montage

Impose pages onto a grid layout

Usage

pdftl <input>... montage <spec>... output <file>

Details

The montage operation allows you to impose multiple source pages onto a sequence of output pages (canvases). It is useful for creating contact sheets, N-up handouts, or tiling pages.

You can mix page selectors (like 1-5) with configuration arguments. Configuration arguments allow you to set the canvas size, grid topology, margins, and spacing.

Configuration Syntax

Argument

Description

canvas=<size>

Set output page size (A4, letter, A3, etc.)

grid=<cols>x<rows>

Set columns and rows (e.g., 2x2, 3x4)

margin=<pts>

Set page margin in points

gutter=<pts>

Set spacing between slots in points

Examples

Create a 2x2 contact sheet on A4 paper

pdftl in.pdf montage 1-12 grid=2x2 canvas=A4 output contact.pdf

Create 4x4 thumbnails with margins

pdftl in.pdf montage 1-end grid=4x4 margin=20 gutter=10 output thumbnails.pdf

Place page 1 of front.pdf and page 1 of back.pdf side-by-side

pdftl A=front.pdf B=back.pdf cat A1 B1 --- montage grid=2x1 output side_by_side.pdf

Tags: from_scratch, imposition, geometry

Source: pdftl.operations.montage

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/operations/montage.html

Type: Operation