Printing your resume

Print at actual size ("100%"), on paper that matches the PDF's page size, in portrait orientation, at normal or high quality.

Settings to check in the print dialog:

• Paper size: A4 or Letter, matching your PDF.
• Scale: "Actual size", "100%" or "Default"; avoid "Fit" or "Shrink" unless text is being cut off.
• Orientation: Portrait.
• Colour: colour or greyscale, depending on your design and printer.
• Quality: Normal or High, not Draft.
• Headers and footers: off, if printing from a browser.
• Pages: All, unless you only need one page.

Print one test copy first and check the margins, page breaks and how dark the text looks. Once it is right, print the rest. If you print at a shop, tell them the paper size and ask for actual size printing, so they do not scale your resume to fit their default settings.

Choose "Actual size" (or "100%") when your paper matches the PDF's page size. Your resume is designed for that page, so it prints exactly as intended.

Use "Fit to page" or "Shrink oversized pages" only when:

• The paper size differs from the PDF, for example an A4 resume printed on US Letter paper.
• Text is being cut off at the edges in the test print.

"Fit" may shrink the text slightly and change the margins. Check the print preview before printing many copies.

Usually the paper size or scaling does not match the PDF, or the margins are smaller than the printer can print.

Try:

• Set the paper size in the print dialog to match the PDF (A4 or Letter).
• Choose "Fit to printable area" or "Shrink oversized pages".
• Turn off any "borderless" or "full bleed" option.
• Check orientation is Portrait.

If the resume has very narrow margins, many printers cannot print right to the edge. In that case, increase the margins in your source document or choose a template with normal margins, then export again.

Choose "Fit" or "Shrink to printable area" in the print dialog. A4 is slightly taller and narrower than Letter, so printing at "100%" can cut off the bottom lines.

Better still, if the resume is for a US or Canadian employer, create a US Letter version of the PDF. In ResumeBuilder.ae you can choose A4 or US Letter; switching page size can change where the pages break, so check the preview before downloading.

After printing, check the bottom of each page for missing lines.

Use "Fit to page" or "Shrink oversized pages". Letter is slightly wider and shorter than A4, so at "100%" the sides may be close to the paper edge, and the bottom will have extra white space.

For applications in the Gulf, India, the UK, Europe and most other countries, it is better to make an A4 version of your resume so it prints naturally on local paper. In ResumeBuilder.ae you can switch the page size to A4 and download again; check where the pages break after switching.

The printer or your print settings expect US Letter paper, but the tray has A4 (or the other way round). Your computer or the PDF is telling the printer to use a size it does not have loaded.

Fix:

• In the print dialog, change Paper size to the paper in the tray, usually A4 outside North America.
• Choose "Fit" if the PDF is a different size.
• On some printers, also set the tray's paper size on the printer's own screen.

Then print again. If the printer still complains, cancel the job and restart the printer.

In the print dialog, choose "Black and white", "Greyscale" or "Grayscale" under Colour or Colour mode. On some printers, this is under "Printer properties" or "Preferences".

Things to check afterwards:

• Light coloured headings may come out pale grey. If they are hard to read, choose a darker template colour and export again.
• Coloured lines or shaded boxes may print as grey blocks.

Black and white printing is perfectly normal for resumes. A design with dark text on a white background looks sharp either way.

Make the text darker in your source design, or adjust the print quality. Light grey text that looks elegant on screen often prints faintly, especially on office printers with low toner.

Options:

• Choose a template or colour setting with darker text, then export a new PDF.
• Print at Normal or High quality instead of Draft or "toner save".
• Check toner or ink levels.

Key information such as job titles and dates should always be in dark text, so it remains readable when printed or photocopied.

Choose "Print on both sides" with "Flip on long edge" for a portrait resume. "Flip on short edge" is meant for landscape pages and will print page two upside down.

Steps:

• In the print dialog, find "Two-sided", "Duplex" or "Print on both sides".
• Pick "Long-edge binding" or "Flip on long edge".
• Print one copy to test.

If your printer has no automatic duplex, print page one, put the paper back into the tray as the printer's instructions show, and then print page two. Test with scrap paper first.

Set a page range in the print dialog. Choose "Pages" or "Custom" and type "1". To print pages one and two only, type "1-2".

This is useful when:

• You want to test the first page before printing the whole document.
• A cover letter and resume are in one PDF and you need only one of them.

Check the print preview to confirm which pages will print.

Turn off "Headers and footers" in the browser's print dialog. Browsers add these when you print a web page or a PDF opened in the browser.

Steps:

• In the print dialog, open "More settings" or "Show details".
• Untick "Headers and footers".
• Check the preview, then print.

Even better, open the downloaded PDF in a PDF reader and print from there, which usually avoids browser headers altogether.

First check whether the blank page is in the PDF itself or added by the printer settings.

• Open the PDF and scroll to the end. If there is a blank page, the extra page is in the file; fix the content in your source (often a trailing empty line or section) and export again.
• If the PDF has no blank page, the printer may be adding a "separator" or "banner" page. Turn that off in printer properties, or set the page range to only the pages you need.

Using "Pages: 1-2" is a quick fix for a two-page resume.

Print from the downloaded PDF. The PDF is the finished document with fixed page size and page breaks, so it prints consistently. Printing a web page preview can add browser headers, change scaling and produce different page breaks.

Steps:

• Download your PDF and open it in a PDF reader or your browser's PDF viewer.
• Check page size and orientation in the print dialog.
• Print one test copy and check it.

Keep the same PDF for printing and emailing, so the printed copy matches what you sent.

Give them the PDF and clear instructions: paper size, actual size printing, colour or black and white, single or double-sided, and the number of copies.

Example: "Please print 10 copies of this PDF on A4, actual size, black and white, single-sided."

Also:

• Bring the PDF on your phone, by email or on a USB stick.
• Ask to see one copy before they print the rest.
• If you use a shop computer, log out of your email and delete the file afterwards.

Choose Normal or High (sometimes called Best). Draft or "economy" modes save ink by printing lighter, which makes text look faded and less professional.

Use High when:

• Your resume has thin lines or small text.
• You are printing a small number of copies for interviews.

Normal is usually enough for clear black text on a good office printer. Print one test copy and check that thin lines and small dates are sharp.

No. Resumes are designed with white margins, and borderless printing slightly enlarges the page to remove margins, which can cut off text at the edges.

Leave borderless off and print at actual size. If your design has a coloured band reaching the page edge, it will print with a thin white border on most printers; that is normal and looks fine.

Set the number of copies and turn on "Collate". Collated printing gives you complete sets (page 1, page 2, page 1, page 2), ready to hand out.

Without collating, the printer gives all the page ones and then all the page twos, which you would have to sort by hand.

Also check your name appears on page two, so the pages can be matched if they get separated.

The print was probably scaled down. "Fit to page", "Shrink to printable area" or a manual scale below "100%" reduces everything slightly, and it is most noticeable when printing on a different paper size.

Fix:

• Set the scale to "100%" or "Actual size".
• Make sure the paper size matches the PDF.

On screen, a resume is often viewed zoomed in, so a correct printout can also simply look smaller than your view. Compare the printed margins with the PDF's design to tell the difference.

The PDF may be image-based, or the printer settings may be reducing quality. Text from a text-based PDF should print crisp at any size.

Check:

• Can you select the text in the PDF? If not, the PDF is an image; recreate it from the source.
• Is "Print as image" ticked in the advanced print settings? Untick it.
• Is the quality set to Draft? Choose Normal or High.

If only one printer gives blurry results, the printer may need cleaning or new toner.

No. Printing two pages per sheet shrinks the text to a size that is hard to read and looks unusual to an employer. Print each page of your resume at full size.

If you want to save paper, print double-sided instead, using "Flip on long edge". Or keep your resume to one page if your experience allows it.

Check the "Pages per sheet" or "Multiple" option in the print dialog is set to 1, because some printers remember the last setting used.

Screens and printers show colour differently, and printer ink, paper and settings all change the result. Blues may print duller, greens darker, and light tints may disappear.

To reduce surprises:

• Print a test copy before printing many.
• Choose a design where colour is only an accent, with text in black or dark grey.
• If colour accuracy matters, print at High quality on plain white paper.

If a colour prints badly, switching to greyscale often looks cleaner than an off-colour accent.

Set the paper type to match, such as "Heavy paper", "Card" or "Thick plain", if you use heavier paper. This changes how the printer feeds the sheet and fixes the ink or toner, which reduces smudging and jams.

For normal office paper, choose "Plain paper". Check your printer's manual for the maximum paper weight it supports, and print one test sheet before a batch.

Set orientation to Portrait in the print dialog, and turn off "Auto-rotate" if your printer offers it.

Also check:

• The PDF itself is portrait: open it and confirm the pages are tall, not wide.
• The paper size is correct, since a mismatch can sometimes trigger auto-rotation.

Print a test page to confirm before printing more copies. If the problem only happens on one printer, look at the printer's own settings screen, where a default orientation may be stored.

Open the PDF in Preview, press Cmd+P, and check the settings before printing.

In the Mac print dialog:

• If you see a "Show Details" button, click it to see all options (newer macOS versions show them straight away).
• Choose the paper size (A4 or US Letter) to match your PDF.
• Set Scale to "100%", or choose "Scale to Fit" only if the paper differs.
• Choose Portrait orientation.
• Under the printer-specific menu, set colour or black and white and the quality.

Look at the preview thumbnail on the left before clicking Print.

Open the PDF in your browser or a PDF reader, press Ctrl+P and check these settings:

• Printer: the right printer is selected.
• Paper size: A4 or Letter, matching the PDF.
• Scale: Actual size or "100%".
• Orientation: Portrait.
• Colour: colour or black and white.
• Pages: all, or a range such as 1-2.

In a browser, also untick "Headers and footers" under More settings. Click Print, then check the first copy before printing more.