Print booklet on both sides of the paper with LibreOffice Write and Duplex printer

27 April, 2021 - 13:02

Save paper by printing on both sides of the paper (duplex). If your printer is able to print on both sides and is installed to support CUPS, you can define default setting such as changing paper size from Letter to A4 and duplex printing at http://localhost:631/. See also change default printing settings.

For the difference between A4 format (210 x 297 mm) used by most regions in the world, and Letter format (North America), see Why the difference between A4 and Letter actually matters.

Booklet printing on both sides of the paper with Duplex

Use the "Page Order Calculator" from BoOoks to calculate the order of pages:

- Visit http://www.boooks.org/index.php?page=21&lng=1
- Select Binding Method: Ligatures
- Set Number of pages to a number dividable by 4, for example 48
- Optional Starting Value: 0
- Copy the result, for example 4,1,2,3,8,5,6,7,12,9,10,11,16,13,14,15,20,17,18,19,24,21,22,23,28,25, 26,27,32,29,30,31,36,33,34,35,40,37,38,39,44,41,42,43,48,45,46,47,

Print in Write

- Range and Copies > Pages, insert: 4,1,2,3,8,5,6,7,12,9,10,11,16,13,14,15,20,17,18,19,24,21,22,23,28,25, 26,27,32,29,30,31,36,33,34,35,40,37,38,39,44,41,42,43,48,45,46,47,
- Range and Copies > more > Paper sides: Print on both side (duplex short edge)
- Page Layout > more > Pages per Sheet: 2
- Page Layout > more > Order: Left to right, then down

For more see Ubuntu - Print a booklet on a double-sided printer

Manual solution

If your printer can only print on one side, this is how to print on both sides of the paper with LibreOffice Write, saving 50% paper in the process.

Printing

Printing even pages first results in the right order, so you don't have to flip every page afterwards. Do a test page first, to make sure which way you have to flip the papers.

  • Print "Even pages"
  • Flip the printed pages over "sideways", and reinsert in printer
  • Print "Odd pages"

Optionally add pagination

  • Insert > Header and Footer > Footer > Default Style
  • Insert > Page Number
  • Right-align the page numbers