Restaurant menu as PDF: design, print and share digitally

Choosing the right format

Popular formats for menus: A4 (standard, cheap to print), A5 (compact, ideal for cafes), DL format (one third of A4, elegant for drinks menus). Consider landscape orientation for larger menus — it gives more room for two columns side by side.

Fonts and readability

Use at least 11pt for body text and 16–22pt for category headings. Choose fonts that are readable in dim lighting. Combine a maximum of two typefaces: an elegant serif for titles, a clear sans-serif for dishes and descriptions. Always embed fonts in the PDF to avoid display issues.

Images in the menu

Food photos increase appeal but also increase file size. Use JPG images at 150 DPI for digital display, 300 DPI for print. Compress the PDF after adding images using PDFrust to keep the file size manageable — ideal for emailing to a printer.

QR code for digital menu

Add a QR code to table cards pointing to the online PDF version of your menu. Use PDFrust's QR code tool to place a QR directly in the card. Guests can view the menu on their smartphone without physical contact — popular since the pandemic and still useful for outdoor terraces.

Bleed and crop marks for professional printing

Having the menu printed professionally? Ask the printer about the bleed margin (usually 3–5 mm). Add a coloured border that extends beyond the cut format so there are no white edges after trimming. Always supply as PDF-X or high-quality PDF with embedded fonts.

Version control for the menu

Menus are updated regularly: seasonal menu, price changes, new dishes. Use a fixed naming convention such as menu_restaurant_name_v3_2026-07.pdf and keep old versions. Add the date as metadata in PDFrust so you always know which version is the most current.

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