How to convert a 1 page PDF to a 2 page per sheet PDF?

Question

I would like to print a PDF so that on the front of the first page are the first two pages, on the back the 3rd and 4th and so on.

-----------------          -----------------
|       |       |          |       |       |
|       |       |          |       |       |
|   1   |   2   |          |   3   |   4   |    . . .
|       |       |          |       |       |
|_______|_______|          |_______|_______|

 page 1 - front             page 1 - back

Because my printer using Linux fails to support manual duplex printing I'd thought, maybe I could edit the pdf in a according way.

But how?

Answer 1

In addition to what's been mentioned, PDFjam includes a command line tool, pdfnup which does this. (It makes use of the pdfpages package for PDFLaTeX underneath, which you can also use.)

If you prefer a GUI, jPDFtweak is another option.

Answer 2

Use pdfnup:

$ pdfnup file.pdf

This will create a new pdf file exactly like you asked for.

Answer 3

This is a question old enough to think that the options we have now were absent at the time, but maybe it deserves an up-to-date solution.

Linux pdf viewers usually use the printing options/properties to set the page layout, and there you can print multiple pages per sheet/side. The idea is to use those to print to file as PDF.

Evince can do it, also qpdfview. More here.

---

qpdfview

---

Evince

---

PDF Studio Viewer

Other pdf viewers must have similar options.

Answer 4

There are freeware & open source command line tools available to convert pdfs to reader's spreads, booklet spreads etc.

I lost the app I was using, so no help there, but a from a quick search I see a program called pdfshuffler ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfshuffler/ ) which might be what you need. Has a gui, so not likely to be automagical, but it is a front-end for another tool...

Answer 5

For anyone wanting to take 1 or 2 pg pdf and turn it into a pdf with 2 copies of that side-by-side in landscape view (great for printing flyers), do:

1. Turn the 1 or 2 pg pdf input into an output which contains a duplicated copy of those pages (1-pg pdf --> 2-pg pdf, 2-pg pdf --> 4-pg pdf, etc):

   pdfunite in.pdf in.pdf out.pdf
   

2. Combine that duplicated-copy pdf into a 2-pages-per-side-in-landscape-view pdf, for printing flyers for example:

   pdfnup out.pdf
   

Or all on a single line:

pdfunite in.pdf in.pdf out.pdf && pdfnup out.pdf

Note that out.pdf is the input to pdfnup. The resulting output file from pdfnup will be called "out-nup.pdf".

Also, watch the output of the pdfnup command and you'll see the verbose form of the command it is actually running, which gives you some insight into the options you can pass into it. Apparently pdfnup uses pdfjam under the hood:

pdfjam: Effective call for this run of pdfjam:

/usr/bin/pdfjam --suffix nup --nup '2x1' --landscape -- out.pdf -

Example:

Original PDF (1 regular pg in Portrait view), "in.pdf":

Final PDF (2 pgs side-by-side in Landscape view), "out-nup.pdf":
- now can be cut in half down the middle to pass out as flyers

Simple Bash Function: make_flyer

Copy and paste this bash function to the bottom of your "~/.bashrc" file in order to get access to a simple and easy-to-use command make flyer:

# Description: outputs a landscape-oriented flyer pdf ("my/pdf/input--flyer.pdf") for each 1 or more pg input pdf ("my/pdf/input.pdf")
#   - 1-pg input PDFs are converted to a 1-sided landscape, printable flyer that you cut down the center to make 
#     2 flyers
#   - 2-pg input PDFs are converted to a 2-sided landscape, printable flyer (flip on short edge when printing 
#     double-sided), and also cut down the middle to make 2 flyers
#   - **3+ pg input PDFs**: using `pdfnup` directly in this case would make more sense, since this function will
#     otherwise unneccessarily create 2 copies
#   - 3 and 4-pg input PDFs are converted to a single piece of paper, double-sided, flipped on short edge, x 2 copies. 
#     No cutting is necessary
#   - 5+ pg input PDFs simply require half as much paper to print is all since you get 2 pages per side of paper;
#     they do NOT print like booklets, but rather just as a landscape-printed, flipped-on-short-edge bundle of pages
#     (like a deck of slides). You get *2 copies* per print though, so just print half the pages. 
make_flyer() {
    num_args=$# # see: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4423306/how-do-i-find-the-number-of-arguments-passed-to-a-bash-script/4423321#4423321
    suffix="flyer"

    loop_cnt=0
    for inputpdf in "$@"
    do
        ((loop_cnt++))
        echo "==== CONVERTING PDF $loop_cnt OF $num_args ===="
        echo "     INPUT:  \"$inputpdf\""

        # Strip off the .pdf extension from the input path, while retaining the rest of the path
        # - See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12152626/how-can-i-remove-the-extension-of-a-filename-in-a-shell-script/32584935#32584935
        input_path_base="$(echo "$inputpdf" | rev | cut -f 2- -d '.' | rev)"
        input_file_base="$(basename "$inputpdf" .pdf)"
        temp_pdf="${input_path_base}-.pdf" # is "input_path_base-.pdf"

        echo "     OUTPUT: \"$(pwd)/${input_file_base}--${suffix}.pdf\""

        # Convert a single 1-pg pdf into a temporary 2-pg pdf
        pdfunite "$inputpdf" "$inputpdf" "$temp_pdf"

        # Lay out the temporary 2-pg pdf into a side-by-side 1-sided flyer to print; creates "input_path_base--flyer.pdf"
        # Note that `pdfnup` places the output from this operation in the location from where you call this script
        # (ie: in your `pwd` [Present Working Directory])!--NOT the location where temp_pdf is located!
        pdfnup "$temp_pdf" --suffix $suffix

        # Delete the temporary 2-pg pdf, called "input_path_base-.pdf", thereby leaving only the original 
        # "input_path_base.pdf" and the new "input_path_base--flyer.pdf"
        rm "$temp_pdf"
    done
}
alias make_flyer_help='echo -e "Ex usage: make_flyer \"path/to/inputpdf.pdf\" - Creates a landscape-side-by-side flyer version called \"inputpdf--flyer.pdf\"\n          *in your pwd* from a 1 or 2 pg input pdf called \"path/to/inputpdf.pdf\". Accepts multiple arguments. Ex:\n          make_flyer \"path/to/inputpdf1.pdf\" \"path/to/inputpdf2.pdf\""'

Example usage:

make_flyer "path/to/inputpdf1.pdf" "path/to/inputpdf2.pdf"

See Help info:

make_flyer_help

Output:

$ make_flyer_help   
Ex usage: make_flyer "path/to/inputpdf.pdf" - Creates a landscape-side-by-side flyer version called "inputpdf--flyer.pdf"  
          *in your pwd* from a 1 or 2 pg input pdf called "path/to/inputpdf.pdf". Accepts multiple arguments. Ex:  
          make_flyer "path/to/inputpdf1.pdf" "path/to/inputpdf2.pdf"

References:

1. https://superuser.com/a/948095/425838
2. https://stackoverflow.com/a/11280219/4561887

Related:

1. https://askubuntu.com/questions/214538/printing-in-booklet-format/1095789#1095789

Bash References:

1. Bash How to pass arguments into a bash function: https://bash.cyberciti.biz/guide/Pass_arguments_into_a_function
2. Bash Concatenate strings: https://linuxize.com/post/bash-concatenate-strings/
3. Bash execute a cmd stored as a string! https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2005192/how-to-execute-a-bash-command-stored-as-a-string-with-quotes-and-asterisk
4. Bash iterate over all inputs to a cmd: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/255898/how-to-iterate-over-arguments-in-a-bash-script/255913#255913
5. Bash passing parameters to function: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6212219/passing-parameters-to-a-bash-function/6212408#6212408
6. How to convert a 1-pg pdf into a flyer [my own ans!]: How to convert a 1 page PDF to a 2 page per sheet PDF?

Answer 6

You can do this with PyPDF2. The code below is not a perfect solution to your problem, but it will hopefully help others who come here from google.

#!/usr/bin/env python

# requires PyPdf2 library, version 1.26 or above -
# its homepage is https://pythonhosted.org/PyPDF2/index.html
# running: ./this-script-name output.pdf file-with-pdf-list

import copy, sys
from PyPDF2 import PdfFileWriter, PdfFileReader, pdf
output = PdfFileWriter()
output_page_number = 0
alignment = 6 # align on 6 pages for printing 6 up
for filename in sys.argv[2:]:

    page = pdf.PageObject.createBlankPage(None, 850, 1100)
    input = PdfFileReader(open(filename, "rb"))

    position = 0
    for i in range(0, input.getNumPages()):
        x = 0
        # Two Up
        # if position == 0:
        #    position = 1
        #    page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), 0.5, 100, 650)
        #else:
        #    page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), 0.5, 100, 100)
        #    output.addPage(page)
        #    page = pdf.PageObject.createBlankPage(output)
        #    position = 0
        # 6 Up
        scale = 0.25
        col1 = 100
        col2 = 450
        sep = 130
        row3 = sep + 25
        row2 = row3 + sep + 215
        row1 = row2 + sep + 215
        if position == 0:
           position = 1
           page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), scale, col1, row1)
        elif position == 1:
           position = 2
           page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), scale, col2, row1)
        elif position == 2:
           position = 3
           page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), scale, col1, row2)
        elif position == 3:
           position = 4
           page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), scale, col2, row2)
        elif position == 4:
           position = 5
           page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), scale, col1, row3)
        else:
           page.mergeScaledTranslatedPage(input.getPage(i), scale, col2, row3)
           output.addPage(page)
           page = pdf.PageObject.createBlankPage(output)
           position = 0
    if position != 0:
        output.addPage(page)

output.write(open(sys.argv[1], "wb"))

Answer 7

If you have the print to file facility. print to the file with two pages per page setting and with odd pages. repeat the process with even pages. Now print the odd ones, reverse the printed papers and print the even pages file.

Answer 8

@mokasin: You didn't say which PDF reader you're using. If you use the Linux version of Acrobat/Adobe Reader: there is an option to print "2-up" right in the print dialog. You can also choose to only print the odd or even pages, so combining this will help you to achieve your desired output.

Answer 9

This software I tested on Solaris 11.2 operating system can create that scheme which is called 2-up, usually used for hand-out at classrooms or meetings. It is possible to produce other schemes; for example, hand-out with 3 or 4 or more pages on one sheet or both sides of a sheet. It can be run from a terminal as it is a JAR file or just run the GUI for ease of access. Besides Solaris other Linux distributions are also compatible, running the software, as "executable," with super-user privileges. Be aware not using "Open the Archive." It is also working on any Windows and Mac where there is already a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed, as is the case most of the time. Software is Dysprosium Imposition and is free to download and to use.