Two-a4-on-one-a3.sh

pdftk partylines-publication-2022\ in\ octomode.pdf cat 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 output partylines-publication-double-pages.pdf
pdfjam --nup 2x1 --paper a3paper --landscape partylines-publication-double-pages.pdf

This small script does two things: it multiplies each page of a PDF by two, and it places two A4 pages on an A3 side-by-side.

It uses two PDF manipulation tools: pdftk and pdfjam.

The script was written to generate the print files for the publication ongoing circulations, a publication made at Varia to document a series of five sessions in 2022. Each session departed from a technological practice and made space for collective learning in various forms around digital library software, plain text publishing protocols, web-to-print tools, high frequency radio communication, and colonial infrastructures. The publication is based on the format of the letter, a mode of address that was chosen to address the participants of the session specifically, but could meanwhile also speak to a larger body of readers and invite them into the questions that were formulated and materials that were produced. The letters have been RISO printed by Printroom, which is a space in Rotterdam dedicated to artist publications, small press and self-publishing. They run a RISO workshop in the city, where they have two A3 RISO machines plus four A4 ones, lots of different colors, and a range of machines for the post production, such as folding machines. Printroom asked us to prepare the print files on A3, because these RISO machines are the most reliable ones they have. At first i wasn't really sure how to do it... How can two A4 pages of a PDF be duplicated and placed on one A3 page, without loosing any quality? Using raster editor software, like Gimp, would not make sense, as i was not sure if this would leave the PDFs intact. Using vector editor software, like Inkscape, would also not make a lot of sense, because the fonts would not be rendered correctly. So i started to look for a tool that i could use from the command line.