Booklet Designer

Intermediate · 10 min read

The Booklet Designer is a multi-page layout workspace for creating folded booklets: rulebooks, player reference sheets, mini-novels, and accordion-style inserts. When your component type is a booklet, the editor shifts into a page-aware mode that manages page order, folding patterns, and print layout automatically.

Accessing the Booklet Designer

Select a booklet component type from the component selector in the toolbar. TheGameCrafter offers several booklet sizes and fold counts. Once selected, the canvas shows the current page spread with a page navigation strip at the bottom.

Multi-Page Folding Patterns

Chitmunk supports the folding patterns available through TheGameCrafter:

• Saddle-Stitched: Sheets folded in half and stapled at the spine. Standard rulebook binding. Works for 4–32 pages.
• Accordion / Z-Fold: Pages alternate fold direction, expanding accordion-style. Common for quick reference cards and player aids. Works for 4–12 panels.
• Roll Fold: Each panel folds inward around the previous one. Creates a compact fold that unfolds sequentially.

The folding pattern determines the physical page order. The designer handles this translation automatically — you design pages in reading order (1, 2, 3...) and Chitmunk reorders them for the print sheet during export.

Spine and Binding Options

For saddle-stitched booklets, the spine is the folded edge. Key considerations:

• Spine Width: Thin booklets (4–8 pages) have a very narrow spine — typically 0. Avoid placing critical content within 3mm of the spine fold line.
• Bleed at Spine: Unlike card bleed zones that go outward, spine bleed goes inward. Keep important design elements 3mm inside the safe zone on pages adjacent to the spine.
• Creep: In thick booklets, inner pages extend slightly further than outer pages due to folding. TGC accounts for this in their spec; keep important content within the safe zone to avoid trim issues.

Inner and Outer Cover Design

The booklet has four special pages with specific roles:

• Front Cover (Page 1): The visible face when the booklet is closed. Typically the most graphic-heavy page with the title and main art.
• Inside Front Cover (Page 2): First interior page. Often used for a quick-start guide or introduction.
• Inside Back Cover (Last page - 1): Interior back page. Good for rules summary, index, or credits.
• Back Cover (Last page): The exterior back when closed. Typically shows publisher info, barcode area, or flavor art.

The page navigation strip labels these four pages clearly so you always know which surface you are designing.

Page Management

Adding Pages

Click the + Page button in the page navigation strip. Pages are always added in pairs (to maintain the multiple-of-4 constraint). You can add them at the end or insert them after the current page using the Insert After option in the page context menu.

Removing Pages

Right-click a page in the navigation strip and select Remove Page Pair. This removes the current page and its paired page. Any content on removed pages is permanently deleted — duplicate the pages first if you want to preserve the content.

Reordering Pages

Drag pages in the navigation strip to reorder them. The designer maintains the booklet's physical constraints — you cannot move page 1 (always the front cover) or the last page (always the back cover).

Duplicating Pages

Right-click a page and select Duplicate Page to create an exact copy immediately after it. This is useful for pages with consistent structure (like a repeated chapter template) that you want to customize per chapter.

Print Layout Considerations

• Page Numbers: Add page number text elements with the {{_pageNumber}} binding. This automatically fills with the correct page number when exporting.
• Running Headers/Footers: Use Master Elements (mark as "master" in the element properties) on the template layer to repeat headers or footers across all pages without duplicating them manually.
• Bleed on all four sides: Unlike cards (which only bleed outward), booklet pages bleed on all four sides — top, bottom, outer edge, and inner spine edge. Extend background images to the full bleed zone on every page.
• Text margins: Keep body text at least 8mm from all edges (including the spine) to account for binding and bleed. Enable the safe zone overlay from the View dropdown to see this area.
• Export as PDF: Booklets export as multi-page PDFs with pages in reading order. For print, export at 300 DPI (requires Rare subscription).

Tips & Best Practices

• Start with a grid: Use the Alignment & Layout guide's grid snap and ruler guides to set up consistent margins before adding any content. Inconsistent margins across pages look unprofessional in print.
• Design spreads together: Adjacent pages in a saddle-stitched booklet are viewed as spreads (two pages side by side). Use the Spread View in the page navigation to see both pages at once and design across the fold.
• Mind the gutter: The inner margin (gutter) near the spine needs extra space. Standard body text is 8mm from the spine; for double-page illustrations, make sure the focal point is away from the center fold.
• Use Chitmunk's rulers: Drag from the ruler to create guide lines at your margin positions. These snap elements into place consistently across pages.
• Preview before export: Use Preview All Cards (grid view) to see all pages in a miniature grid. This helps spot inconsistencies in layout, font sizes, and spacing across pages.