Printing 4 flyers on an A4 sheet

Question

Hello,

I want to create 4 double-sided flyers in A4 format using InDesign CS5.

I visited a printer today, and he told me that I need to set up the layout as A4 or A3 if I want bleed and crop marks.

Imposition? It's not a booklet; I don't understand...

I create the bleed when I set up my document and add the crop marks when exporting to PDF.

But how do I ensure that my A4 is divided into 4 and that I have the crop marks, bleed, and margin in the middle of my document?
For double-sided, do I just create two pages without checking the facing pages option?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Configuration: Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.8) / Chrome 23.0.1271.26

contrariness · Answer

It depends on the final size of your flyer...

If your flyer is A6 size, you cannot place 4 on an A4 by adding bleeds and crop marks... so you will have to place them on an A3, resulting in paper waste.

sarahmoon · Answer

Good evening,

Indeed, there is no tax. Certainly, the term was used just to explain to you how to set up your flyers.

When you create your flyer, you uncheck "facing pages" and in the "bleed" section, you enter the desired value.

You create a PDF of your flyer by checking "crop marks" and "use document bleed settings".

Then you create an A3 document, otherwise your flyers + bleed won't fit on an A4.

You import your PDF 4 times and then create a new PDF without crop marks.

This will result in this:

https://www.cjoint.com/?BJrtFepp0Po

If that's not it, let me know, but I think it's good.

Have a good evening.

contrariness · Answer

Personally, when I hear about imposition from a printer, I suspect they are doing digital printing, which requires the use of A4 or A3 paper to stay within the standards...

In this case, it is preferable to adjust the flyer size to optimize the surface area. Slightly reduce the format, take into account the technical margins of the copier, and impose accordingly...

But here, the printer has been a bit careless in their explanations!!

thomas.d · Answer

Thank you very much for your responses, I will do a test and keep you updated.

@Contrariness: it's definitely digital, it's a small company that does more copying than anything else. That's why he told me that the size of the flyers wasn't important as long as I did the "imposition" in A4 or A3.

@sarahmoon: I will try your method, I think he should accept. Thank you for the details.

contrariness · Answer

In color printing, the price is in the format x per number of copies.. so let's fill out the sheet!

To fit 4 flyers on an A4 sheet, your flyer needs to be 94.5 x 138 mm... because you need to consider the technical margins of the copier (about 5mm), the bleed (2mm), and the mechanical tolerance of the copier which means that the front does not align exactly with the back... and for that, you should avoid placing text within 5mm of the paper edge once cut.

This would give you a layout in Indesign CS3 like this: https://www.cjoint.com/?0Jspkn4OnIT

In the top left corner, you can see that you just need to slightly pull the frame to recover the bleed.

Initially, you should create your document in the final format (94.5 x 138 mm) and then export it to PDF and import this PDF into the layout... this allows, thanks to the precision of Indesign's display and the import options (media), to match the cutting marks of the flyer with the technical guidelines of the layout... time-saving!!

For an A3, you extrapolate the principle.

fabulous11 · Answer

Hello,
the subject personally interests me, as I am an offset printer by training but for the last few years, I have mainly been a digital printer.
I receive clients every day who come with their USB keys, and I offer almost immediate prints.

Indeed, when a client presents a file without bleed or crop marks, I sometimes ask them to come back with a file containing bleeds, depending on the file (and especially the margins of the safe zone)...
But I will never ask an "amateur" to struggle to create a file by managing the imposition of multiple layouts on an A4 or A3 while integrating guides (like Sarahmoon's technique, which I commend, by the way)!!!!! Moreover, I much prefer a PDF file in the finished format, which would be A6 for the example in question, with bleeds if possible. Our digital presses automatically handle all the impositions based on the paper format loaded into the machine.

I also want to clarify that, as is the case with all digital printers, beyond standard paper formats, we have SRA3 formats (32X45cm), or even larger, which allow printing 8 A6 with bleeds and guides on a single sheet.

Best wishes and see you very soon! ;)

P.S.: sorry for the long message, lol
--
take each day as it comes...

Printing 4 flyers on an A4 sheet

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