Tool for this guide: N-up PDF
Printing dozens of lecture slides one per page uses a lot of paper. Putting 2 or 4 pages on each sheet cuts that to a half or a quarter. Printers have a “pages per sheet” setting too, but saving the result as a PDF lets you send it to others or print it as is at a copy shop.
Steps
- Open N-up PDF.
- Click “Choose PDF file” or drag a PDF onto the screen.
- Choose how many pages go on each sheet (2, 4, 6 or 9) and the paper size (A4 or Letter).
- Check the first sheet preview.
- Click “Create N-up PDF”, then “Download” when it is done.
How many pages per sheet?
| Per sheet | Orientation | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Landscape | Text-heavy documents, book-like reading |
| 4 | Portrait | Lecture slides and presentations (most common) |
| 6 | Landscape | Slides that are mostly pictures |
| 9 | Portrait | Skimming the overall flow at a glance |
The orientation is chosen for you. It gives the largest cells for portrait documents.
Printed text shrinks along with the pages. With 4 pages on a sheet, text is about half its original size; with 9, about a third, so small text gets hard to read. Start with 4.
Borders
“Border around each page” draws a thin gray line around each page. When white pages sit side by side it can be hard to see where one ends, and the line makes that clear.
Fix the page order first
Pages are placed in their current order, left to right and top to bottom. To drop a cover or blank page or change the order, use Organize PDF first. To combine several files, merge them first.
Common questions
Will the text get blurry? No. Pages are scaled down as they are, not turned into images. They stay sharp when zoomed in, and text can still be selected and searched.
What if the pages are different sizes? Each page is scaled to fit its cell, keeping its proportions, and centered. Portrait and landscape pages can be mixed. Rotated pages are placed the way they appear on screen.
Can I print double-sided? Yes, just print the PDF double-sided. With 4 pages per sheet on both sides, one sheet of paper holds 8 pages.
Why isn’t anything uploaded?
Scaling and arranging pages is quick work for a modern browser. There is no need to send lecture notes or work documents to a server, and your file never leaves your device.