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jamies66290952
Participating Frequently
May 26, 2017
Answered

I cannot re-size a PDF in Acrobat and am getting an error each time, does anyone know why?

I am trying to re-size a document from 8.5 inches by 11inches to 5.5 by 8.5 but am getting an error saying my file cannot be re-sized. Does anyone know why this is?

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Test Screen NameCorrect answer
Legend
May 26, 2017

That's it, not the most obvious way to arrive at a target size. Bear in mind none of these options scale the page contents.

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13 replies

Bernd Alheit
Community Expert
Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 26, 2017

In Adobe Acrobat DC Pro use the Preflight Tool for this.

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jamies66290952Author
Participating Frequently
May 26, 2017

To re-size?

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Bernd Alheit
Community Expert
Bernd AlheitCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 26, 2017

  wrote

To re-size?

Yes.

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Test Screen NameCorrect answer
Legend
May 26, 2017

That's it, not the most obvious way to arrive at a target size. Bear in mind none of these options scale the page contents.

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    Test Screen Name
    Legend
    May 26, 2017

    Yes you cannot make that size smaller. That's what I meant by "entries near the bottom". You must use the "margin controls" near the top.

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    jamies66290952Author
    Participating Frequently
    May 26, 2017

    Ah I see what you mean now. So it's a matter of reducing the margins by x amount of inches to get the right size?

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    Test Screen Name
    Legend
    May 26, 2017

    This is certainly one of the most confusing dialog boxes in all of Acrobat, because it tries to do so many different and unexplained things. I think you are trying to reduce the media box (entries near the bottom). You cannot do this. You have instead to crop the pages (entries near the top, or visual drag).

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      jamies66290952Author
      Participating Frequently
      May 26, 2017

      It is here that I am changing the "custom" page size but then getting the error.

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      Test Screen Name
      Legend
      May 26, 2017

      1. What version of Acrobat?

      2. Resize how exactly? what function, exactly what options?

      3. What is the exact error message, word for word?

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      jamies66290952Author
      Participating Frequently
      May 26, 2017

      Hi there,

      I am using version 2017.009.20044.

      The current size of my document pages is 8.5 inches wide, by 11 inches in length/height, and I am needing them to be 5.5 inches wide by 8.5 inches in length/height.

      From what I have read via help already, to do this I select "crop pages" and then change the page size to the desired size.

      When I do so, I get an error box and the exact text is "Page size may not be reduced".

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