How to Resize a PDF for Free: Change Page Size and Scale Content

Quick summary: To resize a PDF on Mac, open it in Preview → File → Print → click “Show Details” → set Paper Size to your target size (e.g., US Letter) and adjust the Scale percentage → click PDF → Save as PDF. On Windows, open the PDF in Edge → Print → Microsoft Print to PDF → change Paper Size → Print. Both methods are free and built-in.

“Resizing a PDF” can mean two different things: changing the page dimensions (from A4 to Letter, or to a custom size) or scaling the content (making everything 50% smaller to fit a smaller page). This guide covers both. You can also upload any PDF to our free AI PDF reader to read it at any zoom level without permanently resizing the file.

What does “resize a PDF” mean?

Goal	What to do
Change paper size (A4 → Letter)	Resize the page canvas and reflow/scale the content
Scale content smaller/larger	Change content size but keep the same page dimensions
Crop white margins	Remove empty space around the content
Fit content to a specific paper	Scale + resize at the same time

How to resize a PDF on Mac (Preview)

Preview’s Print dialog lets you set any paper size and scale:

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Go to File → Print (Cmd+P).
3. Click “Show Details” (if the dialog is in compact mode).
4. From the Paper Size dropdown, select the target size (e.g., US Letter, A4, A5, custom).
5. Set the Scale percentage — 100% fills the page, lower values add margins.
6. Click the PDF dropdown at the bottom left → “Save as PDF”.
7. Name the file and click Save.

Custom paper size:

1. In the Paper Size dropdown, click “Manage Custom Sizes…”
2. Click ”+” to add a new size.
3. Enter the width and height in the units you prefer.
4. Click OK — the custom size appears in the dropdown.

Scale to fit (A4 to Letter conversion)

A4 (210×297 mm) and US Letter (216×279 mm) are close in width but differ in height — A4 is taller, Letter is wider. To convert:

1. Open in Preview → File → Print → Paper Size: US Letter.
2. Set Scale to 96% — this fits A4 content onto Letter without clipping.
3. Save as PDF.

How to resize a PDF on Windows

Using Microsoft Edge (free, built-in)

1. Open the PDF in Microsoft Edge.
2. Press Ctrl+P to open the Print dialog.
3. In the Printer dropdown, select “Microsoft Print to PDF”.
4. Change Paper size to your target (Letter, A4, A5, etc.).
5. Adjust Scale if needed (Pages per sheet section → Custom scale).
6. Click Print → choose a save location → Save.

Using Ghostscript (free, any platform)

Ghostscript can resize PDF pages precisely, including to custom dimensions:

# Resize to US Letter (612 x 792 points = 8.5 x 11 inches at 72 DPI)
gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
   -dDEVICEWIDTHPOINTS=612 \
   -dDEVICEHEIGHTPOINTS=792 \
   -dFIXEDMEDIA \
   -dPDFFitPage \
   -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH \
   -sOutputFile=output_letter.pdf \
   input.pdf

Common page sizes in points (1 inch = 72 points):

Paper size	Width × Height (points)
US Letter	612 × 792
A4	595 × 842
A5	420 × 595
Legal	612 × 1008
A3	842 × 1191

Install Ghostscript: brew install ghostscript (Mac) or download from the Ghostscript website.

Using LibreOffice Draw (free)

1. Open LibreOffice Draw.
2. Open the PDF: File → Open → select your PDF.
3. Go to Slide → Slide Properties (or Slide Size).
4. Change the width and height to your target dimensions.
5. Adjust content position and scale on each page as needed.
6. Export: File → Export as PDF.

Best for simple PDFs with a small number of pages — complex layouts may shift.

How to resize a PDF to fit a specific print size

Fit to A5 (half an A4 sheet)

A5 is exactly half of A4. To scale an A4 PDF to A5:

1. Preview → File → Print → Paper Size: A5.
2. Scale: 71% (√2 reduction — the standard scale between consecutive ISO paper sizes).
3. Save as PDF.

Fit to square (e.g., for social media)

1. Preview → File → Print → Paper Size → Manage Custom Sizes → add a square size (e.g., 210×210 mm).
2. Set scale as needed to fit the content.
3. Save as PDF.

How to crop PDF margins (reduce page size by removing whitespace)

Cropping removes white space around the content — this reduces the page dimensions without scaling the content itself.

See how to crop a PDF for free for detailed cropping instructions using Preview and free tools.

How to check the current page size of a PDF

Mac — Preview: Open the PDF → Tools → Show Inspector (Cmd+I) → the General tab shows page dimensions.

Any platform — File properties: Open the PDF in Chrome or Edge → right-click → Print → the Paper Size field shows the current dimensions.

Does resizing a PDF change file size?

Scaling content up (larger page dimensions) generally increases file size slightly. Scaling down reduces it, but the main driver of PDF file size is image data. For significant file size reduction, see how to make a PDF smaller for free.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I resize a PDF without losing quality?

Use vector-based PDFs (text, graphics) — they scale perfectly without quality loss. Image-heavy PDFs lose clarity when scaled up. For scale-down, quality is preserved at any percentage. Use the Preview or Ghostscript methods rather than converting to image first.

Can I resize only certain pages in a PDF?

Not directly in Preview. With Ghostscript, use -dFirstPage and -dLastPage to process specific pages, then merge the results. See how to extract pages from a PDF for free for splitting before resizing.

How do I resize a PDF on iPhone?

iPhone has no built-in PDF resize tool. Options: (1) Print to PDF (Share → Print → pinch-out) — this re-renders at the printer’s default page size; (2) AirDrop to Mac → resize in Preview → AirDrop back; (3) use a free online tool in Safari.

What is the difference between resizing and compressing a PDF?

Resizing changes the physical page dimensions — the content is scaled or repositioned on a different size canvas. Compressing reduces file size by downsampling images and removing metadata — the page dimensions stay the same. See how to compress a PDF for free for compression.

Why does my resized PDF look blurry?

This happens when a PDF contains raster images (photographs, scanned pages) and you scaled up. The images are at a fixed resolution — enlarging them shows pixelation. For scanned PDFs, there is no free fix for upscaling. For text and vector PDFs, there is no quality loss at any scale.

Related guides

• How to crop a PDF for free — remove margins without scaling the content
• How to make a PDF smaller for free — reduce file size after resizing
• How to compress a PDF for free — compress image data in the PDF
• How to extract pages from a PDF for free — pull specific pages before resizing
• How to rotate a PDF for free — change page orientation alongside resizing
• How to print a PDF for free — print at the right size after resizing