How to print a PDF correctly: tips and settings

1 min read·23 July 2026

Printing a PDF seems simple, but things go wrong surprisingly often: text that gets clipped, wrong margins, or an A4 file printed on Letter paper. These tips help you get it right.

Check the page size

Make sure the paper size in the print dialog matches the format of your PDF. A4 (210 × 297 mm) and Letter (216 × 279 mm) look similar but the difference causes white borders or clipped content if they do not match.

Printing at scale: beware of "Fit to page"

"Fit to page" adjusts the PDF to the paper format. For a correctly laid-out document this scales the content unintentionally. Choose "Actual size" or "100%" instead, unless you deliberately want to scale.

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Double-sided printing

For double-sided printing you need a printer with a duplex unit, or you print manually: first the odd pages, flip the paper, then print the even pages. The Duplex tool on PDFrust reorders the pages so they come out correctly for manual double-sided printing.

Multiple pages per sheet (N-up)

Want to print two or four pages on one sheet? Use the N-up tool on PDFrust to create a PDF with multiple pages per sheet. This saves paper and prints compact handouts.