#  `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/stable/operations/montage.html](https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/operations/montage.html)*

*Type: Operation*