How to print a PDF on a Mac.
Do you need to learn how to print a PDF on a Mac? This article explains the steps to you’ll need to follow.
Even in a world where nearly everyone is trying to use less paper, there are lots of reasons to print documents. You might need to keep some essential documents in a safe place where you can reach them without technology. It might be a form from the government or your healthcare provider that you should fill out and return. Other times you may want to keep a paper copy of a document securely in your files. Here’s how to print a PDF on Mac computers.
Steps for how to print a PDF on a Mac.
Many people have decided to use only digital documents and some don’t know how to print from their computers. Digital files are easy to use and require no space for storing documents, but there are still plenty of reasons to print important PDFs and other documents.
Follow these simple steps to print a PDF on your Mac:
- With the PDF open, click File and select Print or press Command + P.
- In the Print dialog that opens, make sure your printer is selected.
- You can view the PDF in the preview window and adjust your settings.
- Click Print.
How to print a double-sided PDF on a Mac.
If you’re printing a longer document, you may want to save paper and space by printing your PDF double sided. How you can print double sided on your Mac depends on the kind of printer you have.
If you have a printer that can print on both sides of the paper, here’s how to print a double sided PDF on a Mac:
- Open your PDF and select File > Print.
- Select your printer in the dialog box.
- Under Orientation, select Layout from the dropdown menu.
- Now you’ll see an option to turn on Two-Sided and choose the binding based on the orientation of your paper.
- Select Print.
If the printer dialog box didn’t allow you to access the Two-Sided dropdown menu, it’s probably because your printer can’t print double sided. If your printer doesn’t have the option to print double sided, you will have to manually print one page at a time and then flip the paper over and feed it back into the printer.
Help. Why can’t I print a PDF on my Mac?
You’ve learned how to print a PDF on a Mac, but perhaps for some reason printing isn’t working. Printing troubles can be frustrating, especially if you’re in a hurry. Besides double checking that your printer is on and plugged in, here are some quick things to check that might solve your problems if you’re having trouble printing:
- If you’re using a printer cable, make sure it’s securely connected to both devices. You can even check under System Information to make sure that the printer is connected.
- If your printer is on a network, double check that it’s the same as your computer and that there aren’t network connectivity issues.
- Double check that you’ve chosen the right printer on the network.
- Sharing a printer with multiple Macs can make it a little more complicated. If that’s the case, check that you have at least macOS 10.5 downloaded on your Mac. It could also be that it’s in sleep mode. Next, turn on sharing.
What is print to PDF on Mac?
Printing to PDF is different from printing a PDF. It doesn’t create a hard copy of an existing PDF document — rather, it’s a simple way to convert any file to a PDF document and save it digitally as a PDF. Printing to PDF is simple if you have Adobe Acrobat:
- Open your file in any software that has printing capabilities.
- Select File > Print.
- Select Adobe PDF from your printer options.
- Select Print.
Now you’ll have the option to name and save your file however you prefer.
More resources to work with your PDFs.
The PDF is one of the most universally used document formats because it’s so easy to share, print, store, and secure. Now that you’ve learned how to print a PDF on Mac, here are additional ways to work with your PDFs:
- Need to scan your PDF once printed? Learn how to scan PDF on iPhone.
- Black out text in PDFs before printing.
- Can’t open a PDF? Learn why your PDF won’t open and how to fix it.
To easily share and store documents, convert them to PDFs. You can use your computer’s word processing software or convert documents to PDF files using tools in Acrobat online services. Then, if you want a paper copy for your records, it’s simple to print one.
Take a moment to discover other helpful things you can do with Acrobat to work with PDF files.
