You send a perfectly formatted PDF to the printer and it comes out wrong — cut edges, wrong size, misaligned text. Here are the most common PDF printing mistakes and exactly how to fix them.

Mistake 1: Content Gets Cut Off at the Edges

Cause: The PDF page size does not match the printer's paper size, or margins are too small.

Fix: In the print dialog, select "Fit to Page" or "Shrink Oversized Pages". For a permanent fix, use our Resize PDF tool to change the page size to match your paper.

Mistake 2: Everything Prints at 85% or 90% Scale

Cause: Your print dialog is set to automatically scale down to avoid edge clipping.

Fix: Set scale to 100% or "Actual Size" in the print dialog. Make sure your PDF's page size matches your paper size exactly.

💡 Check This First

Before printing, always go to File → Print Preview. The preview shows you exactly what will be printed before you waste paper or ink.

Mistake 3: Blank Pages Appearing Between Content

Cause: The PDF contains intentional blank pages for double-sided printing, or leftover empty pages from editing.

Fix: Use our Delete Pages tool to remove blank pages before printing. Or in the print dialog, enable "Print on Both Sides" to use those blank pages as intended backs.

Mistake 4: Text Appears Blurry or Pixelated

Cause: The PDF was created from low-resolution images, or was saved at a low DPI setting.

Fix: If you created the PDF from images, make sure the original images are at least 300 DPI for print. Use our Image tools to check image quality before converting.

Mistake 5: Colours Look Wrong When Printed

Cause: Screen colours use RGB; printers use CMYK. What looks vivid on screen may look dull on paper.

Fix: If colour accuracy matters (e.g. marketing materials), request a print-ready PDF from the designer. Standard office printing is not colour-calibrated, so some difference is normal.

Mistake 6: Wrong Orientation (Portrait Prints as Landscape)

Cause: The PDF page orientation does not match the print dialog setting.

Fix: In the print dialog, check "Auto-rotate" or manually set Portrait/Landscape to match your PDF. For a permanent fix, use our Rotate PDF tool to correct the orientation before printing.

Mistake 7: Only Printing Half the Content

Cause: Printing from the wrong application — some browser print dialogs clip PDFs.

Fix: Always print PDFs from a dedicated PDF reader (Adobe Acrobat Reader, Foxit, or a browser's built-in PDF viewer accessed via the address bar — not right-click print). Or use our PDF Reader tool to open and print cleanly.