Fix PDF printing problems — the most common causes and solutions

2 min read·25 July 2026

Your PDF won't print, the printer shows an error or the printout looks different from expected. This guide covers the most common causes and their solutions — for Windows, Mac and mobile.

PDF is print-protected

Some PDFs have print protection enabled — the owner set this intentionally. In Adobe Reader you see "Printing not allowed" when you try to print. Use PDFrust Unlock to remove the protection (only works if no owner password is set).

Printer does not recognise the PDF

Older printers sometimes do not understand complex PDFs with transparency, layers or advanced colour profiles. Solution: flatten the PDF via PDFrust Flatten. This converts everything to a single raster format that every printer understands. Alternative: print from a browser instead of Adobe.

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Page prints too large or too small

Check the "Page Scaling" setting in the printer dialogue. Set to "Actual Size" (100%) for correct dimensions. "Fit to Page" scales automatically. For A4 content on an A4 printer: choose "Actual Size". If the document is A3 and you have an A4 printer, use PDFrust Page Size to reduce the document.

Blank pages when printing

Blank pages in the printout are sometimes invisible empty pages in the PDF itself. Use PDFrust Remove Blank Pages to remove them. Or inspect the pages via PDFrust Info to see how many pages the PDF contains.

Colours do not match on the printout

Colour problems occur when the PDF is in RGB and the printer expects CMYK. Convert the PDF to grayscale via PDFrust Grayscale for black-and-white printing. For colour: check your printer driver settings for colour profile. Calibrate the printer if colours are systematically off.