OS X Yosemite: Choose advanced print settings
When you print a document, you use the Print dialog (choose File > Print) to set options that determine how your document is printed. You can choose which printer to use, the number of copies, and more.
When the Print dialog appears, you see basic printing options—for example, which pages to print and whether to print double-sided. For more information, see Print documents.
To see more options, click Show Details. Depending on the app you’re using and the printer you select, you may see options for changing the paper size for a document, setting the default paper size, and more.
Change a document’s paper size
You can specify the paper size when you print.
Choose File > Print. If the Print dialog has a Paper Size menu, choose a size.
In apps such as Pages or Microsoft Word, you can also specify a page size for a document. This page size affects your document as you create it. When you print, the document is already formatted to fit a specific paper size. However, you can choose to scale the document to fit your printer’s paper. To set the page size, choose File > Page Setup, then choose a size from the Paper Size menu.
In most apps, the Paper Size menu has a Manage Custom Sizes option. If you choose this option, see Create a custom paper size.
Set the default paper size
You can set a default size in System Preferences. This size is used as the default paper size in the Print dialog—although you can change the paper size in the Print dialog when you print.
The default size is also used as the page size for document-creating apps. For example, when you create a new document in Pages, the document is formatted to fit this default size. Changing the default size affects only new documents that you create. It doesn’t change previously created documents.
-
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Printers & Scanners.
-
Click the “Default paper size” pop-up menu, then choose a paper size.
Manually feed paper when you print
You can choose to manually feed paper when you print instead of using the printer’s default paper tray (if your printer supports this capability).
Choose File > Print. If you see a Show Details button, click it. Click the print options pop-up menu (within the separator bar), then choose Paper Feed.
To have the first page feed differently from the rest of the document, click the First Page From button, then choose Manual Feed from the appropriate pop-up menu.
You may need to specify this feature when you set up your printer so it displays the option. Click the All Pages From button, then choose Manual Feed from the pop-up menu.
Print a document upside down
If you’re trying to print on material that you can’t insert into your printer in the direction you want, you can insert it in the opposite direction and then print your document upside down. For example, you can use this method to print on an envelope that won’t fit into the printer top first, or to print on unusually shaped paper.
-
Choose File > Print.
-
If you see a Show Details button, click it to show all available options.
-
Click the print options pop-up menu (the pop-up menu within the separator bar), then choose Layout.
-
Select “Reverse page orientation.”
Print pages in reverse order
When you print a document, you can choose to have it print from the last page to the first.
-
Choose File > Print.
-
If you see a Show Details button, click it to show all available options.
-
Click the print options pop-up menu (the pop-up menu within the separator bar), then choose Paper Handling.
-
Click the Page Order pop-up menu, then choose Reverse.
-
Click Print.
Reduce or enlarge a printed document
You can specify a percentage of a document’s original size to reduce or enlarge the printed document.
-
Do one of the following:
-
Choose File > Page Setup. Choose Page Attributes from the Settings pop-up menu, then choose Any Printer from the Format For pop-up menu. This sets the document’s scale for all documents you print from this app.
-
If Page Setup is not available, choose File > Print. If you see a Show Details button, click it to show all available options.
-
-
Type a percentage in the Scale box.
-
If you want the document to print larger than the original size, enter a value greater than 100.
-
To print the document smaller than its original size, enter a value less than 100.
-
If you scale a document, it’s a good idea to preview the document before you print it. For more information, see “Preview a document before you print” in Print documents.
Scale a document to fit your printer’s paper
You can scale a document to fit the paper in your printer. For example, if you have an A4 document, you can scale it to fit on 8.5-by-11-inch paper.
-
Choose File > Print.
-
If you see a Show Details button, click it to show all available options.
-
Click the print options pop-up menu (the pop-up menu within the separator bar), then choose Paper Handling.
-
Select “Scale to fit paper size,” click the Destination Paper Size pop-up menu, then choose your printer’s paper size.
If you want to scale the document only because it’s too big for the printer’s paper, select “Scale down only.” (If this option is selected but the document isn’t too big for the paper you have, the document is printed at its original size.)
Print a document as a booklet
If you have an AirPrint printer that supports two-sided printing, you might be able to print your document as a booklet or brochure.
-
Choose File > Print.
-
If you see a Show Details button, click it to show all available options.
-
Click the print options pop-up menu (the pop-up menu within the separator bar), then choose Layout.
-
Click the Two-Sided pop-up menu, then choose Booklet.
The Print dialog also lets you create a PDF or PostScript document. For more information, see Save a document as a PDF and Save a document in PostScript format.