There are two ways to do it in Word, but a far, far simpler way to do
it is to print your formatted ttext as a pdf and print it from Adobe
Reader, using the "booklet" setting. This will turn your 48 or 52
pages into a booklet, and you only need two printer passes (only one
if your printer has the duplexing add-on).
After you tell Reader "Booklet," then choose "Front Side Only" from
"Print What?"
Go up to the "Other options" (that's where the hid it in the latest
version of Reader; in earlier versions, the box is always out front)
and be sure "Reverse Pages" is not checked, and "Odd" or "Even" is not
chosen. That dropdown should always be set to "All Pages."
Then Print your first side.
Then, keeping the pages in the same orientation, riffle them to avoid
sticking together, and place them back in the paper input tray. This
time, do check the Reverse box, and change the lower dropdown to "Back
Side Only."
(These instructions work for an HP all-in-one. Other printers may
handle regular/reverse, or which end to refeed, differently.
Experiment with something small so as not to waste paper.)
You have your booklet without fiddling around in Word.
You still might want to have wider gutters. You do that in the "Page
Setup" panel, which is accessed in different ways in different
versions. (If you have a Ribbon, it's on the Page Layout tab, tiny
arrow at the lower right of the Page Setup group.) Go to the Margins
tab. When you choose "Mirror Margins" from the "Multiple Pages"
dropdown, the boxes above will change to include "Gutter." type a
number there, and OK.
Don't even try the "Book Fold" selection, because when you do that, no
other parameter changes, and you have to redo your margins (to be
narrower), your type size to be smaller, your paragraph indents, etc.
(And then how it relates to the printer is incomprehensible.)
On Sep 29, 11:04 pm, boundforhome