Imposition
Forge
Drop in your PDF. Choose your binding format. Get a press-ready imposed file in seconds. Built for book makers, hand-binders, and miniature book enthusiasts.
Fully offline · One-time purchase · No subscription
Pages in reading order. Sheets in printing order. They are not the same thing.
When a printer folds and cuts a sheet of paper, the pages must be arranged on that sheet in a specific — and counterintuitive — order. That rearrangement is called imposition. Get it wrong and your book comes out in the wrong order.
Your PDF is in reading order
Page 1, page 2, page 3 … exactly as you wrote it. Every word processor and layout tool produces a PDF this way.
Your printer needs printing order
On a folded 8-page signature, page 1 shares a physical sheet with pages 8, 4, and 5. The position of each page depends on the fold format and binding method.
Imposition Forge does the rearrangement
Drop in your reading-order PDF. Choose your binding format. Imposition Forge outputs a ready-to-print imposed PDF — or a ZIP of individual signatures — in seconds.
Drop in your PDF. Walk out with a print-ready file.
Imposition Forge handles every step of the imposition workflow — from PDF loading through format selection, margins, marks, preview, and export — without a manual page in sight.
Drag-and-drop PDF loading
Drop any PDF onto the zone or click to browse. Imposition Forge reads the page count instantly and updates the live stats panel — pages, sheets, signatures, and arrangement — without any configuration.
9 signature format cards
Single section, multiple signatures, booklet, perfect bound, pamphlet, Coptic stitch, long stitch, and two miniature-specific layouts. Each format card is a single click to activate, with relevant sub-options revealed automatically.
Four page layout formats
Folio (2 pages per leaf), Quarto (4), Octavo (8), and Sextodecimo (16) — shown as fold diagram cards. Each format produces different sheet arrangements and is appropriate for different book sizes and paper weights.
Full paper setup
All standard paper sizes plus custom width and height inputs. Display units including mm, inches, and points. Printer type selection and source rotation for landscape-oriented PDFs. Custom size presets for miniature formats planned.
Margins & crop marks
Individual margin controls for head, tail, fore-edge, and binding. Toggle crop marks and cut marks independently. All measurements in points, with live preview showing exactly what will print.
Live in-app preview
Click Preview and the imposed layout appears in a full-panel overlay before you commit to export. Check sheet arrangement, margins, and marks are exactly right. Close the overlay with the × button or the Escape key.
ZIP export — imposed + signatures
The Forge PDF button packages your output as a downloadable ZIP. Choose both files, aggregated only, or individual signatures. Individual signature files make it easy to print one gathering at a time on a home printer.
Help & folding guides built in
The Help section includes rotation diagrams, folding guides, and a signature length reference table — all accessible without leaving the app. Click any diagram to view it full-size in the lightbox.
Every binding method. One app.
From traditional sewn signatures through modern perfect binding to hand-craft stitch patterns — Imposition Forge handles the imposition maths for all of them.
The imposition engine is built on the open-source bookbinder-js project, a rigorously tested imposition library used by bookbinders worldwide. Imposition Forge wraps it in a fast, native desktop interface — no browser required, no internet connection needed.
Single section
All pages in one folded signature. Ideal for pamphlets, zines, and short books up to about 40 pages.
Multiple signatures
The book is divided into multiple individually-folded gatherings. Standard for sewn case-bound and softcover books of any length.
Booklet
Saddle-stitched booklet imposition. Pages wrap around a centre staple — suited to catalogues, programmes, and short-run publications.
Perfect bound
Pages arranged for a flat-spined perfect-bind (glued spine). The standard format for trade paperbacks and self-published print-on-demand books.
Pamphlet
A single folded sheet, stitched through the fold. The simplest binding — ideal for single-gathering hand-bound books and zines.
Coptic stitch
Open-spine binding where signatures are linked directly with exposed thread. Popular with artists’ books and journals for its flat-open property.
Long stitch
Sewing passes through the spine fold directly onto the cover boards. A traditional hand-binding structure with decorative exposed stitching.
Miniature 2-up
Two miniature books imposed side-by-side on a single sheet. Cut and fold to produce two identical copies. Optimised for small format layouts.
Miniature stab
Japanese stab-binding imposition for miniature books. Pages arranged for the characteristic side-sewn stab pattern — no inner fold required.
Five steps. Less than a minute.
Imposition Forge walks you through the imposition workflow in a structured sidebar — each section in order, with live stats updating as you go.
Made by a miniature book enthusiast. For miniature book enthusiasts.
Imposition Forge was built by someone who makes miniature books. The wacky imposition formats, the miniature-specific layouts, and the paper preset system are all designed with small-format book production as the primary use case.
Miniature 2-up imposition — two small books on one sheet, cut and fold to produce two identical copies.
Japanese stab binding layout — side-sewn stab pattern imposition for the distinctive hand-crafted binding style.
Custom paper sizes — enter any width and height in mm. Miniature book paper presets (playing card, credit card, matchbox, traditional miniature) coming in the next update.
Sextodecimo fold format — 16 pages per leaf, ideal for very small signatures and miniature quire books.
Truly offline. Fully yours.
No subscription
One-time purchase, lifetime updates. The app you buy today works in ten years without a monthly fee.
No internet required
Once installed, Imposition Forge runs entirely offline. No API calls, no cloud processing, no outages that interrupt your work.
Your files stay local
Your PDFs are processed entirely on your machine. Nothing is uploaded to any server. Settings persist in local storage between sessions.
3 installs per licence
Install on your main machine, your laptop, and a backup — all covered by a single purchase. FORGE-XXXX licence codes, no account required.
Three apps. One complete workflow.
Imposition Forge is part of the only fully integrated, offline book production toolkit in the world. Write the interior, design the cover, impose the pages — all in native desktop apps that work together.
ManuscriptForge
Write, format, and export the interior of your book. Fiction and non-fiction. EPUB, PDF, DOCX. From first draft to final typeset file.
CoverForge
Design the cover — front, spine, and back — on a unified spread canvas. Automatic spine calculation from your ManuscriptForge project file.
Imposition Forge
Impose your interior PDF for physical book production. Every binding format, every fold layout, miniature book support built in.
You are hereDrop your PDF.
Forge your book.
Imposition Forge turns a reading-order PDF into a press-ready imposed file in seconds — for every binding format, every fold layout, every book size.
Windows 11 only at this stage · One-time purchase · No subscription
Also available as part of the Forge Suite bundle →