# Double-page spreads in Graphic Mode

> How to create double-page spreads in BookZeta Graphic Mode for children's picture books and comics: facing-page pairing, gutter safety, and print PDF export.

- **Category:** [Visual Tools (Graphic & Cover)](https://bookzeta.ai/help-center/visual-tools)
- **Canonical URL:** https://bookzeta.ai/help-center/visual-tools/double-page-spreads-graphic-mode
- **Last Updated:** 2026-11-12

---

In [Graphic Mode](/help-center/visual-tools/graphic-mode-tour), you can pair two facing pages into a **double-page spread**—a single double-wide canvas that spans the left (verso) and right (recto) pages of an open physical book. Double-page spreads are essential for panoramic [children's picture books](/blog/how-to-illustrate-a-childrens-book), comic splash reveals, and illustrated maps.

## Which projects support spreads

Double-page spreads are available on **print-proportioned graphic formats**—such as **Square (`8 x 8"`)**, **Children's Portrait (`8 x 10"`)**, **Children's Landscape (`10 x 8"`)**, **US Comic (`6.625 x 10.25"`)**, **Graphic Novel (`6 x 9"`)**, and **Manga**.

Vertical-scroll **Webtoon** projects do not use spreads, because readers view them on a single continuous phone column rather than facing pages (see [Creating a webtoon in Graphic Mode](/help-center/visual-tools/creating-a-webtoon)).

## How facing pages pair in a real book

Physical books follow fixed left-and-right pagination among your story pages (excluding front/back covers and spine):

- **Page 1 (left) + Page 2 (right)** form the first facing pair, **Page 3 (left) + Page 4 (right)** form the next, and so on.
- When you convert a page into a spread in the left-hand page list, BookZeta pairs it with its facing partner and opens a **double-wide canvas** (`2x` your single-page width at the same height) owned by the left-hand page.
- You can split a spread back into two separate single pages—or restore an earlier snapshot from [version history](/help-center/writing-tools/version-history)—at any time.

## Designing safely across the centre gutter

The middle vertical line of a spread is not a flat crease; in a bound paperback or hardcover, glue and paper curvature pull the centre of both pages inward toward the spine. Keep three layout habits in mind:

1. **Never put faces, eyes, or key details dead-centre.** Place characters comfortably on either the left third or the right third of the spread, letting scenery, sky, water, or motion lines cross the middle fold.
2. **Never run a text box or speech bubble across the centre line.** Keep sentences and [speech bubbles](/help-center/visual-tools/speech-bubbles-and-panels) wholly on the left page or wholly on the right page, well inside the inner safe margin.
3. **Extend backgrounds all the way to the outer bleed guides.** Spreads almost always look best full-bleed—make sure your background fills the entire double-wide canvas past the trim line so no white border shows after trimming.

## How spreads export across formats

You only design the spread once; BookZeta adapts it to each destination when you open **Publish & Export**:

- **Print PDF:** BookZeta slices the double-wide spread cleanly into its left and right interior pages with proper outer bleed and no accidental inside-spine bleed on KDP exports. See [Choosing trim sizes, gutter margins, and bleed](/help-center/exporting-publishing/kdp-trim-sizes-margins-and-bleed).
- **Online reader & screen exports:** Readers see the panoramic artwork preserved as intended, and [read-along audio](/help-center/exporting-publishing/read-along-audio) stays synchronized with the page order.