Fix macOS Catalina Printing PDFs on Wrong Paper Size or Cutting Off Content
Question details
The user is experiencing an issue where printing PDF documents results in clipped content and incorrect paper size processing.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat / Reader
- Device & OS
- macOS Catalina
- Scenario
- Printing PDF documents using standard Letter or Legal paper sizes from a Mac computer.
- Observed behavior
- The top of the document gets clipped or cut off when printed from macOS Catalina, even though the exact same document prints perfectly fine from a Windows 10 PC.
Ensure your printer firmware is up to date and verify that your Mac is properly connected to the printer with the latest macOS printer drivers installed.
Update Adobe Software and Adjust Print Dialog Settings
Installing the latest software updates and adjusting scale and orientation settings can resolve macOS scaling bugs.
Compatibility issues between macOS Catalina and older versions of Adobe Acrobat can cause the print spooler to misinterpret page boundaries. Updating the software ensures you have the latest bug fixes for macOS.
Open Adobe Acrobat or Reader, go to the 'Help' menu at the top, and select 'Check for Updates' to install the latest version (e.g., 19.21.20058 or newer).
Press Cmd + P to open the Print dialog box and verify that the correct paper size (Letter or Legal) is selected under 'Page Setup'.
Under the 'Page Sizing & Handling' section, select the 'Fit' or 'Shrink oversized pages' option to prevent the top of the document from clipping.
Check the box for 'Auto portrait/landscape' to ensure the document aligns correctly with your chosen paper size.
Print the PDF as an Image
Bypassing standard PDF rendering by printing the document as an image can quickly resolve missing or clipped content.
Print via a Web Browser
Using a web browser's built-in PDF viewer avoids software-specific printing bugs entirely.
Print PDFs Without Errors Using WPS Office
Avoid clipping and scaling issues on macOS by using WPS Office. Its built-in PDF reader offers precise print controls, automatic scaling, and full cross-platform compatibility to ensure your documents print exactly as they appear on screen.
- 1. Install WPS Office: Download and install WPS Office for Mac from the official website.
- 2. Open your file: Launch WPS Office and open your PDF document directly within the app.
- 3. Access print settings: Click the Print icon or press Cmd + P to open the specialized WPS print dialog.
- 4. Adjust sizing: Select your desired paper size and let the smart sizing adjust your margins automatically.
- 5. Print the document: Click Print to get a perfectly scaled document without any clipped edges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my PDF print properly on Windows but get cut off on a Mac?
This discrepancy is often caused by specific rendering bugs in the macOS version of the PDF viewer or incompatible printer drivers on macOS Catalina, which affects how margins and standard paper sizes are interpreted.
Does 'Print as Image' reduce the quality of my printed PDF?
Printing as an image rasterizes the text and vector graphics. While it resolves margin clipping issues, it might result in slightly lower crispness for very small text, depending on your printer's resolution.
How do I change the default paper size for printing on Mac?
Go to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Printers & Scanners. Select your printer on the left side, then change the 'Default paper size' dropdown menu to your preferred option, such as US Letter or A4.
