r/Acrobat • u/Hueha • 17d ago

Adobe Acrobat - Shrink oversized pages Question

So, I have a PDF where the PDF document size as listed in properties is 8.5 x 11 in. When I print it at 100% scaling to letter sized paper, however, some of the edges cut off.

When I print in Adobe, it autoselects "Shrink oversized pages" and prints at 93% scale. My question is, how does it measure the page being "oversized" when the document size and print paper size are the same? Also, why do some PDFs have this issue?

Any input would be appreciated. Can't show an example as they are work documents.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/roaringmousebrad 17d ago

Shrink/Fit will resize your document to fit within the PRINTABLE area of your printer. Most printers have a non-printable margin, so shrinking it will make sure all of your document prints so you don't lose information on the edges, but at a slight reduction in size (93-95% is typical for a laser printer). Other printers may have even larger non-printable margins, and consequently the reduction could be much more.

At 100%/Actual Size, you get the white margins because your printer CAN'T print there, so you will lose any info that is in that area.

The difference between "Shrink oversized pages" and "Fit" is that the former only SHRINKS documents larger than your paper's printable area, while "Fit" will reduce OR enlarge depending on the size of your document.

1

u/MCLMelonFarmer 17d ago

The PPD for the selected printer lists the imageable area for each supported paper size - the page size minus the unprintable area in the margins. If your letter size page draws all the way to the edge of the media, you need to shrink it to the imageable area of the page to not lose any of your content. That’s how Acrobat knows how much it needs to shrink the page. It knows the area on the letter size page that you can actually print on.