Summary of a long email:
I'm trying to get a Ms-Word 2003 half-size booklet to print out such
that it uses a full-page sheet of letter paper. I haven't been able to
get Ms-Word to do this. As described in the following, can this be
done such that the "top half" and "bottom half" on a "8.5" x 11" sheet
are identical on both sides?

More info
.... sorry for the length and TIA for looking it over. Is this the
correct newsgroup, BTW?

My understanding is that "n-up" capabiliity might provide what I am
trying to accomplish.

Here is a link to a Word example that illustrates the problem:
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/EightPage...4.25w_5.5h.doc
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/EightPage...4.25w_5.5h.pdf

I have been attempting an approach using a pdf print driver. So far,
I've tried dozens of combinations/permutations of settings for pdf995
and the trial version of Adobe Acrobat 7.0, but they don't quite do
what I need. Close, but frustratingly not quite. Perhaps I don't know
what I'm doing, having been getting enough sleep, or need to find some
"smart pills".

Prior to exploring other available software with "n-up" capabilities
such as pdfMachine, I wanted to check with people with a whole lot
more experience than myself before putting in the time and effort to
determine if software utilities can do what my requirements involve.
My impression is that someone reading this has a simple answer that
will save me a lot of time.

To be useful, the "n-up" printing has to have the "top half" and
"bottom half" be the same for both sides of a half size (4.25" x 5.5")
duplexed booklet page. Otherwise, there will be manual collation after
printing which defeats the purpose. For example, with a twenty page
booklet, pages 5, 6, 15, and 16 have to be on the same half page in a
specific relationship to each other, or you've got a mess. The bottom
half has to the exactly the same layout.

It doesn't work to use "custom size" paper, because the low-end
duplexing HP 1320 printer I'm using for "content development" only
supports automatic duplexing with standard paper sizes (letter, legal,
A4). Otherwise, it reverts to manual feed, with all the associated
paper handling problems. The HP 1320 duplexing seems to work quite
well with standard paper sizes. Its rollers keep holding on to the
paper throughout the printing, and this gives the paper much less of a
chance to misfeed.

I'm trying to prepare "content" that other people/organizations can
freely download from the internet and print perhaps 50 copies by
themselves for classroom usage. This has the potential to greatly
reduce the hassle and expense of making these publications available
at no charge.

I would think many more organizations would have low-end duplexing
printers than the high-end print-shop type equipment that can handle
automatic duplexing of custom sized sheets of paper. The duplexing HP
1320 is available for under $300, which seems like a "breakthrough"
price for automatic duplex capability. My wife works where they have a
Konica 7000 series departmental printer (which works great for this
application), but that is a very expensive piece of equipment ... tens
of thousands. Not an option.

Here is a link to an example that illustrates what I'm trying to
accomplish, but using Ms-Publisher 2003
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/TwelvePag...4.25w_5.5h.pub
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/TwelvePag...4.25w_5.5h.pdf
Note how the "top half" is duplicated on the "bottom half".

Unfortunately, using Ms-Publisher 2003 is probably not an option for
preparation of the original content. For me, Ms-Publisher has the very
useful feature of automatically handling the "top half" and the
"bottom half" in such a way that is straightforward to print, "saddle
staple", and cut in half. I want to either figure out how to get
Ms-Word to do the equivalent, or track down software that gives this
capability to Ms-Word original documents.

To be useful, the software would need to be able to take a Ms-Word
..doc document like the link near the top of this email, and generate
something that can be directly printed in duplex mode on a full size
letter sheet of paper (8.5" x 11").

My questions:
Can Ms-Word do this? If so, what are the steps involved?

If not, are you aware of freeware or low cost software that can do
this? Is there an approach other than pdf print drivers?

Another option is exporting the Word document so that Ms-Publisher can
import it. My experience is that the import capabilitities of
Ms-Publisher are very limited. The original booklet has shading,
superscripts, multiple fonts, borders, etc. that seem quite a bit
outside of the import capability of Ms-Publisher-2003. Am I
overlooking something?

TIA,
Lynn Allan

What you are describing is the sort of feat that printers acquire very
expensive imposition software for. And no, I don't think you'll be able to
do it in Word.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Lynn Allan" wrote in message
...
Summary of a long email:
I'm trying to get a Ms-Word 2003 half-size booklet to print out such
that it uses a full-page sheet of letter paper. I haven't been able to
get Ms-Word to do this. As described in the following, can this be
done such that the "top half" and "bottom half" on a "8.5" x 11" sheet
are identical on both sides?

More info
... sorry for the length and TIA for looking it over. Is this the
correct newsgroup, BTW?

My understanding is that "n-up" capabiliity might provide what I am
trying to accomplish.

Here is a link to a Word example that illustrates the problem:
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/EightPage...4.25w_5.5h.doc
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/EightPage...4.25w_5.5h.pdf

I have been attempting an approach using a pdf print driver. So far,
I've tried dozens of combinations/permutations of settings for pdf995
and the trial version of Adobe Acrobat 7.0, but they don't quite do
what I need. Close, but frustratingly not quite. Perhaps I don't know
what I'm doing, having been getting enough sleep, or need to find some
"smart pills".

Prior to exploring other available software with "n-up" capabilities
such as pdfMachine, I wanted to check with people with a whole lot
more experience than myself before putting in the time and effort to
determine if software utilities can do what my requirements involve.
My impression is that someone reading this has a simple answer that
will save me a lot of time.

To be useful, the "n-up" printing has to have the "top half" and
"bottom half" be the same for both sides of a half size (4.25" x 5.5")
duplexed booklet page. Otherwise, there will be manual collation after
printing which defeats the purpose. For example, with a twenty page
booklet, pages 5, 6, 15, and 16 have to be on the same half page in a
specific relationship to each other, or you've got a mess. The bottom
half has to the exactly the same layout.

It doesn't work to use "custom size" paper, because the low-end
duplexing HP 1320 printer I'm using for "content development" only
supports automatic duplexing with standard paper sizes (letter, legal,
A4). Otherwise, it reverts to manual feed, with all the associated
paper handling problems. The HP 1320 duplexing seems to work quite
well with standard paper sizes. Its rollers keep holding on to the
paper throughout the printing, and this gives the paper much less of a
chance to misfeed.

I'm trying to prepare "content" that other people/organizations can
freely download from the internet and print perhaps 50 copies by
themselves for classroom usage. This has the potential to greatly
reduce the hassle and expense of making these publications available
at no charge.

I would think many more organizations would have low-end duplexing
printers than the high-end print-shop type equipment that can handle
automatic duplexing of custom sized sheets of paper. The duplexing HP
1320 is available for under $300, which seems like a "breakthrough"
price for automatic duplex capability. My wife works where they have a
Konica 7000 series departmental printer (which works great for this
application), but that is a very expensive piece of equipment ... tens
of thousands. Not an option.

Here is a link to an example that illustrates what I'm trying to
accomplish, but using Ms-Publisher 2003
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/TwelvePag...4.25w_5.5h.pub
http://inverse.sf.net/Misc/TwelvePag...4.25w_5.5h.pdf
Note how the "top half" is duplicated on the "bottom half".

Unfortunately, using Ms-Publisher 2003 is probably not an option for
preparation of the original content. For me, Ms-Publisher has the very
useful feature of automatically handling the "top half" and the
"bottom half" in such a way that is straightforward to print, "saddle
staple", and cut in half. I want to either figure out how to get
Ms-Word to do the equivalent, or track down software that gives this
capability to Ms-Word original documents.

To be useful, the software would need to be able to take a Ms-Word
.doc document like the link near the top of this email, and generate
something that can be directly printed in duplex mode on a full size
letter sheet of paper (8.5" x 11").

My questions:
Can Ms-Word do this? If so, what are the steps involved?

If not, are you aware of freeware or low cost software that can do
this? Is there an approach other than pdf print drivers?

Another option is exporting the Word document so that Ms-Publisher can
import it. My experience is that the import capabilitities of
Ms-Publisher are very limited. The original booklet has shading,
superscripts, multiple fonts, borders, etc. that seem quite a bit
outside of the import capability of Ms-Publisher-2003. Am I
overlooking something?

TIA,
Lynn Allan

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
What you are describing is the sort of feat that printers acquire
very
expensive imposition software for. And no, I don't think you'll be
able to
do it in Word.

I've checked with several venders of pdf print drivers, and your
assessment seems accurate. Drat.

Odd, Ms-Publisher does this automatically ... by default.
Unfortunately, it has its own problems and shortcomings that
discourage me from using it. Drat again.