How to print a PDF on Mac
Printing works the way printing should — with the decisions that actually matter called out.
⌘+P opens the standard macOS print panel, which is what you already know. The decisions worth thinking about are the ones specific to PDFs.
Printing is free and always will be. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing is watermarked.
The four that matter
| Setting | What to think about |
|---|---|
| Page range | Printing four pages of a forty-page document is a range, not forty pages and a recycling bin. |
| Double-sided | Halves the paper. Check whether the document was designed for it — one built for single-sided printing may have blank pages in the wrong places. |
| Scale | “Scale to fit” shrinks a page to fit the paper, which is usually right for an A4 document on US Letter and wrong for anything drawn to scale. |
| Annotations | Whether your highlights, notes and marks print. The answer differs depending on whether you are printing a working copy or a clean one. |
Printing part of a document
A page range in the print panel is the quick way. If you need those pages repeatedly — or need to send them to someone else — extract them into their own document instead, which is free and means you only choose once.
Printing a document drawn to scale
“Scale to fit” silently resizes the page, which means a printed plan no longer matches its own scale bar and anything measured off it will be wrong. For drawings, print at 100% and on the paper size the drawing was made for.
Printing a document that will be bound
Two things are worth doing before it goes to the printer: number the pages, and put the numbers in the outer corner rather than the centre so they stay visible when the pages are turned. Both take a minute and both are noticed only when they are missing.
Printing to PDF
The print panel's “Save as PDF” produces a new PDF from the printed output. It is occasionally useful — it flattens most things and produces a predictable file — but it is a blunt instrument: you lose annotations as objects, links, form fields and text structure. For almost every purpose, saving or exporting from the document is better.
When a printed page comes out wrong
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| Margins cut off | The document is a different paper size from the printer's; check scaling and the paper size |
| Text looks soft or grey | The page is a scan, or the document was flattened; neither prints as crisply as real text |
| Annotations missing | The print options excluded them |
| Pages in the wrong order | Double-sided printing on a printer that stacks face-up |
| A page prints sideways | The page is rotated in the document rather than in the view |
Frequently asked questions
How do I print only some pages of a PDF on a Mac?
Set a page range in the print panel. If you need those pages repeatedly, extract them into their own document instead — it is free.
Do my annotations print?
Depending on the print options you choose. Text boxes always print as part of the page; notes and marks can be included or left out.
Why does my printed plan not match its scale?
“Scale to fit” resized the page. Print at 100% on the paper size the drawing was made for.
How do I print double-sided?
Choose it in the print panel. Check the document first — one designed for single-sided printing may have blank pages that fall in the wrong places.
Should I use Save as PDF from the print panel?
Rarely. It loses annotations as objects, links, form fields and text structure. Saving or exporting from the document is better for almost every purpose.