if you still get confused when working out which page goes next to which when you’re creating a book mockup or dummy, this post is for you — all you need is grade 3 maths ability.

we’ll use a 16pp book as our example. the front and back covers are pages 1 and 16 — add those two numbers and you’ll get 17. the inside covers are pages 2 and 15 — add them together and you’ll get 17. see a pattern here?

it’s the same for any book — take the total number of pages and add 1 — that’s the magic number your imposed spreads should add up to. page 6 of a 16pp book will be next to page 11, page 13 will be next to page 4, etc.

the only other thing you need to worry about is which page goes on which side of the imposed spread. again, it’s just a matter a grade 3 maths — even numbered pages are always on the left.