PDF Page Sizes Explained: A4 vs. US Letter and How to Convert
By Bishal Neupane · · 2 min read
Send a Letter-size PDF to someone in Europe (or an A4 file to the US) and the printout may come out with cut-off edges or odd margins. Here's what's going on and how to fix it.
The common sizes
- A4 — 210 × 297 mm (8.27 × 11.69 in). Standard almost everywhere outside North America.
- US Letter — 8.5 × 11 in (215.9 × 279.4 mm). Standard in the US, Canada and parts of Latin America.
- US Legal — 8.5 × 14 in. Used for some legal and government forms.
- A3 / A5 — double and half of A4, used for posters and booklets.
A4 is narrower and taller than Letter. That's why a page designed for one often gets scaled or cropped when printed on the other.
How to change a PDF's page size
- Open Resize PDF and add the file.
- Choose the target size (A4, A3, A5, Letter, Legal) or enter a custom size in mm or inches.
- Pick portrait or landscape.
- Choose Keep proportions to scale the content to fit without distortion, or Stretch to fill to fill the page exactly.
- Download the resized PDF.
For documents with text, "Keep proportions" is almost always the right choice.
Related fixes
Common problems and fixes
- Edges are cut off when printing.
- The page size doesn't match the paper in the printer. Resize the PDF to the paper size, or choose "Fit to page" in your print dialog.
- The resized document has wide white bands.
- That's "Keep proportions" preserving the shape of a page whose ratio differs from the new size. It's expected; use "Stretch to fill" only for simple graphics, never for text.
- Mixed page sizes in one document.
- Scans and merged files often mix sizes. Resize the whole document to one size to make printing and N-up layouts consistent.
- Landscape pages come out tiny.
- Choose the matching orientation in Resize PDF, or rotate those pages first with Rotate PDF.
Frequently asked questions
Most PDF viewers show it under File → Properties (or Document Properties). A4 is about 210 × 297 mm; US Letter is 8.5 × 11 in.
Use the paper size common where the document will be printed: A4 in most of the world, US Letter in the US and Canada.
No. Pages are scaled as vectors, so text stays sharp. Scanned images are scaled like any picture.
Yes. Choose Custom and enter the width and height in millimetres or inches.