PDF prints differently from Mac vs. PC

Question

I've discovered a curious issue. When a PDF is sent to our office printer from my Mac, using the setting "Fit" it prints as it should, everything fits on the page. When the same PDF is printed from a Windows 10 PC using the same setting (or any setting, for that matter) it cuts off of the edges. (See attachment for photos of both in printed form)

I ran a series of varying scenarios to figure out the source of the problem, and it turns out that the 2 PDFs (both exported from InDesign, but one on a PC and the other on the Mac) each print fine when sent to the pinter via my Mac, but neither print properly from the PC (content cut off). So the Windows 10 PC is the 'problem' because I cannot reproduce the issue with the Mac, and the PDF settings are also the same on both systems.

Anyone know what's going on with this scenario, and is there a fix to get a PDF to print to fit on a page from Windows? Most of the office uses PC, so it's a big problem. Both the Windows and Mac are using Acrobat DC, with the latest update.

Thank you

Dov Isaacs · Answer

It is very likely a printer driver issue. You didn't say what type of printer you have but most print devices have what is referred to as an “imageable area” – the part of the page that actually prints. Acrobat gets such imageable area information for a particular paper size from the printer driver and for the “fit” option, scales the content accordingly. If the driver doesn't convey that information at all or properly for the desired page size, you get the results you did.

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