Guide

How to print multiple pages per sheet

Open N-up PDF, add your PDF, choose how many pages per sheet and the paper size, then press the Make button. You get a new PDF in which each page holds that many of the originals, ready to print as normal. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

By Akash Gupta · · Updated

Open N-up PDF

Step by step

  1. Open N-up PDF. Go to the N-up PDF page on PlumPDF. No sign-up and nothing to install.
  2. Add your PDF. Drop the file on the box, or click to browse. Up to 50 files of 100 MB each.
  3. Choose the layout. Pick 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 or 16 per sheet, the paper size and the order. The preview shows the grid.
  4. Make and print. Press the Make button, for example Make 4-up PDF, then download the new PDF and print it.

When does printing several pages per sheet help?

Putting more than one page on a sheet is useful in a few common cases:

  • Handouts: two or four slides on one sheet.
  • Saving paper on long drafts you only need to read.
  • Proofing: sixteen thumbnails show the whole flow of a document at a glance.
  • Revision notes that fit on a single page.

Which settings are worth a look?

Paper can be A4, US Letter, A3, US Legal, or the size of the first page. With Best fit, PlumPDF tries the sheet both ways and picks the orientation that makes the pages largest, so two portrait pages go side by side on a landscape sheet. You can force portrait or landscape instead.

You can also set the margin, the gap between pages and thin borders. The order can run across then down, like reading, or down then across, like newspaper columns.

Why not just use the print dialog?

Printer dialogs often have a pages-per-sheet option, but the choices and the results differ between programs and printers. Making the layout into a PDF first means the file already looks right, you can check it on screen, and any printer prints it the same way.

What are the limits?

The new PDF holds only the sheets. Links, bookmarks, comments and form fields from the original are not copied, though the visible content of every page is. Keep the original for reading on screen and use the N-up copy for printing. Pages are scaled to fit and never stretched, and with 16 on a sheet the text is small, so check it before you print.

Questions

Will the text stay sharp?

Yes. The pages are placed as drawings, not pictures, so text stays sharp at any zoom and can still be selected and searched.

Can I change the order of the pages first?

Yes. Use Organize PDF to reorder pages, then run the result through N-up PDF.

Can I print on both sides of the sheet?

Yes. N-up PDF only builds the sheets, so use your printer's two-sided option when you print the new file.

Do pages of different sizes work together?

Yes. Each page is scaled to fit its cell and centred in it, so mixed shapes still line up.

Can I add thin borders around the pages?

Yes. Thin borders are an option, and you can set the margin around the sheet and the gap between pages as well. Borders help when pages have white backgrounds, because they show where one page ends and the next begins on the printed sheet.

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