Guide · Scale
Print a PDF pattern to scale and check the test square
Short answer: choose 100% or Actual size in the print dialog, never Fit or Shrink, and pick the paper that's really in the printer. Print only the page with the test square, measure it with a ruler, and print the rest only when it's right.
The setting to choose in each app
Every app words it differently. These are the labels as they appear in each print dialog.
| App | Choose | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader (Windows, Mac) | Page Sizing & Handling: Actual size, or Custom Scale 100% | Fit, Shrink oversized pages |
| Preview (Mac) | Scale 100% | Scale to Fit |
| Chrome (Windows, Mac, ChromeOS) | More settings > Scale: Default, or Custom 100 | Fit to printable area, Fit to paper |
| Firefox | Scale: 100 | Fit to page width |
| iPad and iPhone | No scale setting; the printer decides | A pattern page that doesn't match the paper (see the iPad guide) |
Adobe describes Fit as reducing or enlarging each page "to fit the printable area of the currently selected paper size", and Shrink oversized pages as shrinking large pages to the paper. Both quietly change the scale of a pattern. Actual size "prints without scaling", and anything that doesn't fit on the paper is cropped, which is why the paper size matters too.
Read the test square
Measure the square with a rigid ruler rather than a tape measure, along the middle of the square rather than the corners. Work out the scale as measured size ÷ stated size × 100. A millimetre either way can come from the ruler and the paper; a consistent difference of 2% or more is a setting.
| 1 in square measures | 5 cm square measures | Scale | Likely cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in (25.4 mm) | 5.0 cm | 100% | Correct. Print the rest with the same settings. |
| 0.97 in (24.7 mm) | 4.86 cm | 97% | A Letter page fitted to A4 paper, or the page shrunk into the printer's margins |
| 0.96 in (24.4 mm) | 4.8 cm | 96% | Shrunk into the printable area (Fit or Shrink oversized pages) |
| 0.94 in (23.9 mm) | 4.70 cm | 94% | An A4 page fitted to US Letter paper |
| More than 1 in | More than 5 cm | over 100% | A small page enlarged with Fit, or a custom scale left over from an earlier job |
US Letter is 215.9 × 279.4 mm, A4 is 210 × 297 mm. Fitting one onto the other scales by the tighter side: 279.4 ÷ 297 = 94.1% for A4 on Letter, 210 ÷ 215.9 = 97.3% for Letter on A4.
A4 pattern, Letter paper (and the other way round)
A4 is 6 mm narrower and 17.6 mm taller than US Letter. Many designers keep their pattern inside the area the two sizes share, so an A4 file printed at 100% on Letter loses only margin. If the pattern runs to the edge of an A4 page, printing it on Letter at 100% cuts off up to 17.6 mm, and fitting it shrinks the pattern by 6%. Use the file made for your paper, or tile the copy-shop file onto your own paper size.
When 100% still prints small on Windows
Some printers apply their own fit-to-page setting after the app has sent the page. Open the printer's Properties or Preferences from the print dialog and look for a scaling, fit to page or borderless option. In one Adobe community thread the fix was replacing the generic Windows printer driver with the printer maker's own driver, after which Acrobat's 100% printed true.
Before you print: one size or all of them?
A layered pattern prints every size unless the app you use can switch layers off. Acrobat Reader on a computer can; Preview, iPad apps and Chrome's viewer can't. Print only your size saves a copy with just the sizes you choose, at exactly the original page size, so the test square stays true. Its Pro tiling adds a first page with a 1 in and a 5 cm square to check before you print everything.
Save a copy of your pattern with only your size, page size unchanged.
Open the toolSources, last checked 7 October 2026
- Adobe Help, Acrobat, adjust page size and scaling for printing (Actual size, Fit, Shrink oversized pages, Custom Scale): helpx.adobe.com
- Apple Support, Preview User Guide, print PDFs and images (Scale, Scale to Fit): support.apple.com
- Chromium source, print preview scaling options (Default, Fit to printable area, Fit to paper, Custom): chromium.googlesource.com
- Adobe Community, "Printing at 100% scale", resolution of 11 July 2023 (manufacturer's driver instead of the generic Windows driver): community.adobe.com
- Firefox print dialog labels (Scale, Fit to page width): Firefox source, printUI.ftl
- Paper sizes: ISO 216 (A4) and ANSI/ASME Y14.1 (US Letter).