PDFViewerPrint a PDF online
Print a PDF online by opening it in the viewer and clicking Print: your browser's print dialog appears with page range, copies and printer selection. No app to install and nothing is uploaded; the pages are rendered in the tab and sent straight to your printer.
How to print PDF online from the browser
- Open the PDF with the drop box above or the Open a PDF button.
- Click Print in the toolbar. The standard browser print dialog opens.
- Pick the printer, the page range, number of copies, and paper size.
- Check the preview and click Print.
Because the viewer uses the browser's own print dialog, everything your browser can do with a printout is available: double-sided, multiple pages per sheet, grayscale, scale to fit. Rotations and page deletions you made in the sidebar are reflected in the printout, so trim the document first if you only need part of it; see delete PDF pages.
Printing to PDF
The same dialog can produce a file instead of paper. Choose "Save as PDF" (Chrome, Edge) or "Microsoft Print to PDF" (Windows) or the PDF button in the macOS dialog as the destination. This re-prints the document into a new PDF, which is useful in three situations:
- Flattening: a printout-to-PDF merges annotations into the page image. The viewer's own Download keeps them as editable layers, so use Download when you want to keep editing and print-to-PDF when you want them baked in.
- Page range: printing pages 3-5 to PDF is a quick extract. The viewer has no split function, so this is the practical route alongside the ones on split PDF.
- Converting: a web page or a Word document becomes a PDF through the same Print > Save as PDF, as described on HTML to PDF.
The downside of re-printing is that the text layer of a scanned PDF and any bookmarks may not survive, and the file can grow. For a plain copy of the edited document, Download is the better choice.
What to do when a PDF won't print
Work through these in order; most printing problems are one of the first three.
- Printing is restricted. Some PDFs carry an owner password that disables printing. Acrobat shows the Print button grayed out. Open the file here and click Remove Restrictions, then print; see unlock PDF. This only works on files that open without asking for a password.
- Blank or partial pages. Usually a font or transparency problem in the printer driver. Try the browser's "Print as image" equivalent: print to PDF first, then print that file.
- Nothing happens after clicking Print. The browser may have blocked the print window, or the printer is offline. Print any web page to test the printer; if that works, reload the PDF and try again.
- Wrong orientation. Rotate the page in the sidebar before printing, or choose landscape in the dialog.
- The file will not open at all. Then the problem is the file, not the printer; see fix a PDF that won't open.
Printing PDFs in other programs
| Program | Notes |
|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader | Most options: booklet printing, comments and forms summary, "Print as image" for stubborn files |
| Preview on macOS | Cmd+P; can print selected thumbnails only |
| Chrome / Edge built-in viewer | Same browser dialog as here, but without the sidebar edits |
| Phone (iPhone, Android) | Share > Print to an AirPrint or Wi-Fi printer, from the browser or Files app |
| Command line | lp file.pdf on macOS/Linux; Windows uses the default app's print verb |
None of these need an upload either; printing is local by nature. The reason to print from this viewer is that you can whiteout, annotate, rotate and remove restrictions in the same tab before the dialog opens.
Print settings that matter for PDFs
The browser dialog has a handful of options that decide whether the page comes out the way it looks on screen.
| Setting | What to choose |
|---|---|
| Scale | "Fit to page" shrinks slightly to keep margins; "Actual size" (100%) for forms and anything that must be measured, such as a shipping label |
| Paper size | Match the PDF: Letter for US documents, A4 for most others. A mismatch is the usual reason the bottom line gets cut off |
| Margins | "Default" or "None"; the PDF already has its own margins |
| Two-sided | Long-edge binding for portrait pages, short-edge for landscape |
| Pages per sheet | 2 or 4 for slide decks and drafts; saves paper and is still readable at Letter size |
| Color | Grayscale for text documents; highlights still print as gray boxes |
| Headers and footers | Turn off, or the browser adds the URL and date to every page |
If a scanned PDF prints very slowly, it is because each page is a large image. Printing at a lower quality setting in the printer options, or using "Print as image" in Acrobat Reader, speeds it up. A document that needs the margins white before printing can get them with whiteout boxes on the stray marks first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I print a PDF online?
Open it in the viewer and click Print. The browser's print dialog lets you choose the printer and pages.
Why won't my PDF print?
Common causes: printing is restricted by the file's permissions, a driver issue causing blank pages, or the printer is offline. Remove Restrictions handles the first; print-to-PDF then re-print handles the second.
How do I print to PDF?
In the print dialog choose Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF as the destination instead of a printer.
Can I print only certain pages of a PDF?
Yes, enter the page range in the print dialog, or delete unwanted pages in the sidebar first.
How to print a PDF that is locked for printing?
If the PDF opens without asking for a password, click Remove Restrictions in the viewer and print. If it needs a password to open, remove the password first.
Will my highlights and notes print?
Annotations made in the viewer are rendered on the page and included in the printout.