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Printing
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Print a document, a page range or a rectangular part of a page, from the print dialog or the command line.
Press Ctrl + P to print the current document. At a glance:
  • Print dialog: printer, copies, page range (Ctrl + P)
  • Print Selection: print a rectangular fragment of a page.
  • Advanced options: odd/even pages, page scaling, centering, paper source.
  • Command-line printing: unattended printing with every option, on every Windows version.
  • Actual size (1:1): print at exact size, including scans with a wrong or missing DPI.
If a printout looks wrong (banding, wrong colors, stalls), see Reporting printing bugs first. Most such problems come from the printer driver, not from SumatraPDF.
Open the system print dialog, then pick the printer, number of copies and page range:
  • File → Print…, or the toolbar button
  • Ctrl + P
  • Ctrl + K, then Print Document... in Command Palette (CmdPrint)

Print part of a page #

To print only a fragment of a page (a detail of a drawing, one table):
  1. Select the area as a rectangle. Hold Ctrl and drag with the left mouse button.
  2. Right-click the selection and choose Print Selection…, or press Ctrl + P and pick Selection under Page Range in the print dialog.
  3. To print the fragment at its real size, choose Actual size (1:1) under Advanced. Shrink and Fit scale it to the paper instead.
The selection prints on one sheet, at the top-left (or centered with Center page horizontally).
Note: only a rectangular selection can be printed. A text selection is not offered.
Note: the Windows 11 print dialog can’t print a selection, so SumatraPDF uses the classic dialog for it.

Choose advanced print options #

The system print dialog has an Advanced tab (a second tab next to General) with SumatraPDF’s own options.
Print range
  • All selected pages: print the chosen range as-is
  • Odd pages only / Even pages only: print only odd/even pages of the range (useful for manual two-sided printing)
Page scaling
  • Shrink pages to printable area: the default. Scales down only pages that are too big for the paper, and leaves smaller pages at their original size
  • Fit pages to printable area: scale every page up or down so it fills the printable area, keeping the aspect ratio
  • Stretch pages to fill paper: fill the paper in both dimensions, not keeping the aspect ratio (the page is distorted to fit)
  • Actual size (1:1): print at 100%, no scaling (best for forms, labels, technical drawings and anything that must print at an exact size). For images the size comes from the resolution recorded in the file. See Printing at actual size
Other
  • Center page horizontally on the paper: center a page that is smaller than the paper. Otherwise such a page is aligned to the top-left corner. Useful for envelopes or smaller stock fed through a tray that centers the paper
  • Choose paper source by document page size: let the printer pick the input tray whose paper matches the page size (the same idea as Adobe’s “Choose paper source by PDF page size”)
  • Print each page at its document page size (mixed sizes): for documents whose pages have different sizes, set the paper size per page so each page goes to the right paper/tray instead of all pages using the first page’s size
  • Rotate printout: rotate the printout by extra degrees to fix a wrong orientation (same as rotate= in -print-settings)

Get the Advanced options on Windows 11 #

On Windows 11 (22H2 and later) Windows replaced the classic print dialog with a new “modern” one that does not show application-provided tabs. SumatraPDF puts the most used Advanced options in its More settings pane instead: Page scaling (the same four choices as above), Center page horizontally and Rotate printout. The paper-source options are not available there.
To use the rest, do one of the following:
  1. Use command-line printing. It doesn’t depend on the dialog and exposes every Advanced option.
  2. Restore the legacy print dialog for your user account. The legacy dialog then applies to every app, not only SumatraPDF:
   reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Print\UnifiedPrintDialog" /v PreferLegacyPrintDialog /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Then sign out and back in. To undo, delete that value.
Command-line printing never shows a dialog (unless you ask for one) and exposes every option, so it works the same on every Windows version. After printing, SumatraPDF exits. Check the process exit code to see whether printing succeeded.
  • -print-to-default: print to the system default printer
  • -print-to "<printer-name>": print to a named printer, e.g. -print-to "Microsoft Print to PDF"
  • -print-settings "<list>": change print options without the dialog (see -print-settings options)
  • -silent: suppress error message boxes (for unattended/background printing)
  • -print-dialog: show the print dialog instead of printing silently
  • /p: Adobe Reader alias for -print-dialog
  • /t <file> <printer>: Adobe Reader silent print (/t <printer> if the file is already on the command line). Optional driver/port args are ignored
  • -exit-when-done: used with -print-dialog (and -stress-test). Exits after the dialog is dismissed and the document printed
You can print several files in one command, and the settings apply to all of them:
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "HP LaserJet" -print-settings "fit" a.pdf b.pdf c.pdf
Use SumatraPDF.exe -list-printers to list installed printers, paper names, paperkind= IDs and tray names.

Printing at actual size (1:1) #

“Actual size” needs no scaling (Actual size (1:1) in the dialog, noscale on the command line), and SumatraPDF must know the physical size of the document.
  • PDF, XPS, DjVu, EPUB… have real page sizes, so no scaling is all it takes.
  • Images (TIFF, PNG, JPEG, BMP, scans) are only pixels, so their physical size is pixels divided by the resolution stored in the file (TIFF resolution tags, PNG pHYs, JPEG JFIF density, EXIF). SumatraPDF uses that resolution, and assumes 96 dpi when the file has none. A 300 dpi A3 scan therefore prints as A3 only if the scanner wrote 300 dpi into the file. A file with no resolution prints about 3x too large, and a file that claims 72 dpi comes out bigger still. The resolution SumatraPDF read is shown in Document Properties (Ctrl + D) as DPI.
  • Image folders and comic books (CBZ, CBR, a directory of images) are always treated as 96 dpi, whatever the images say, so their pages fit a screen.
When the file’s resolution is missing or wrong, tell SumatraPDF what it is:
  • from the window: set PrinterDefaults.PrintDpi (Settings → Advanced Settings…), e.g. PrintDpi = 300, then print with Actual size (1:1)
  • from the command line: -print-settings "noscale,dpi=300"
The override only sets the size. The pixels are still sent at full resolution.
Printing a rectangular selection (see Print part of a page) at actual size works the same way: choose Actual size (1:1).

Change print dialog defaults #

Change some defaults used by the print dialog with the PrinterDefaults advanced setting (Settings → Advanced Settings…):
PrinterDefaults [
	PrintScale = none
	Collate = collate
	PrintDpi = 0
]
  • PrintScale: default page scaling. Values: shrink (default), fit, stretch, none.
  • Collate: default for the print dialog’s Collate checkbox. Values: default (leave the printer/driver default), collate, nocollate. You can still change it per print in the dialog. For command-line printing, use the collate / nocollate -print-settings tokens instead.
  • PrintDpi: resolution to assume for the document when printing at original size. 0 (default) uses what the file says. The same as dpi=<n> in -print-settings, for printing from the window. See Printing at actual size.

Recipes for common tasks #

Print a PDF to the default printer, unattended
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to-default -silent document.pdf
Print at exact size (no scaling) for forms, labels and pre-printed stationery
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Label Printer" -print-settings "noscale" label.pdf
Print a scan at its real size when the file has no DPI or a wrong one
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Plotter" -print-settings "noscale,dpi=300" drawing.tif
Print a small page centered on larger paper (e.g. an envelope)
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "HP LaserJet" -print-settings "noscale,center" envelope.pdf
Fit every page to the paper, in grayscale, 2 copies
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Office Printer" -print-settings "fit,monochrome,2x" report.pdf
Two-sided, long-edge binding, fit to page
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Office Printer" -print-settings "fit,duplexlong" report.pdf
Manual two-sided on a one-sided printer (print odd pages, flip the stack, then print even pages)
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Office Printer" -print-settings "odd,fit" report.pdf
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Office Printer" -print-settings "even,fit" report.pdf
Print only the last 3 pages
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to-default -print-settings "-3--1" document.pdf
Print a specific paper size from a specific tray
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Office Printer" -print-settings "paper=A5,bin=2,fit" booklet.pdf
Print a document with mixed page sizes to matching paper/trays
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Multi-tray Printer" -print-settings "paper=auto,bin=auto" mixed.pdf
Print a wide (landscape) page in its original orientation (no 90° rotation)
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Receipt Printer" -print-settings "disable-auto-rotation" wide.pdf
Fix an upside-down printout (e.g. when printing to XPS / Print to PDF)
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Microsoft Print to PDF" -print-settings "rotate=180" doc.pdf
“Print” to a PDF file
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to "Microsoft Print to PDF" -print-settings "output=C:\out\result.pdf" input.pdf

Tips #

  • Use Odd pages only, then Even pages only (or odd / even) for manual two-sided printing.
  • Use Actual size (1:1) / noscale for forms, labels and technical drawings.
  • Use -print-to "Microsoft Print to PDF" to tell a driver problem from a SumatraPDF one.
  • Run a command without -silent first, because error dialogs explain failures.
  • Use -print-to-default to avoid printer-name mismatches.

Troubleshooting #

Paper size or tray ignored #

Drivers often report paper sizes under non-obvious names. If paper=A4 has no effect:
  1. Print once from the Windows dialog and note the exact paper name in the driver, or list names with -list-printers.
  2. Use that string: -print-settings "paper=A3 297 x 420 mm".
  3. Or use paperkind=<num> with the Windows DMPAPER_* id.
  4. For mixed page sizes: paper=auto,bin=auto.
Combine with ignore-pdf-print-settings if the PDF embeds conflicting ViewerPreferences.

Wrong orientation or margins #

  • Wide pages auto-rotate 90° to fit. Add disable-auto-rotation to keep the original orientation.
  • If a virtual printer’s output is upside down, try rotate=180.
  • If the content is too small, use fit or shrink (the default). For exact size, use noscale.

Job prints to wrong printer #

-print-to requires the exact printer name from Windows Settings → Printers. -print-to-default avoids name mismatches.

Silent script reports failure #

Check the exit code. Common results:
Code Check
4 Printer name typo or no default printer
5 Driver error. Update the driver, or print to “Microsoft Print to PDF” to isolate the problem
6 sumatrapdfrestrict.ini has PrinterAccess = 0
Add -silent only after confirming the command works interactively (without -silent, error dialogs explain failures).

Lines or barcodes missing #

SumatraPDF renders each page to a bitmap before printing (see How SumatraPDF prints). Very fine lines, hairline barcodes, or light gray rules may disappear at printer resolution. Try noscale with a higher-DPI driver, or print from a vector-aware tool. See Reporting printing bugs. The cause is often the driver or its resolution, not SumatraPDF.

Windows 11: no Advanced tab in print dialog #

Use command-line printing or enable the legacy print dialog. Command-line printing exposes every Advanced option on all Windows versions.

How SumatraPDF prints #

SumatraPDF renders each page to an image and sends that image to the printer. Rendering to an image works the same for every document type (PDF, XPS, CBZ, etc.), but it means:
  • the print spool can be large and printing can be slower than text-based printers
  • print quality follows the printer resolution, not a vector path
  • screen-only settings (anti-aliasing, color range, background color) do not change the printout

Exit codes #

For unattended/silent printing, the process exit code tells you why a print failed:
Exit code Meaning
0 success
2 couldn’t open the file (not found or unsupported format)
3 the document doesn’t allow printing
4 the printer (named, or default) doesn’t exist
5 the printer driver / device failed
6 printing is disabled by restriction policy
With several files, the code is 0 only if all of them printed. Otherwise it is the code of the first failure. Anything that goes wrong inside the spooler/driver after the job is submitted (out of paper, printer offline, jam) can’t be reported, because SumatraPDF only knows whether the job was handed off.
The list is comma-separated, e.g. -print-settings "1-5,odd,fit,monochrome". Order doesn’t matter. Available tokens:
Which pages
Option Meaning
5 a single page
2-6 a page range
10-8 a reversed range (prints 10, 9, 8)
last the last page
-1, -2 count from the end (-1 = last page, -2 = second-to-last)
-3--1 a range using negatives (here, the last 3 pages)
even / odd only even / only odd pages of the selected range
Scaling and placement
Option Meaning
noscale print at 100% (no scaling), i.e. actual size / 1:1
dpi=<n> resolution to assume for the document, e.g. dpi=300 for a 300 dpi scan whose file says otherwise (or nothing). Decides the size noscale prints at
shrink scale down only pages too big for the paper (default)
fit scale every page to fill the printable area, keeping aspect ratio
stretch fill the paper in both dimensions, ignoring aspect ratio
center center the page horizontally on the paper
Orientation
Option Meaning
portrait / landscape rotate the content 90° (content rotation, not the paper orientation, which is set by the printer/driver)
disable-auto-rotation don’t auto-rotate a wide page 90° to fit the paper, and print it in its original orientation
rotate=90 / rotate=180 / rotate=270 rotate the printout by extra degrees, to fix a wrong orientation (e.g. rotate=180 for upside-down output on virtual printers). In the window, use the Rotate printout dropdown on the Advanced print tab
Paper and tray
Option Meaning
paper=A4 standard size: A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, letter, legal, tabloid, statement, or a name the printer reports (e.g. A3 297 x 420 mm)
paper=76mm x 130mm a custom paper size
paper=auto set the paper size from each page’s own size (for mixed page sizes)
paperkind=<num> paper size by Windows DMPAPER_* id; use when paper=A3 doesn’t match the driver’s paper name
bin=<num or name> select the input tray (by number or name)
bin=auto let the printer pick the tray whose paper matches the page size
Note: if paper=A4 doesn’t take effect, the driver may report the size under a different name. List the exact names your printer accepts (-list-printers) and use one of them, or fall back to paperkind=<num>.
Copies, sides and color
Option Meaning
3x number of copies (here, 3)
collate / nocollate collate copies (1,2,3 / 1,2,3) or not (1,1 / 2,2 / 3,3)
simplex one-sided
duplex / duplexlong two-sided, flip on long edge
duplexshort two-sided, flip on short edge
color force color
monochrome force grayscale/black-and-white
Output (advanced)
Option Meaning
output=<file> write to a file (for “print to file” style printers)
docname=<name> set the print job name shown in the print queue
ignore-pdf-print-settings ignore the print defaults embedded in the PDF (see below)
A PDF can carry print hints in its ViewerPreferences dictionary. When you print a PDF from the command line, SumatraPDF reads them and uses them as defaults:
ViewerPreferences key Effect
PrintScaling /None prints at original size (no scaling); /AppDefault uses SumatraPDF’s default
NumCopies number of copies
Duplex Simplex, DuplexFlipShortEdge or DuplexFlipLongEdge
PickTrayByPDFSize when true, pick the input tray by page size (same as bin=auto)
The embedded values are defaults only. Anything you pass in -print-settings overrides the PDF’s value. For example, -print-settings "2x" prints 2 copies even if the PDF asks for 3. To ignore the PDF’s embedded values completely, add ignore-pdf-print-settings:
SumatraPDF.exe -print-to-default -print-settings "ignore-pdf-print-settings" document.pdf
The embedded defaults apply to command-line printing only. When you print from the window, the print dialog’s own values are used.

See also #

SumatraPDF documentation
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Printing
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