page document is correct: that's what you want to work with.
posted by rokusan at 11:05 AM on September 17

Okay, never mind. I just figured it out.For some reason the option to print double sided is in a different, hidden place when printing from Acrobat. It just took me two freaking hours to find it.
posted by dortmunder at 11:05 AM on September 17

Acrobat's own print window will not have anything for running an automatic duplex. To do that, you need to go to your printer's settings. Next to the box where you pick your printer is a button that says "Properties". That's where all the action is.
posted by wabbittwax at 11:06 AM on September 17

What am I missing?

Does the document actually have TWO pages in it?

When you say printed out, what exactly do you mean? Is this an outside printer or an office printer? If it's an outside printer, you should just need to make sure the document has 2 pages, how they back up to each other, know where the fold marks are and hand it off to a printer.

If it's an office printer, is that printer actually capable of printing on both sides?

It's it's not, I would just figure what direction the printer prints. Put a blank sheet in the paper handler, with a arrow drawn it showing the direction the paper moves through the printer. Print something on that sheet of paper. See what sides the of the paper that image prints on in comparison to the arrow you drew on the paper. This should enable you to figure how to print one side of the brochure, then turn the sheet over and print on the other side. If you have multiple copies, then just print a bunch on a single side, turn'em over and print the rest on the other.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:08 AM on September 17

I had the same printer, same job---printing flyers.

Make sure, within publisher, that you choose "Double sided, flip on short side."
posted by TomMelee at 11:14 AM on September 17

or within acrobat, or pdf x-change or whatever.
posted by TomMelee at 11:14 AM on September 17