Random Zine Page Imposition Plan Generator

Description

Shuffle supplied content into reviewed two-up saddle signatures and return upright face-on front/back page order for declared binding and duplex convention; printer feed handling is external.

Procedural artwork expresses a visual idea through coordinates, repeated motifs, colors, or explicit placement constraints. A coordinate plan can be checked and reproduced before rendering, while physical material behavior and fabrication require separate information.

Shuffle supplied content into reviewed two-up saddle signatures and return upright face-on front/back page order for declared binding and duplex convention; printer feed handling is external.

When to use this tool

Use this generator to create reproducible zine page imposition plan cases from the supplied model or bank. Inspect the returned evidence before using cases in a test or exercise.

How to use the tool and how it works

Supply contents, templates in the field shapes below. Set seed when you need an explicit replay.
Run the tool and correct any input error. For generated controls, distinguish a successful fixture containing an invalid case from failure to generate the fixture.
Read templateId, readingOrder, sheets, sheetArea, duplexConvention. Use the conventions below and keep answer-bearing fields separate when presenting an exercise.

Select a supplied saddle-signature template whose page count equals the number of distinct content IDs and is divisible by four. Shuffle reading order and place the outer/inner page pairs on two panels per face; reverse each spread for right binding. Return front/back sheets and the declared short-edge-flip convention.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and units	Accepted input
contents	Contents	Required. Array of Text; minimum UTF-16 length 1; maximum UTF-16 length 80.; minimum items 4; maximum items 32.
templates	Templates	Required. Array of Object; no unknown keys.; minimum items 1; maximum items 16.
templates[].id	Literal identifier used to match records, independently of their display labels.	Required. Text; minimum UTF-16 length 1; maximum UTF-16 length 80.
templates[].pageCount	Page Count	Required. Safe integer; minimum 4; maximum 32.
templates[].sheetWidth	Sheet Width	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
templates[].sheetHeight	Sheet Height	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
templates[].binding	Binding	Required. Text; one of "left", "right".
seed	Optional numeric seed; takes precedence over context randomness. Without either, use the fixed tool.io default seed.	Optional. Safe integer.

Output field	Interpretation	Returned shape
templateId	Template Id	Required. Text; minimum UTF-16 length 1; maximum UTF-16 length 80.
readingOrder	Reading Order	Required. Array of Text; minimum UTF-16 length 1; maximum UTF-16 length 80.; minimum items 4; maximum items 32.
sheets	Sheets	Required. Array of Object; no unknown keys.; minimum items 1; maximum items 8.
sheets[].sheetIndex	Sheet Index	Required. Safe integer; minimum 0; maximum 7.
sheets[].front	Front	Required. Array of Object; no unknown keys.; minimum items 2; maximum items 2.
sheets[].front[].page	Page	Required. Safe integer; minimum 1; maximum 32.
sheets[].front[].content	Content	Required. Text; minimum UTF-16 length 1; maximum UTF-16 length 80.
sheets[].front[].x	X	Required. Finite number.
sheets[].front[].y	Y	Required. Finite number.
sheets[].front[].width	Width	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
sheets[].front[].height	Height	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
sheets[].back	Back	Required. Array of Object; no unknown keys.; minimum items 2; maximum items 2.
sheets[].back[].page	Page	Required. Safe integer; minimum 1; maximum 32.
sheets[].back[].content	Content	Required. Text; minimum UTF-16 length 1; maximum UTF-16 length 80.
sheets[].back[].x	X	Required. Finite number.
sheets[].back[].y	Y	Required. Finite number.
sheets[].back[].width	Width	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
sheets[].back[].height	Height	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
sheetArea	Sheet Area	Required. Finite number; strictly above 0.
duplexConvention	Duplex Convention	Required. Text; exactly "short-edge flip; each face viewed upright".
randomness	Replay metadata: source is seed or context; seed is the normalized 32-bit seed or null for a context source.	Required. Object; no unknown keys.
randomness.seed	Optional numeric replay seed; normalization and precedence are explained below.	Required. Safe integer. or Null.
randomness.source	Source	Required. Text; one of "context", "seed".

An explicit safe-integer seed takes precedence over injected context randomness and is normalized to an unsigned 32-bit integer. With no seed and no context source, replay uses the fixed tool.io default seed. A context source must return finite values from zero inclusive to one exclusive; its advancing state must be retained separately. randomness records the source and normalized seed, or null for context. These generators are not cryptographic random sources.

json

{
  "input": {
    "contents": [
      "A",
      "B",
      "C",
      "D"
    ],
    "templates": [
      {
        "id": "four-page",
        "pageCount": 4,
        "sheetWidth": 12,
        "sheetHeight": 8,
        "binding": "left"
      }
    ],
    "seed": 42
  },
  "output": {
    "templateId": "four-page",
    "readingOrder": [
      "A",
      "D",
      "C",
      "B"
    ],
    "sheets": [
      {
        "sheetIndex": 0,
        "front": [
          {
            "page": 4,
            "content": "B",
            "x": 0,
            "y": 0,
            "width": 6,
            "height": 8
          },
          {
            "page": 1,
            "content": "A",
            "x": 6,
            "y": 0,
            "width": 6,
            "height": 8
          }
        ],
        "back": [
          {
            "page": 2,
            "content": "D",
            "x": 0,
            "y": 0,
            "width": 6,
            "height": 8
          },
          {
            "page": 3,
            "content": "C",
            "x": 6,
            "y": 0,
            "width": 6,
            "height": 8
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "sheetArea": 96,
    "duplexConvention": "short-edge flip; each face viewed upright",
    "randomness": {
      "seed": 42,
      "source": "seed"
    }
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Coordinates and areas follow the supplied sheet units. The plan assumes each face is viewed upright; printer feed, margins, creep, bleed and physical duplex handling must be checked separately.
A replay requires the same complete input and implementation. Randomized construction does not guarantee uniform coverage of every feasible output; finite samples can repeat unless a distinct-selection rule is explicitly stated.
The field tables state structural bounds; cross-field constraints and bounded search or output budgets also apply. Unknown keys are rejected where the object contract disallows them. Input errors are distinct from null fields and deliberate invalid controls in a successful output.

Alternative or Complementary methods

For a supplied example, inspect the returned construction or delegated check directly. To evaluate a consumer, also test cases chosen for its own boundaries; a generated finite corpus does not establish exhaustive coverage.

References

Tool behavior and example: Random Zine Page Imposition Plan Generator — tool.io

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