Inner sheets in a nested booklet can project farther at the outside edge because the paper has thickness. Correct page order does not remove that physical effect. Make a dummy using representative paper and the actual sheet count, then ask the production owner how creep will be compensated. Do not shift every image by an arbitrary amount or apply a second imposition process to a finished printer file.
Identify the construction before compensating
Record the booklet type, finished size, stock and number of nested sheets. A single folded sheet, a saddle-stitched booklet and a separately bound book do not have identical behavior. Creep compensation must follow the real construction and the supplier's workflow.
Label the outer and inner sheets on a plain dummy. Fold and nest them as intended, then compare the outside edges without forcing the stack into an unrealistic position. Distinguish physical projection from a PDF that has the wrong page order. Check the center binding-safe area as a separate composition issue.
Give one production owner the adjustment
Adobe's InDesign creep guide locates the Creep control in File > Print Booklet and explains incremental adjustments across sheets. That is an InDesign workflow. Its value sign and units should be read in the actual application; they are not a universal rule for every imposition system.
Ask whether the printer will perform compensation. If it will, supply the requested reading-order file and the construction information. If you own imposition, make a clearly labeled compensated proof and inspect its output. Do not apply compensation both in your file and again downstream without a deliberate agreement.
A hypothetical edge-content comparison
Suppose a small booklet places a thin frame near the outside edge of every page. A representative nested dummy shows inner sheets extending beyond the cover. Compare the untreated proof and the supplier-approved compensated candidate after the intended folding and trimming process.
Record sheet identity, page identity, distance from important content to the finished edge and any shifted center detail. This is a proposed physical test, not a measured production result. The compensation should not be approved merely because an outer edge looks aligned if the frame or a face is now cut off elsewhere.
Check the finished reading object
Accept when the actual folded and trimmed proof has the intended reading order and preserved edge content. Reject a adjustment that fixes one inner page while losing essential content on another. Inspect both sides of representative sheets and the inner and outer parts of the booklet.
Retain the uncompensated source, approved imposed output and supplier note. Recheck if the paper, sheet count or binding process changes. Imagild's Skills can create page artwork, while paper thickness, creep and final imposition remain external production decisions. A correctly ordered screen preview is one check; the finished booklet's edge behavior is another, and both belong in the approval record.