PDF Defaulting to A3 Paper Size When Printing

Whether you're a student, faculty or staff member who needs print a pdf, you may face this issue. Did the printer just beep three times and not print your pages? Browsers will sometimes default to print PDFs in A3 printer size instead of the standard letter (8.5” X 11”) paper size. This article provides information about overriding paper sizes and setting your default page size.

Overriding Paper Size at the Printer

If your computer is defaulting to A3 paper size, you can request that the printer print your document on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet instead.

It is important you do this, as the printer will pause all printing until you allow it to print using the letter size (8.5" x 11"). 

  1. Select Status Monitor at the bottom of the screen.

  2. Press OK in the bottom right. You may need to select a tray on the right-hand side; any tray with letter sized paper labeled LTR will work. 
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Set your Browser Paper Size Default

To avoid this paper size mismatch issue in the future, you can change the settings on your browser. 

  1. Go back to the file you were trying to print, and press Print again. 

  2. In the Dialogue box that opens after clicking Print, select More settings at the bottom, then change the Paper Size setting to Letter. Changing this will also apply these settings to future print jobs as well.
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