General Rules for Folding and Printing

A few general rules about all of the instructional sheets on this blog:

• Each post will contain a two-page PDF, each page to be printed on either side of a single sheet of blank paper.
• The solid black perimeter lines indicate where to cut the paper.
• Fold the paper so 1 touches 1, 2 touches 2, 3 touches 3, et cetera. Occasionally numbers will be supplemented with letters (ex: 7a and 7b). These indicate multiple points that need to touch in a single fold (ex: 7a must touch 7a, and 7b must touch 7b simultaneously).
• Outlined numbers are to be folded, creased, and unfolded.
• Overlined numbers indicate that only the top layer of paper (and not all layers) are to be folded. 
• The gray lines and accompanying numbers in parentheses illustrate where each fold should crease the paper. After making each fold, double check that you did it correctly by unfolding it and ensuring the crease is in the right place.
• Finally, use logic and common sense when folding. These instruction sheets show the basic folding patterns, but they should not be taken too literally.
  

REGARDING PRINTING
A user has two options when printing: (1) print the document full-size, or (2) print at a slightly reduced size.

The former allows for a slightly larger product by starting with a 8.5"x8.5" square, and will require just one cut. However, since most printers cannot print directly to the edge of the paper, there will be a no-print margin around the three sides of the paper that will not need to be cut. Each page is specifically designed to still work properly even with that no-print margin.

The latter will shrink the document slightly, which will result in a slightly smaller product and requires four cuts (one for each side of the square).

Either will work, and both have advantages and disadvantages. Just make sure that both sides of the paper are printed the same way, otherwise the proportions will be skewed and the result not accurate.