PDF Printing Issues

How to Fix Upside-Down Landscape Pages When Printing a PDF

Emma Brown Oct 22, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to resolve an issue where landscape pages within a PDF print upside down when the document contains mixed page orientations.

How to Fix Upside-Down Landscape Pages When Printing a PDF

Product: PDF Reader
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Printing a PDF document that contains a mix of both portrait and landscape pages.
Observed behavior: When printed, the landscape pages appear upside down relative to the rest of the document.

Before you start

Before adjusting any advanced software settings, ensure your physical printer drivers are up to date and verify if the issue occurs on both single-sided and double-sided printing modes.

Solution 1Recommended

Adjust Duplex and Binding Settings in the Print Dialog

Modify the double-sided printing binding edge to match the document orientation, which usually prevents landscape pages from flipping upside down.

The most common cause for upside-down landscape pages during double-sided (duplex) printing is an incorrect binding edge setting. Portrait documents typically use long-edge binding, while landscape documents require short-edge binding so they turn like a calendar.

Open the Print Dialog

Open your PDF file and press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac) to bring up the Print dialog box.

Access Printer Properties

Click on 'Properties', 'Printer Setup', or 'Advanced Options' depending on your specific printer model interface.

Change the Binding Edge

Locate the 'Two-Sided' or 'Duplex' printing options. Change the binding setting from 'Long-edge binding' to 'Short-edge binding'.

Print a Test Page

Select only the pages containing the landscape orientation in the print range and print a test copy to verify the orientation is now correct.

Adjust Duplex and Binding Settings in the Print Dialog

Tip: If your document has heavily mixed orientations, some printers have an 'Auto-Rotate and Center' option in the print dialog. Enabling this can automatically align mixed pages to your printer's default paper feed.

Solution 2

Manually Rotate Incorrectly Oriented Pages Before Printing

Use the page organization tools in your PDF editor to permanently rotate the upside-down pages by 180 degrees before sending them to the printer.

Professional PDF Tools

Print and Edit PDFs Perfectly with WPS Office

WPS Office offers a comprehensive and user-friendly PDF editor. It easily manages mixed-orientation documents, allowing you to instantly rotate pages, adjust print binding settings, and preview your file to ensure it never prints upside down.

1. Open the PDF: Launch WPS Office and open the PDF document containing the mixed orientations.
2. Rotate Problematic Pages: Navigate to the 'Page' tab on the top ribbon, select the landscape pages, and click 'Rotate' to adjust them.
3. Configure Print Settings: Press Ctrl+P. In the WPS Print dialog, select your printer and click 'Properties' to ensure the Duplex binding matches your layout.
4. Print the Document: Verify the preview on the right side of the screen and click 'Print' to get perfectly oriented pages.

Easily rotate, delete, and extract PDF pages with visual thumbnail previewsAdvanced print settings optimized for mixed portrait and landscape documentsFull compatibility with all standard Microsoft Office and PDF document formatsLightweight application that opens large PDF files instantly without lag

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do only the landscape pages print upside down in my double-sided PDF?

This happens because the printer uses the same binding edge (usually the long edge) for the entire document. For a landscape page, binding on the long edge physically flips the content upside down relative to the portrait pages.

Should I use short-edge or long-edge binding for landscape documents?

For standard landscape documents where you want to read the pages by flipping them upward (like a calendar), you should select 'Short-edge binding'. If you want them to flip like a traditional book, select 'Long-edge binding'.

Does 'Auto-Rotate' fix upside-down printing issues?

Yes, enabling the 'Auto-Rotate' or 'Auto-Center' option in your PDF print dialog can help. It automatically detects the orientation of each page and rotates it to fit the printable area of the paper fed into the printer.

Can I permanently fix the rotation of a page in my PDF?

Absolutely. You can use the 'Organize Pages' or 'Page Edit' feature in your PDF editor to manually rotate the specific page by 180 degrees. Once you save the file, the new orientation becomes permanent for future printing.

PDF Troubleshooting