Govert’s Simple Imposition Tool is a free standalone software that can reformat pdf documents before printing. It is not only useful for users whose pdf readers cannot print multiple pages though, as it offers more than just that.

When you open the program for the first time, you notice a one-page layout where everything is configured. You load a pdf document at the top. The properties of the document are shown below, including the document’s size, pages and rotation.

Four formatting options and five optional settings are available under the Impose for section. You have the following formatting options:

• Booklet printing – Orders the pages automatically so that you get a booklet when you print and fold the printout. Optional foldmark can be added, which can be read by automatic folding machines.
• 2-up printing – Odd and even pages are printed side by side on one sheet of paper. Page Separation lines can be optionally added.
• Duplicate side-by-side – Print the same page twice on one sheet of paper. Cutmarks can be added to define where the document should be cut in half.
• 2x 1/2n – Places first half of multipage document side by side with second half. Duplex printing and cutmarks optional.

A click on the Action button launches a file save window where you can enter a name for the new pdf document. And that’s basically it.

If you compare the options to Adobe Reader, you notice that some are supported by Adobe’s product as well. You can use Adobe Reader to print multiple pages on one sheet and in booklet format. What’s not supported is the ability to print the same page multiple times on a sheet, and the option to place the first half of the document side by side with the second half.

The Simple Imposition Tool is available for Windows PCs. It requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. The program was tested under a 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Professional. It worked without flaws.

DoPDF looks like the perfect replacement for Screen Grab. It is a freeware application for Windows and takes only a few megabytes of hard drive space. It adds a virtual printer to your installed printers in Windows and you can choose to make it the default one. Please make sure that the Print Spooler service is running during installation, otherwise the setup of the virtual printer will fail.

Once installed you can select the virtual printer in every print screen with the option to configure the output further. It is possible to define width and height or use predefined formats for the output. The last step is to simply select a filename and location for the newly created pdf file.

It will be saved in that location on your hard drive and displayed when the creation finishes. I decided to stress test it a little bit. The creation of a 41 paged text document took only two seconds. I uninstalled Screen grab immediately after seeing this incredible results.