Fit to Page vs Actual Size: Which Print Setting to Use

Fit to page vs actual size is one of those print settings most people never touch, until a sewing pattern comes out 3% too small or the last line of a form disappears off the bottom of the page. The two options do opposite jobs: one keeps your document’s real dimensions, the other changes them so everything fits. Choosing the right one takes a few seconds once you know which kind of printout you are making.

What the two settings do

Actual size (also called 100%, None or No scaling) prints the document at its true dimensions. A 10 cm line on screen is a 10 cm line on paper. If part of the page lies outside the area the printer can reach, that part is simply not printed.

Fit to page (also called Fit to printable area, Shrink to fit, Scale to fit or Fit to paper size) resizes the content so that all of it lands inside the printable area. Microsoft’s Edge help describes it as automatically adjusting the size of the content to fit within the printable area of the paper, while Actual size prints the document in its original size without any scaling.

A third option, Custom or a percentage, lets you choose the scale yourself. Microsoft gives the example that 50% prints at half size and 200% at double. Brother’s Windows driver offers the same idea as Free, from 25 to 400%.

Why fit to page usually shrinks things

Most home printers cannot print right to the edge of plain paper; there is an unprintable margin of a few millimetres around the sheet. Many documents, especially web pages and PDFs from other countries, are laid out to the very edge or for a different paper size. Fit to page shrinks the content by a few percent so nothing is lost in that margin. For ordinary documents you will not notice the difference.

When to use actual size

Use actual size, and check the result, whenever measurements matter:

• Sewing, knitting and craft patterns. Pattern files usually include a test square, often marked with its intended size. Print page one, measure the square with a ruler, and only then print the rest.
• Shipping and return labels. Carriers’ barcodes must be readable, and labels must fit their sticker sheets or label areas.
• Label and card templates. Avery-style sheets and business card templates only line up at 100%. Our guide to how to print envelopes at home covers labels and envelopes.
• Forms with boxes to fill in, where the boxes need to stay large enough to write in.
• Scale drawings and plans, where 1:50 must stay 1:50.
• Photos printed at a specific size, such as 4 x 6 inches.

When to use fit to page

Fit to page is the better choice when fitting everything on matters more than exact size:

• Edges are being cut off. If text or a border disappears at the edge, fit to page brings it back.
• The document was made for different paper. A4 is narrower and taller than US Letter, so an A4 document printed on Letter loses a strip at the bottom unless it is scaled, and a Letter document on A4 can lose a little at the sides. Brother’s driver handles this with Fit to Paper Size: choose it under Scaling, then choose the paper size you loaded.
• Web pages that spill a single line onto an extra sheet. See how to print a web page without ads for more on web printing.
• Spreadsheets that are slightly too wide; many spreadsheet apps have their own fit-to-width option too.

Where to find the setting

• Edge and Chrome: press Ctrl+P (Command+P on a Mac), open More settings, and look for Scale. Edge offers Fit to printable area, Actual size and Custom.
• PDF readers: the print dialog usually has a Page Sizing or Scale section with Fit, Actual size, Shrink oversized pages and Custom scale.
• Mac apps: look in the print dialog for a Scale field or a Paper Handling section with an option to scale to the paper size.
• Printer drivers: in the printing preferences, often on an Advanced or Layout tab. Brother’s driver puts Scaling on the Advanced tab, with Fit to Paper Size and Free among its options.

If an app and the printer driver both offer scaling, set it in one place only and leave the other at 100% or off; applying both can shrink the page twice.

Settings that clash with scaling

• Borderless printing. Canon’s driver guide says borderless printing cannot be used while scaled or page layout printing is enabled. Borderless already enlarges the image slightly; see how to print borderless photos.
• Multiple pages per sheet and posters. These layouts scale pages themselves. Turn other scaling off when using them; see how to print a poster on multiple pages.
• Paper size mismatch. If the paper size in the dialog differs from the paper in the tray, scaling is calculated for the wrong sheet. Match them first.

Checking the scale on paper

For anything where size matters, trust a ruler, not the screen:

1. Print the page with the test square, or any feature with a known dimension.
2. Measure it. A pattern square marked 10 cm should measure 10 cm.
3. If it is a few percent small, a fit or shrink option is still on somewhere; set the app and the driver to actual size or 100% and try again.

Choosing plain paper of the right size and type also helps the printer feed accurately; our guide to the best paper for a home printer covers sizes and weights.