Why does my document print the wrong size or cut off the edges?
A scale setting hides in three separate places and two of them applying at once is what shrinks a page to a third of its size. Which setting to use for which job, and the UK-specific paper trap.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 15 min
- Read
- 4 min
Short answer
Use fit to printable area for anything that must fit the page, and actual size only when the dimensions genuinely matter — a scale drawing, a sewing pattern, a template. Check the paper size is A4 in the application, the driver and the printer, because a document laid out for US Letter printed on A4 crops on two sides and no scale setting fixes that properly.
Home printers cannot print to the very edge of the paper — there is an unprintable border of a few millimetres on all sides. Everything about print scaling flows from that fact. Printing at exactly 100 per cent means the outer few millimetres of the document land in that border and simply do not appear, which is why fit to printable area exists and why it is normally the right choice.
Step by step
- Check the paper size in three places.The document's own page setup, the print dialogue, and the printer's front panel or driver. A mismatch anywhere produces cropping or a wide unused band. In the UK the answer is A4 almost everywhere; documents from US sources are laid out for Letter.
- Choose the right scaling option deliberately.Fit to printable area shrinks very slightly so nothing is lost — correct for ordinary documents. Actual size or 100 per cent preserves dimensions exactly and loses the outer edge — correct only when dimensions matter. Fit to page and shrink oversized pages are variations of the first.
- Make sure only one scale setting is active.If the application scales and the driver scales as well, they multiply. A page at 50 per cent in one and 50 per cent in the other prints at a quarter size. Set the scale in one place and leave the other at 100 per cent or none.
- Check the printer's own panel for a scaling setting.Some printers hold their own scale or fit-to-page option that overrides what the computer sent, particularly on models with a copy function. It is often set once by accident and never noticed.
- Use borderless mode only when you mean it.Borderless printing works by deliberately printing slightly larger than the paper so the ink runs off all four edges. It is right for photographs and wrong for documents, because it crops the outer edge on purpose.
- Print at actual size when dimensions matter, and verify.For a sewing pattern, a scale drawing or a template, choose actual size, print one page, and measure the test square that most such documents include. If the square is wrong, the scale is wrong — do not proceed to print forty pages.
- Check the orientation and the margins in the document.Content sitting inside the unprintable border in the original document will be cut off however you print it. Widen the document margins rather than fighting the printer.
If it doesn't work
Prints tiny in the middle of the page
Cause: Two scale settings multiplying — Fix: Set the application to 100 per cent and use only the driver's fit option, or the reverse. Never both.
Right and bottom edges cut off
Cause: Letter-sized layout on A4 paper — Fix: Change the document's page size to A4, or use fit to printable area, which will shrink it slightly to fit. Changing the paper size in the document is the better fix.
A thin strip missing all round
Cause: Printing at exactly 100 per cent — Fix: Switch to fit to printable area. The tiny reduction is imperceptible and nothing is lost.
A pattern or drawing prints at the wrong scale
Cause: Any fit option is active — Fix: Turn off all scaling, choose actual size, and measure the test square on the printed page before continuing.
Everything shifted to one side
Cause: A misfeed or a paper guide not set — Fix: Set the tray guides against the paper. A stack sitting loose in the tray feeds at a slight angle and shifts the whole image.
Questions people ask
Why can my printer not print right to the edge?
The mechanism grips the paper at its edges and needs a margin to do so. Photo printers get around this with a borderless mode that prints oversized and lets the excess run off, which wastes a little ink and crops the image.
What is the right setting for a PDF I need to fill in and post?
Fit to printable area. Nothing is lost, everything is legible, and the slight reduction does not matter for a form.
How do I check a pattern printed at the correct scale?
Most patterns include a test square with its intended dimensions printed on it. Measure it with a ruler on the printed page. If it is wrong, the scale is wrong regardless of what the dialogue said.