How to Print at Actual Size Without Scaling (PDF & Photos)

To print something at its real size, open the print dialog and choose "Actual size", "100%" or "Scale: 100" instead of "Fit to page", "Shrink oversized pages" or "Fit to printable area". Also check that the paper size in the dialog matches the paper in the printer. Then print one test page and measure it with a ruler before printing many copies. Wrong scaling is the most common reason passport photos, labels and business cards come out slightly too small.

Why prints come out the wrong size

Printers cannot print right to the edge of the paper; most leave a small unprintable margin. To make sure nothing gets cut off, many print dialogs shrink the page automatically, often to about 94–97%. For a letter, nobody notices. For a passport photo that must be exactly 35 × 45 mm, or a label sheet that must line up with pre-cut stickers, a 3–6% shrink is enough to cause a rejection or misaligned labels.

The second common cause is a paper size mismatch: a document designed for A4 printed on US Letter paper (or the reverse) gets scaled to fit.

Settings by app

Menu names change between versions, so look for the closest match.

Chrome and Edge (printing a PDF or web page)

1. Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac).
2. Click More settings.
3. Set Scale to Custom → 100 (or "Actual size", if shown).
4. Set Margins to None or Default as the document needs. "None" can still be limited by the printer's physical margin.
5. Check Paper size.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

1. File → Print.
2. Under Page Sizing & Handling, choose Actual size.
3. Untick Choose paper source by PDF page size if it picks the wrong tray.

Mac Preview

1. File → Print, then click Show Details if needed.
2. Set Scale to 100%.
3. Choose the right Paper Size.

Windows Photos app

The Photos print dialog tends to use "fit" layouts. For exact-size prints, open a PDF version in a browser or PDF reader instead, where the scale is easy to control.

Phones

Phone print dialogs often scale to fit with no visible option. Where accuracy matters, send the file to a computer, or use the photo shop's own app or upload page, which usually prints at the size you choose.

Check with a ruler

After a test print, measure something with a known size:

• Passport photos: measure the photo border, such as 35 × 45 mm or 2 × 2 inches.
• Business cards: a standard card is 85 × 55 mm in much of Europe, or 3.5 × 2 inches in the US.
• Labels: check that the first and last labels on the sheet line up with the pre-cut edges.

If the result is 97% or so of the intended size, the scaling is still on. If it is cropped at the edges, the content extends into the printer's margin.

Designing for print: avoid the margin

Even at 100% scale, most home printers cannot print the last few millimetres of the page. When you create something for printing:

• keep important content at least 5 mm from the paper edge;
• for full-bleed designs, such as cards printed edge to edge, use a print shop, which prints on larger paper and trims;
• leave cut lines or small gaps between items on a sheet so you have room to trim.

Passport and ID photos

ToolMany's Passport Photo Maker lays out photos on a 4 × 6 inch sheet image at 300 DPI (1200 × 1800 pixels), so each photo has its real physical size when the sheet prints at 4 × 6 inches. To get correct prints:

1. Download the sheet image.
2. Print it at 100% / actual size on 4 × 6 inch (10 × 15 cm) photo paper, with that paper size selected. On larger paper, make sure the dialog does not stretch it to fill the page.
3. Measure one photo before cutting. It should match the size you selected exactly.
4. Cut along the guides with a craft knife and a ruler for straight edges.

If you print at a photo shop instead, tell them to print the sheet "at actual size, no scaling". See our guide to making passport photos at home for lighting and background tips, and the photo size list by country.

Business cards, certificates and QR codes

• Business cards: the Business Card Generator prints the card at the US standard 3.5 × 2 inches. Print at 100% on thick card, then trim. Our business card guide covers sizes and content.
• Certificates: the Certificate Maker produces landscape pages. Make sure the print dialog's orientation is set to landscape and the scale to 100%.
• QR codes: scaling matters less, as long as the code stays large enough to scan; 2 × 2 cm is a common minimum for close-range scanning, and larger is safer. Always test a printed code with a couple of phones.

Printing scanned documents at the original size

If you scanned an A4 page and built a PDF with Image to PDF, choose A4 as the page size so it prints back at its original dimensions. If the scan included extra border, crop it before building the PDF, or it may be scaled down to fit.

Troubleshooting checklist

1. Scale set to 100% or Actual size?
2. Paper size in the dialog matches the paper loaded?
3. Orientation (portrait or landscape) correct?
4. Printer driver settings not overriding the app? Some drivers have their own "fit to page" option under Properties or Preferences.
5. Test page measured with a ruler?