How to add margins to a PDF for binding, notes or printing
Pages printed edge to edge lose content at the border, and a bound document needs room for holes. Add margin adds the space you choose.
Steps
- Add your PDF.
- Choose How to add the margin:
- Expand: the page gets bigger and the content keeps its size.
- Shrink: the page size stays the same, for example A4, and the content is scaled down to fit inside the margin.
- Pick a Unit (mm by default) and set Top, Right, Bottom, Left (10 each by default).
- Download the result.
Which mode should I use?
- Need to print on standard A4 or Letter? Use Shrink, so the page size is unchanged.
- Want room to write notes beside the text? Use Expand with a larger right or left margin. The page becomes a custom size.
- For ring binding, increase only the left (or inside) margin.
Tips
- 72 points equal 1 inch (25.4 mm).
- If a page looks off, it may carry a rotation flag; fix it with Rotate PDF first.
- To bring an expanded document back to a standard paper size, use Resize PDF page size.