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sierko93004872
sierko93004872
Participant
July 5, 2018
Answered

How to change the default page size for theExcel add-on "Save As Adobe PDF" function

  • July 5, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 20194 views

When I got Adobe Acrobat Pro DC installed on my windows machine it added an add-on function "Save As Adobe PDF" to all of my Microsoft Office applications.  This was actually a really cool thing because it allows me to save a document as a pdf to the document's source folder in like a couple of clicks.  The only problem is that when I use this function in excel it defaults the page size to something really odd like 15.18 x 19.64 or 12.64 x 9.77 even when I specify "Fit Worksheet to a single page and the page is specified as letter.  I think that it is just printing the spreadsheet at "actual size" and does not pay attention to the conversion options.

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Correct answer Adorobat

Hi Sierko,

As per the issue description mentioned above, you want to change the default page size when saving excel file as pdf, is that correct?

Please try following troubleshooting steps:

Launch Excel > click File > Print > select Adobe PDF as printer > printer properties > Adobe PDF Page size. You may refer to this help document for the same:  Creating a PDF at the Right Output Size and Dimensions

Go to Acrobat tab > click preferences > and uncheck these option fit worksheet to a single page and fit to paper width > click OK and check.

Let us know if you need any help.

Shivam

2 replies

C
cogsboy
Participant
November 2, 2020

I discovered the reason why the page sizes don't match the intended page size when using the "Save as Adobe PDF" option.  In Excel, the scaling factor will determine the size of the resulting page size when using the "Save as Adobe PDF" option.  I was provided a spreadsheet that should be on a single page, but due to the column and row sizes, the contents extend into the next pages in both horizontal and vertical directions, which would result in 4 hardcopy pages.  I set my scale to 85% which would allow the sheet to be printed on as single page.  You can use the "fit to page" option, but I wanted to see if a manually-entered scale factor would help me understand why PDF size changes. 

 

After applying the scale, I printed the PDF using the "Save as Adobe PDF" which is the same as the "Create PDF" from the "Adobe" tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen.  The default page size was set to letter (8.5" x 11").  After printing, the resulting page size of the PDF was 10" x 12.94" (i.e. very odd numbers of any page size).  Using some simple math, I realized that 8.5" is 85% of 10", and 11.5" is 85% of 12.94".  The 85% scale that I had applied to make my sheet fit on a letter-size page had adjusted the size of the PDF page.  Seems like it's a bug in the program because why else would the page size be adjusted based on the scaling factor? 

 

Therefore, in Excel, if you use a scaling factor to adjust your spreadsheet to fit a page size, then it's not advisable to use the "Save as Adobe PDF" option under "File".  Either, you select the Adobe PDF option under your printer options, or change the configuration of the spreadsheet so that you don't need to apply a scaling factor to print (i.e. leave as 100%).  The former is much easier than the latter.

    J
    johnm334772
    Participant
    October 19, 2022

    That worked! Been driving me mad for years this issue!

    Adorobat
    Community Manager
    AdorobatCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    July 6, 2018

    Hi Sierko,

    As per the issue description mentioned above, you want to change the default page size when saving excel file as pdf, is that correct?

    Please try following troubleshooting steps:

    Launch Excel > click File > Print > select Adobe PDF as printer > printer properties > Adobe PDF Page size. You may refer to this help document for the same:  Creating a PDF at the Right Output Size and Dimensions

    Go to Acrobat tab > click preferences > and uncheck these option fit worksheet to a single page and fit to paper width > click OK and check.

    Let us know if you need any help.

    Shivam

    T
    toms76741533
    Participant
    September 3, 2020

    Apologies for bumping this old thread, but I have the same issue with the Acrobat add-in for Excel. I am in the UK, so my default page sizes are A4, A3 etc. My settings for the Adobe PDF printer are 'default settings - Standard' and 'Adobe PDF page size - A4' or A3 as required. If I click 'edit' on default settings for standard, on the box that pops up, the default page dimensions for 'standard' are shown as 215.9mm x 279.4mm, which I believe is actually 'Letter' page size - so in the Adobe PDF printer settings, the Adobe PDF page size setting appears to override the page dimensions defined within the 'standard' settings. When printing from Excel (Office 365 version using Win10 Pro), using File/Print and setting Adobe PDF as the printer, the pdf page printed is whatever size I set the page size to be in the 'Page layout' tab of Excel - all good so far.

     

    However, I prefer to use the add-in Acrobat tab in Excel to generate my pdf prints because it default saves to the same folder the Excel file is held in, saving time, and if the Excel workbook contains several separate sheets, they print out as a collated single PDF with all correct page sizing reflecting the settings in Excel for each sheet (ie a mix of A4 and A3 can be generated if wished). In recent times however, the Acrobat add-in tab has become unreliable for me - if my page size is set to A3 landscape (420mm x 297mm) in Excel, and I use Acrobat/Create PDF and select:

    'Entire workbook' or 'Sheet(s)' and 'Actual size' the resulting pdf print is 560.2mm x 396.1mm (this is also the page size I get if I choose Save as and select PDF.

    'Entire workbook' or 'Sheet(s)' and 'Fit to paper width' or 'Fit worksheet to a single page' the resulting pdf print is 627.1mm x 443.4mm

    No matter what settings I try on the Create PDF dialogue box, the resulting page is a random size not related to the page size set in Excel.

     

    Can anyone help resolve this issue? I tried attaching screenshots of the various settings but can't seem to add them here.

    Thanks

     
    M
    Michael22047064567a
    Participant
    December 2, 2021

    I've just bought Acrobat Standard 2020.  I am unable to create an A4 PDF, regardless of method (Print as Adobe PDF, Save as Adobe PDF).  My Excel document is A4, my print setting is A4 and I have even created a new Standard PDF setting, with A4 as the page size.  All settings are ignored, and I can only produce Letter-sized PDFs.

     

    Any ideas?

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