Native Rust + Quartz 2D Vector PDF Imposition, Bookbinding Signatures, Guillotine Cut & Stack & Duplex Printer Calibration Studio for macOS (OpenBooklet.app + openbooklet)
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brew install --cask SilverFeit/tap/macos-openbookletInstall via Homebrew · Download .dmg · CLI (openbooklet) · Features · Architecture · User Guide · Clean-Room Spec · Español
MacOS OpenBooklet is a clean-room, open-source macOS application and command-line suite written in 100% Rust (openbooklet-core, openbooklet-pdf, openbooklet-cli, openbooklet-app) paired directly with Apple's native AppKit, PDFKit, CoreGraphics (Quartz 2D), and CoreText frameworks.
Legacy PDF booklet and imposition tools on macOS typically suffer from one of three flaws: broken Linux Python/GTK3/Poppler dependency chains, bloated Electron/Java runtimes, or rasterizing pipelines that convert crisp typography into blurry bitmaps.
MacOS OpenBooklet takes the native vector path: every source page is inspected across all five ISO 32000-1 PDF boundary boxes (MediaBox, CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox, ArtBox) and transformed vectorially via CGPDFContext and affine matrices in milliseconds — preserving 100% vector curves, embedded fonts, CMYK/RGB color profiles, and zero external runtime dependencies.
🇪🇸 Español — Resumen del Proyecto (Haz clic para desplegar)
MacOS OpenBooklet es un estudio nativo de imposición de PDF, encuadernación artesanal (bookbinding) y pre-impresión para macOS + línea de comandos (openbooklet), desarrollado 100% en Rust desde cero (clean-room) bajo licencia MIT e integrado directamente con AppKit, PDFKit, CoreGraphics (Quartz 2D) y CoreText.
- Instalación Directa por Homebrew (
brew) o.dmg: Instala tanto/Applications/OpenBooklet.appcomo el binario de terminalopenbookletconbrew install --cask SilverFeit/tap/macos-openbooklet. - 12 Modos de Imposición y Reversión:
- Libreto Simple (Saddle-Stitch Booklet) y Cuadernillos Múltiples (Multi-Signature Books) para costura francesa, copta o encuadernación fresada/encolada.
- Modo Guillotina "Cut & Stack" (2-Up y 4-Up): Imprime a doble cara, corta por el centro con guillotina, apila la columna izquierda sobre la derecha y obtén el bloque ordenado del
1alNsin doblar hojas. - Des-imponer / Revertir Libreto (De-Impose Booklet y Split 2-Up): Toma un PDF que ya viene impuesto como libreto o pliego doble y lo devuelve automáticamente a páginas individuales en orden de lectura secuencial (
1, 2, 3...). - 2-Up, 4-Up (Filas y Columnas), Repetición de Copias (Step & Repeat) y 1-Up Prepress.
- Las 6 Mejoras Profesionales Integradas:
- Calibración Dúplex de Impresora (
Verso dX / dY mm+ Hoja de Calibración Imprimible): Corrige al sub-milímetro el desajuste físico entre cara y dorso de cualquier impresora doméstica o de oficina e incluye generador de hoja de prueba con regla vernier (openbooklet calibrate-sheet). - Corte y Apilado (Guillotine Cut & Stack 2-Up / 4-Up) con línea guía de guillotina e instrucciones en la tira técnica.
- Des-imposición Lineal (De-Impose / Linearize) para recuperar el orden de lectura de libretos existentes.
- Marcas de Colación Escalonadas en el Lomo (Spine Collating Marks): Bloques negros numerados y escalonados en el pliegue exterior de cada cuadernillo para detectar al instante si falta un pliego o está invertido antes de coser.
- Hojas de Guarda Automáticas (Flyleaves / Endpapers): Inserta hojas de cortesía en blanco al inicio y al final del libro sin modificar el PDF original.
- Inspector de las 5 Cajas de Imprenta (
MediaBox,CropBox,TrimBox,BleedBox,ArtBox): Detecta automáticamente si el PDF tieneTrimBoxde diseñador y alinea las marcas de corte al borde final.
- Calibración Dúplex de Impresora (
| Capability | MacOS OpenBooklet (Rust + Quartz 2D + AppKit) | Legacy Python / GTK / Java / Web Tools |
|---|---|---|
| PDF Rendering Pipeline | 100% Native Vector Quartz 2D (CGPDFContext) — preserves fonts, vectors & CMYK |
Often rasterizes pages or strips PDF prepress boxes |
| Runtime Dependencies | Zero (~500 KB pure Rust + macOS system frameworks) |
Requires Python, GTK3, Poppler, PyQt, Java JRE, or Chromium |
| Duplex Printer Calibration | Sub-millimeter Verso X/Y shift + Printable 2-Page Vernier Calibration Sheet | Rarely included; requires manual trial-and-error |
| Guillotine Cut & Stack | Built-in 2-Up & 4-Up Cut & Stack with Verso back-to-back column mirroring | Booklet-only or requires commercial prepress software |
| De-Impose / Un-Booklet | One-click / one-command deimpose & split-2up back to 1..N reading order |
Requires separate page-splitting utilities |
| Bookbinding Spine Verification | Stepped & numbered Spine Collating Marks + Automatic Front/Back Flyleaves | Manual calculation or missing |
| License & Provenance | Clean-room MIT License (SilverFeit) |
GPL / AGPL copyleft or proprietary |
- Single Booklet (
booklet): Classic saddle-stitch imposition (4pages per folded sheet, outermost to centerfold). - Multi-Signature Books (
signatures): Splits thick books into configurable quires (1to16folded sheets =4to64pages per signature) for hand-sewn (Coptic, French link, Smyth) or perfect-bound books. - Guillotine Cut & Stack (
cut-stack-2up,cut-stack-4up): Designed for ring-bound manuals, notepads, tickets, and stack-cut books that are cut with a guillotine rather than folded. Automatically mirrors Verso horizontal columns so every front page aligns with its exact back page when cut down the center and stacked. - De-Impose Booklet & Split 2-Up Spreads (
deimpose,split-2up): Takes an already-imposed 2-up booklet or scanned double-page spread PDF, crops each spread cleanly in half, and reconstructs sequential1, 2, 3, ..., Nsingle pages. - N-Up & Step-and-Repeat (
2up,4up-rows,4up-cols,2-copies,4-copies,1up): Flexible grid imposition and duplicate flyer/card printing.
- Consumer and office laser/inkjet duplexers almost always shift the back side (
Verso) by0.5 mmto2.5 mmrelative to the front side (Recto). - MacOS OpenBooklet lets you export a 2-Page Printable Duplex Calibration Sheet (
Cmd+Koropenbooklet calibrate-sheet calibration.pdf). Print it duplex at 100% scale, hold the sheet against a light source to see where the crimson Back-Side crosshair lands on the Front-Side millimeter ruler, and enter thoseVerso dX / dY (mm)values to achieve dead-on front-to-back registration.
- Progressive Creep (Shingling) Compensation: Shifts inner sheets progressively toward the spine (
Δx(s) = C · s / (M - 1)) so outer margins trim flush even on thick signatures. - Stepped Spine Collating Marks: Prints a stepped black block with micro-numbered signature index (
1,2,3...) on the outer spine fold of each signature. When all folded signatures are stacked together, the marks form a continuous diagonal staircase down the spine — making a missing, duplicated, or inverted signature immediately visible before sewing. - Automatic Front & Back Flyleaves (Endpapers): Prepend and append
2,4, or8blank protective endpaper pages without editing your source PDF.
- Inspects all five PDF boundary boxes on every page (
openbooklet inspect file.pdf --json). - In
Automode, automatically frames pages toTrimBoxwhen present (falling back toCropBoxthenMediaBox), and aligns perimeter Corner Crop Marks, Registration Bullseye Targets, and Technical Sheet Slugs with mathematical precision.
Installs both /Applications/OpenBooklet.app and /opt/homebrew/bin/openbooklet (and clears Gatekeeper quarantine automatically):
brew install --cask SilverFeit/tap/macos-openbookletTo update to the latest version at any time:
brew upgrade --cask macos-openbooklet- Go to GitHub Releases (
latest). - Download
MacOS-OpenBooklet-1.0.0.dmg(orMacOS-OpenBooklet-1.0.0.app.zip). - Open the
.dmg, drag OpenBooklet into Applications, and launch it.
Note
First Launch via Manual Download (Gatekeeper): Because open-source builds use ad-hoc signing rather than a paid Developer ID certificate, if you install manually via .dmg/.zip instead of Homebrew, right-click OpenBooklet.app → Open → Open (or run xattr -cr "/Applications/OpenBooklet.app"). To add openbooklet to your PATH on manual installs:
ln -sf "/Applications/OpenBooklet.app/Contents/MacOS/openbooklet" /opt/homebrew/bin/openbookletRequires macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon with Rust (cargo / rustc) and Xcode Command Line Tools:
git clone https://github.com/SilverFeit/MacOS-OpenBooklet.git
cd MacOS-OpenBooklet
# Run clean-room core + vector PDF round-trip test suite
cargo test
# Build Release OpenBooklet.app + openbooklet CLI + .dmg + .app.zip + SHA256SUMS.txt
./Scripts/package_release.shopenbooklet is bundled inside OpenBooklet.app/Contents/MacOS/openbooklet and supports full scripting, --dry-run sheet verification, and --json output for automated prepress pipelines:
# List all 12 imposition & prepress modes
openbooklet modes
# Inspect PDF page count & ISO 32000-1 prepress boxes (MediaBox, TrimBox, BleedBox, CropBox)
openbooklet inspect manuscript.pdf
openbooklet inspect manuscript.pdf --json
# Generate a 2-page printable Duplex Vernier Calibration Sheet
openbooklet calibrate-sheet duplex-calibration.pdf --paper a4
# Create a standard saddle-stitch booklet on A4 with crop marks
openbooklet manuscript.pdf booklet.pdf --mode booklet --paper a4 --crop-marks
# Multi-signature sewn book (16 pages / 4 sheets per signature, 1.2 mm creep, +2 front/back flyleaves, spine collating marks & duplex calibration)
openbooklet book.pdf signatures.pdf \
--mode signatures \
--folios 4 \
--creep 1.2 \
--flyleaves 2,2 \
--duplex-offset 1.25,-0.50 \
--all-marks \
--page-numbers bottom-outer
# Guillotine 2-Up Cut & Stack (cut down the center and stack left pile onto right pile)
openbooklet manual.pdf cut-and-stack.pdf --mode cut-stack-2up --paper letter --slug
# Reverse an already-imposed booklet PDF back into sequential 1..N single pages
openbooklet deimpose imposed-booklet.pdf linear-reading.pdf
# Split 2-Up scanned spreads into individual pages (supports --rtl for Manga/Arabic)
openbooklet deimpose scanned-spreads.pdf single-pages.pdf --split-2up
# Preview the exact sheet/side/signature slot matrix in the terminal without writing a PDF
openbooklet book.pdf --mode signatures --folios 4 --dry-run
MacOS OpenBooklet separates pure mathematical imposition logic from native Apple Quartz 2D vector PDF rendering across four modular Rust crates:
openbooklet-core(Zero-Dependency Pure Rust Engine): Computes page-range filtering, front/back flyleaf injection, automatic blank padding, signature partitioning, saddle-stitch / cut-and-stack / de-imposition slot matrices, progressive creep shingling (Δx(s)), Verso duplex calibration offsets, and preflight diagnostics.openbooklet-pdf(Quartz 2DCoreGraphics+CoreTextVector Engine): Reads all 5 ISO 32000-1 boundary boxes (CGPDFPageGetBoxRect), clips and transforms source pages directly into vector output sheets (CGPDFContextCreateWithURL+CGContextDrawPDFPage), draws prepress marks and stepped spine collating blocks, and generates the printable Duplex Vernier Calibration Sheet.openbooklet-cli(openbooklet): Fast, scriptable command-line interface with--dry-runASCII tables and--jsontelemetry.openbooklet-app(OpenBooklet.app): Native macOSAppKit+PDFKitdesktop studio with live RetinaPDFViewpreview, instant sheet/side navigation, and native macOS printing (Cmd+P).
Read the Full User Guide (docs/USER_GUIDE.md), Clean-Room Mathematical Specification (docs/SPEC.md), and Changelog (CHANGELOG.md) for complete details.
- Mac Architecture: Apple Silicon (
arm64— M1, M2, M3, M4, and newer). - Operating System: macOS 14.0 Sonoma or later.
- Permissions & Privacy: 100% Offline & Local. Zero network requests, zero telemetry, zero background daemons, and zero special macOS TCC permissions required. Multi-user ready (
0755POSIX permissions) when installed in/Applications.
MacOS-OpenBooklet/
├── Cargo.toml # Rust Workspace (openbooklet-core + pdf + cli + app)
├── VERSION # Single source of truth for release & bundle version (1.0.0)
├── Casks/macos-openbooklet.rb # Homebrew Cask definition (synced with SilverFeit/homebrew-tap)
├── crates/
│ ├── openbooklet-core/ # Pure Rust imposition, cut-and-stack, de-impose, creep & preflight engine
│ ├── openbooklet-pdf/ # Native CoreGraphics / CoreText vector PDF renderer & 5-box inspector
│ ├── openbooklet-cli/ # Command-line interface (`openbooklet`) with --dry-run & --json
│ └── openbooklet-app/ # Native macOS AppKit + PDFKit GUI (`OpenBooklet.app`) in pure Rust
├── Scripts/ # App + CLI bundle builder, Rust CoreGraphics .icns generator & DMG packager
└── docs/ # User Guide, Clean-Room Mathematical Spec (`SPEC.md`) & SVG/PNG assets
Released under the MIT License. Copyright © 2026 SilverFeit.
Topics & Hashtags
#macOS #OpenBooklet #PDFImposition #Bookbinding #BookletMaker #Prepress #CutAndStack #DuplexCalibration #Rust #AppKit #PDFKit #Quartz2D #ZineMaking #IndiePublishing #PrintProduction #Homebrew #CLI #AppleSilicon #MacUtilities #OpenSource