How to Work with facing pages

Make a layout document

Open Pages and tap Create Document. Only a few templates are in page layout mode, mostly flyers. We used Tab Flyer. From More (the three-dot icon, top right), pick Document Setup. Under Document, turn on Facing Pages.

Add some pages

Swipe inwards from the left to see page thumbnails, and tap the + sign at the bottom until you have eight pages. The first and last pages appear alone — these will be your front and back covers — and the rest as ‘spreads’.

Create your layouts

Double-tap placeholder text, then type your own. Use the Style menu (the brush icon) to change font and size. Drag items to move them, or their handles to resize. To move several, hold one and tap another.

A facing pages problem

Copy and paste items or add more to complete your layouts. On a spread, you may want a big picture or graphic crossing the spine (where the book is bound). But if you try it, only the part on one page shows up.

…and the solution

Position the item, copy and paste it, and line it up on the opposite page. If it jumps across, undo, grab it further from the spine and retry. Now let’s pretend we’ve finished. From More, go to Export > PDF > Save to Files.

Print via Adobe Reader

On your Mac, open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Go to File > Print and click Booklet. If your printer does duplex, set Booklet subset to Both; if not, set Front, print, feed the pages back in, then print the backs.