Fix common PDF printing problems
Following Adobe's own troubleshooting order: first prove the printer and paper are fine, then open the PDF in a proper reader from your hard drive, then use the reader's print options — 'Print as image' for files that print garbled or not at all, and the Fit scaling option for wrong sizes — and keep the reader up to date.
Reviewed 9 Nov 2026
Who it suits
- A PDF will not print, prints garbled or blank pages, or prints at the wrong size
- You print from a computer using Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader
- Other documents may or may not print — this method separates printer faults from PDF faults
Who it doesn’t suit
- The printer has a clear hardware fault (paper jams, no power, no toner) beyond these basic checks
- The PDF is protected and its author has not allowed printing — only the author can lift that restriction
- The printer is managed by an office IT team whose settings you should not change
Start guided mode or read all 6 steps below — guided mode is never mandatory.
Before you start
Preparation
- Load paper and make sure the printer is switched on and connected.
- Save a copy of the PDF on the computer's own hard drive — Adobe advises printing the saved file rather than one on a USB stick or network drive.
▲ Caution — possible effects
- 'Print as image' can make printing slower, and very detailed pages may look slightly less sharp, because each page is sent to the printer as a picture.
- Changing the scaling option (Fit, Actual size and similar) changes the printed size only — the PDF file itself is not changed.
⬢ Stop if…
- Stop if the PDF is password-protected and printing is not allowed — contact the document's author; no print setting can legitimately override that restriction.
- Stop if the printer shows a hardware error that the basic checks do not clear — fix the printer first, then return to this method.
Original sources
- Fix PDF printing errors in Acrobat — Adobe HelpX (Official documentation — accessed 9 Nov 2026)
- Basic PDF printing tasks — Adobe HelpX (Official documentation — accessed 9 Nov 2026)
Steps
Prove the printer works at all
Check the printer is on, has paper, and is properly connected, then print a test page or one page from another program. Adobe's troubleshooting starts here because a printer fault looks exactly like a PDF fault.
Open the PDF in a proper reader and print one page
Open the file in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader rather than a browser tab, using the copy saved on your hard drive, and print just the first page. Note any error message word for word — it tells you whether the problem is the printer, the file, or one bad page.
If pages print garbled or not at all, use Print as image
In the print dialog, open the Advanced options and select 'Print as image', then print. The reader then sends each page as a picture, which gets around many file-specific printing faults — this is Adobe's own suggested fix for a corrupt or problematic PDF.
If the size is wrong, set the scaling
In the print dialog, open the Size options. 'Fit' reduces or enlarges each page to fit the printable area of the selected paper; 'Shrink oversize pages' only shrinks pages that are too big; 'Actual size' prints at 100% and crops whatever does not fit. Choose Fit for most wrong-size problems, and check the selected paper size matches the paper actually loaded.
Update the reader and restart the printer
Update Acrobat or Reader to its latest version. If problems persist, switch the printer off, wait about 30 seconds, and switch it on again, as Adobe suggests — and if errors continue, check the printer maker's website for a newer driver for your model.
If it still fails, work out which side is at fault
Print a different PDF on your printer, and (if you can) print this PDF on a different printer. A file that fails everywhere is probably damaged; a printer that fails with everything has a printer or driver problem.
How to check success
Finishing the steps is not the same as fixing the problem. You are done if these practical checks pass:
- Check: Does a test page or another document print correctly on this printer?
- Check: Does the PDF now print completely, with no blank or garbled pages?
- Check: Does the printed page come out at the size you expected — nothing cropped, nothing tiny in a corner?
If it fails
- If this PDF prints on another printer but not on yours, the problem is your printer or its driver. If it fails on every printer while other PDFs print fine, the file itself is probably damaged — download or copy it again from the original source, or use the reader's Save As to make a fresh copy and print that instead.
Evidence, review and results
- Source
- Official documentation
- Testing
- Not team-tested
- Reports
- No reviewed results yet — be the first to record yours.
An official source means the maker documents this procedure — it does not mean our team has run it, and one person’s success is not a guarantee for everyone. Public counts appear only when reviewed reports exist; none are published yet.
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About this method
Change note: First published version. Where one team did the writing, reviewing and (when done) testing, the same name appears in each role — we say so rather than invent separate people.