Booklet Designer
Every game needs a rulebook, and every rulebook needs to fold. 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
Choose a booklet under Card size (Booklets, Coil Books, or Perfect Bound Books). TheGameCrafter offers several booklet sizes and page counts. Once selected, the editor shows a two-page spread with Prev and Next buttons and page dots at the bottom.
Tip: Saddle-stitched booklets print best in multiples of 4 pages (4, 8, 12, 16...) because each sheet of paper produces 4 printed pages when folded. Chitmunk doesn't block you from adding an odd page count, so plan ahead to avoid a lopsided final spread.
Choosing a Booklet Type
Chitmunk doesn't have a separate folding-pattern picker: the physical binding is set by the booklet size you choose under Card size:
- Booklets: Saddle-stitched (folded and stapled at the spine). The standard choice for rulebooks.
- Coil Books: Spiral coil binding.
- Perfect Bound Books: Glued flat spine, like a paperback, best for longer rulebooks.
Whichever type you pick, the designer shows your pages as facing spreads (like an open book): the front cover alone, then pairs of pages, then the back cover. You design in reading order.
Safe Area and the Spine
The header of the booklet designer shows a line such as "Safe area: 0.125 in · 12 pages". Binding takes more of the page as a booklet gets thicker, so the safe area grows with the page count: 0.125 in up to 20 pages, 0.25 in up to 40. Key considerations:
- Stay inside the safe area: Keep text and anything important inside the safe area on every side, especially next to the spine fold, where pages curve away from the reader.
- Bleed: Extend backgrounds and art past the trim edge into the bleed zone so a slightly off trim never shows a white sliver. Turn on View, Bleed edge (B) and Safe area (S) to see both.
- Thick booklets: Inner pages of a thick booklet shift slightly when folded, which is another reason to stay inside the safe area.
Inner and Outer Cover Design
A booklet has four pages with special 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.
Chitmunk labels pages by number (Page 1, Page 2...) rather than by role, so keep track of which numbered page is your front cover, inside covers, and back cover as you design.
Page Management
Adding Pages
Click + Add page in the booklet header to append one page at a time to the end of the booklet. There's no insert-after option. Reorder the new page by dragging it into place, or right-click any page and choose Duplicate page to insert a copy directly after it. To fill pages from a file, click Import document and pick a .md, .html, .docx, .pdf or .txt file; Chitmunk creates the pages for you.
Removing Pages
Click - Remove page to delete the last page, or right-click any page and choose Delete page
Reordering Pages
Drag a page to reorder it (or right-click and choose Move to start or Move to end), including the front and back cover pages.
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. To edit a page with all the tools, double-click it; click All pages to come back to the two-page view.
Print Layout Considerations
- Page numbers: Add a text box with
{{_pageNumber}}(or{{_totalPages}}). It fills in the right number for each page. - Running headers and footers: Right-click an element and choose Show on All Cards to repeat it on every page without duplicating it.
- Bleed on every side: Extend background images to the full bleed zone on every page, including the edge at the spine.
- Text margins: Keep body text well inside the safe area, with extra room next to the spine. Turn on the safe area from the View menu to see it.
- Export as PDF: Booklets export as one multi-page PDF with pages in reading order. Use the Export stage; every export is on every plan.
Tip: Design all pages at the same zoom level. Double-click a page to edit it, press F to fit it to the window, then keep a fixed zoom (for example 75%) for consistent visual sizing.
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.
- Design spreads together: Adjacent pages are viewed as spreads (two pages side by side). The two-page view is the default, so you can see both pages 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: Double-click a page, then drag from the ruler to create guide lines at your margin positions.
- Preview before export: Use Preview in 3D in the booklet header to flip through the finished booklet, and the Proof stage's All cards view to see every page in a miniature grid. This helps spot inconsistencies in layout, font sizes, and spacing.