Printing guide
How to print at actual size
"Actual size" means the printer reproduces the document at 100% scale — a 100 mm rectangle in the file is 100 mm on the paper. It is essential for label sheets, business cards, rulers and any template where dimensions matter. The single biggest cause of misaligned print jobs is the opposite setting: "Fit to page".
The Fit-to-page trap
By default, most print dialogs select "Fit to printable area" or "Scale to fit" — sometimes quietly, without telling you. The intent is friendly: if your PDF is slightly larger than the paper, the printer scales it down to fit, so nothing gets cut. For everyday documents this is fine. For templates, it is a disaster.
A US Letter PDF printed onto A4 paper with "Fit to page" enabled is scaled to about 97% — small enough that the result looks fine to a casual eye, big enough that labels miss their die cuts and a printed ruler reads short.
Where to find the setting
The exact wording varies by application, but the location is consistent: it is in the print dialog, near the top, sometimes labelled "Scale", "Page Sizing", "Print Size" or just "Scaling".
Adobe Acrobat / Acrobat Reader
File → Print → under Page Sizing & Handling choose Actual size (not "Fit" or "Shrink oversized pages"). This is the most reliable way to print any PDF at scale.
Chrome & Edge
Ctrl/Cmd+P → More settings → set Scale to Default or choose Custom and type 100. Avoid "Fit to printable area" — Chrome applies it silently to oversized PDFs.
Firefox
Ctrl/Cmd+P → Scale → untick "Fit to page width" and select 100% (or type it). Firefox remembers the last value, so check it each time.
Safari & macOS Preview
Cmd+P → set Scale to 100%. In Preview, additionally make sure "Scale to Fit" is unticked in the print sheet’s options.
Windows Photos / Paint
In the print dialog choose Full page photo and untick Fit picture to frame — that toggle both crops and rescales. For anything dimension-critical, prefer printing the PDF version instead of an image.
If you cannot find the option, search the application's help for "scale to fit" — it is almost always the keyword used.
Verifying with a ruler
The reliable test is to print a sheet from a known-size template (the printable ruler tool on this site is built for exactly this) and overlay a real ruler against it. If the 100 mm mark on the print matches 100 mm on the ruler, scaling is correct. If it is short by 2 mm, the print is at ~98% — scaling is still on somewhere.
The ruler PDF from our generator carries a red check line labelled with its exact length for precisely this test — print it once when setting up a new printer or driver, and again after any driver update.
For a proper measurement rather than a spot check, the print scale calibration test prints a 100 mm square with two independent line references: type in what you measured and it returns the exact percentage your printer produced, plus the corrective scale to reprint at.
The stakes rise with scale rulers and scaled drawings: a life-size ruler printed 3% small is obvious against a real one, but a 1:100 ruler with the same error looks normal and understates every distance by 3%.
When scaling is fine
For casual documents (essays, reports, articles, photos) "Fit to page" is harmless and often helpful. For anything that will be cut, aligned with pre-cut sheets, used for measurement, or stuck to a real-world object, always disable scaling and verify with a ruler before printing in bulk.
Frequently asked questions
What does "actual size" mean?
The document is printed at 100% scale: a 100 mm wide rectangle in the file is exactly 100 mm wide on the paper. The opposite is "Fit to page" or "Scale to fit", which adjusts the document up or down to fill the printable area — useful for casual printing, ruinous for templates.
Why does scaling cause problems?
Templates designed at exact dimensions (label sheets, business cards, rulers, graph paper) rely on the printed output matching those dimensions. Even a 2% scale change makes labels misaligned with pre-cut sheets, makes a printed ruler measure wrong, and shifts business cards off their cut lines.
Where is the setting in major print dialogs?
Look for "Scale" or "Page Sizing" in the print dialog. The exact wording varies — common options are "Actual size", "100%", "None" or "Off". If you see "Fit to printable area" enabled by default, turn it off. The setting usually sits near the top of the dialog, sometimes inside an "Advanced" section.
How can I verify the print is actually at the right size?
Use a printed ruler. Print a sheet from the rulers tool here, then hold a real ruler against it. If the printed ruler's 100 mm mark sits exactly on a real 100 mm mark, scaling is correct. If it is off, adjust the print dialog and try again.
Why does Chrome print my PDF slightly smaller than 100%?
Chrome silently applies "Fit to printable area" when a PDF's page size exceeds the printable region — even by a millimetre. Set Scale to 100 explicitly under More settings, or print the file from Acrobat with "Actual size", which never auto-shrinks without telling you.
Does borderless printing affect actual size?
It can. Many drivers implement borderless mode by slightly enlarging the page (1–3%) so ink reaches the edges. For templates and rulers, switch borderless off and accept the unprintable margin — dimensional accuracy and edge-to-edge ink rarely coexist on home printers.
My printer keeps adding a tiny margin — is that scaling?
Not necessarily. Most home printers physically cannot print to the very edge of the paper — they have a 3–5 mm unprintable margin. That is hardware, not scaling. If your document fits inside the printable area, "Actual size" still produces correct dimensions; the margin just happens around it.
Printing something specific?
The setting above is the same whatever you are printing, but the rest of the job usually is not. These handle the part the print dialog cannot.
If it still is not right
Three problems account for nearly every case where the setting above does not solve it, and each has its own guide.
Not sure which option to pick
What Fit to printable area actually does, and where the 3–6% shrink comes from.
It keeps switching back on
Scaling lives at three layers. Setting the wrong one is why the fix does not stick.
Now the edges are missing
Four causes, told apart by which part of the page went missing.