InDesign: Multiple "pages" to a printed page

Question

The Problem

I've designed some playing cards (3.5" x 2.25") in InDesign. Now I want to print a prototype batch on my home printer as a first test. Ideally I would like 4 cards per 8.5" x 11" page, with printers marks to guide cutting.

You'd think this would be easy with InDesign. So far, it seems to be anything but. There are a startling number of wrong ways to do it, and I haven't found a right way yet.

What I've Tried

Method A: New Document

1. Start a second document with 8.5" x 11" pages.
2. Drag the cards into it and position them 1 by 1

This is the closest to the right way that I've found, but I lose any background fields from the original in the process.

Method B: Export to PDF

I tried exporting to PDF then printing multiple pages to a page.

Why this fails: it resizes the pages.

Method C: Printing Thumbnails

I tried printing "thumbnails" to a single page in InDesign. Again, this resizes the pages.

Answer 1

You need two indesign documents: "source" and "print layout".

example source file

in "print layout" just place (cmd+D) and select "source"

in "print layout" you have created needed layout with rectangle frames in which you'll have placed your source file

and print