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L
Lou Dina
Known Participant
May 16, 2012
Answered

How do I convert A4 PDF to Letter size?

  • May 16, 2012
  • 2 replies
  • 142815 views

I am using Acrobat X Professional on a Mac, OSX 10.6.8.

I have a 46 page PDF file that is currently formatted A4 (8.25 X 11.69 inches) and need to shrink it to Letter sized. I know I can print to fit, but that is not what I need. I need the actual PDF file to resized to fit 8.5X11 paper. I haven't figured out how to do it yet.

I've tried cropping, printing to PDF, etc, but Acrobat X doesn't let me do it.

I figure there has to be a way for this common task. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Lou

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Daniel Flavin

I've not examined the differences but (up to AA9) there are two options in the Page Scaling - Fit to Printable and Shrink to Printable; one may constrain proportions where the other does not.

Is there a benefit to scaling these in InDesign - I cannot wrap my (tired) thoughts to the benefit. AA will scale, and the end size, printed paper, will be 8.5 x 11.

OK, I expect you need a final document at 8.5 x 11.

Typically, you would Print to PDF with a 8.5 x 11 Page size and Scale.

You note that Acrobat X does not allow Printing to PDF. This may involve that OSX 10.6 bug combined with Acrobat X removing the ability; I work in Mac 10.4 only occasionally, AA8 & 9

Within InDesign you could use one of a few excellent Scripts for placing multiple page pdf's

Check Here

Are you familiar with InDesign Scripts? This is a real time saver. I know I recognize your screen name, either from this forum or the InDesign forum...

2 replies

J
jackie48109
Participant
November 17, 2015

An easier solution:

Open the pdf in Safari and print the file with the option of setting the page size to US letter.

    J
    juliem18359647
    Participating Frequently
    April 13, 2017

    This hack worked perfectly for me. Thank you. Ridiculous that Adobe doesn't have a native fix for this.

      Daniel Flavin
      Daniel Flavin
      Inspiring
      May 17, 2012

      There might be a more direct route, but from the Pages Panel I was able to

      Crop Pages > Change Page Size > Fixed Sizes > Tabloid   (toggle All Pages radio button)

      Saved

      Crop Pages > 3" Top & Bottom, 1.25" Left & Right

      L
      Lou DinaAuthor
      Known Participant
      May 17, 2012

      Thanks for the response, Daniel.

      While that works, I end up with a document that rides right up to the top and bottom edge of the 8.5X11 paper. A4 paper is 11.69 inches high, so cropping lops off that extra 0.69 inches. I can't find any other way to do it in Acrobat X, but that may just be my inexperience. I really need to be able to re-scale my original from 100% to about 95% of its current size and then crop to fit on 8.5X11 paper. Don't know if that can be done in Acrobat or not, but if so, I haven't figured it out yet.

      What I can do (PITA) is paste the PDF into a new Indesign document, set up as 8.5X11, and re-scale and re-position each page. It's a kludge, but I can make it work. I also have to edit some of the pages, which is a bit more trouble, but I can get around that. It's just a very inefficient, clumsy way to work. It would be so much easier if they had this capability built right into Acrobat. I'm sure it is a common request, especially for international companies who deal with both A4 and Letter sized documents.

      Anyway, thanks for the response. I appreciate it.

      Lou

      Daniel Flavin
      Daniel FlavinCorrect answer
      Inspiring
      May 17, 2012

      I've not examined the differences but (up to AA9) there are two options in the Page Scaling - Fit to Printable and Shrink to Printable; one may constrain proportions where the other does not.

      Is there a benefit to scaling these in InDesign - I cannot wrap my (tired) thoughts to the benefit. AA will scale, and the end size, printed paper, will be 8.5 x 11.

      OK, I expect you need a final document at 8.5 x 11.

      Typically, you would Print to PDF with a 8.5 x 11 Page size and Scale.

      You note that Acrobat X does not allow Printing to PDF. This may involve that OSX 10.6 bug combined with Acrobat X removing the ability; I work in Mac 10.4 only occasionally, AA8 & 9

      Within InDesign you could use one of a few excellent Scripts for placing multiple page pdf's

      Check Here

      Are you familiar with InDesign Scripts? This is a real time saver. I know I recognize your screen name, either from this forum or the InDesign forum...

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