How to Print Half Page Posters From a PDF Easily
I love to create posters and anchor charts for the classroom. They are such a great visual tool to support student learning. But sometimes wall space is limited and you just can fit everything you want. This is when knowing how to print half page posters instead of full size comes in really handy!
When you buy printable posters, more often than not, they come one to a page or 8.5 x 11 letter size. If you are in the UK or Australia, that’s equivalent to A4 paper. Let’s say you are printing a set of alphabet posters. That equals 26 pages to hang and would take up nearly 19 linear feet of wall space!
If that is more space than you can spare, there is an easy solution right there in your print settings!
How to Print Half Page Posters: The Easy Way to Resize PDF Pages
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Instead of printing everything full-size, you can easily print your PDFs pages half-size. This will save wall space as well as ink and paper.
Just follow these steps to reduce your letter-size posters and print them half-page:
- Click PRINT in your menu bar.
- Change the PRINT HANDLING to Multiple Pages Per Sheet.
- Set PAGES PER SHEET to 2×1.
- Make sure AUTO CENTER is checked.
- Set ORIENTATION TO landscape.
Your settings should look something like this:
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Your printer settings may vary somewhat depending on what PDF reader you use, but they should look very similar.
That’s it! When the file prints, you will get 2 posters on each sheet of paper. Now you know how to print half page in portrait orientation.
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What if the posters are in landscape orientation?
Are you wondering how to print half page when the pages are in landscape? It’s just as easy! You will follow the same steps listed above, but set the ORIENTATION to portrait like this:
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If you are one of those unlucky teachers who isn’t allowed to hang anything anywhere except on your bulletin boards, knowing how to print half page like this can be a lifesaver! Not only will you save space, the amount of ink and paper you use will be cut in half.
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How to Print Even Smaller Than Half Page
The great thing about printing multiple pages per sheet is that you are not limited to half-page size. You can actually print them as small as you want!
For example, I have various math Bingo games that have calling cards meant to be displayed on a whiteboard. Each screen shows what students should mark on their Bingo cards. But some teachers would rather call the game out in the traditional way. Instead of using the full-page cards, they can be printed out with multiple cards per page.
In this example, I’ve taken a file that has one large card per page and changed my settings to print 6 smaller cards on each sheet of paper:
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This method works with any PDF file. You can set the number of rows and columns to any number to get the size you want. This also works with Powerpoint files, although the settings will look a bit different. Here are instructions for both Windows and Mac:
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I hope these tips for how to print half page PDFs help when you are printing your classroom materials.
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