Saving print settings inside a PDF for whoever prints it

Some documents only print properly one way. A booklet needs two-sided printing. A drawing must print at actual size, not shrunk to fit. A form wants just the first two pages. PDF by Zaweba lets you store those choices inside the document itself, so whoever prints it starts from the right settings.

The command is File, then Print settings in the document. It sets scaling, sides, pages, copies and paper by page size, saved in the PDF as viewer preferences.

What it stores

Scaling decides whether pages are fitted to the paper or printed at actual size. For anything measured, like a plan, a template or a label sheet, actual size is the one that matters, because fit to page quietly makes everything slightly smaller.

Sides decides between one-sided and two-sided printing. Booklets, handbooks and anything meant to be read like a book usually want two-sided.

Pages chooses which pages to print by default, useful when a document has a cover letter or notes that don't need printing every time.

Copies sets how many. A delivery note printed in triplicate, for instance.

Paper is set by page size, so the document itself says which paper suits its pages.

How the Print window uses it

When you open a document with stored settings and choose File, then Print, the Print window starts from them. Everything is set up already, and you can still change anything before printing.

Importantly, it does this without keeping them for later prints. Print a stored two-sided booklet, then open an ordinary letter, and your letter isn't suddenly set to two-sided. The settings belong to the document, not to you.

When it's worth doing

It's worth it for any document that will be printed by other people, or by you months later when you've forgotten how it should go. A worksheet sent to a school, a pattern or template that must print at actual size, a form with an instructions page you don't want printed, an order form that's always printed twice.

It's also useful within an office. Store the settings once on a shared document and everyone who prints it gets it right, without a note on the wall explaining which boxes to tick.

How it fits with the Print window

The Print window in PDF by Zaweba does much more than these stored settings: printer choice, paper sizes including custom ones, several pages a sheet, colour or black and white and more. The stored settings are a starting point drawn from the most important of those. Think of them as the document's own suggestion, and the Print window as where the final decision is made.

Things to remember

Other PDF readers may treat viewer preferences in their own way, so test by printing from another program if it matters. And print a single page once after setting things up, to check the scaling especially, since that's the setting that causes the most trouble when it's wrong.

Set up properly, a document in PDF by Zaweba prints the way it was meant to without anyone having to remember the details.