How to print, convert
and fix any document.
Plain-English guides to printing web pages without the clutter and getting PDFs to behave. Most methods run locally in a normal browser; every guide tells you when a job needs our secure converter.
Written and maintained by Nasir Uddin Shamim, founder of PrintxPDF.
Guides in other languages
Printing web pages
Print any web page without ads, sidebars or menus. Reader mode, print preview, browser settings and a free tool that cleans the page in your browser.
- How to print a web page without ads
- How to print only the part of a page you selected
- Webpage won’t print? Fix blank pages, missing images and tiny text
Saving web pages as PDF
Save any web page as a PDF in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, iPhone or Android. Print-to-PDF, full-page screenshots, and archiving that survives link rot.
- How to save a web page as a PDF in any browser
- How to save a web page as a PDF on iPhone and iPad
- How to take a full-page screenshot of a website
Merging PDF files
Combine PDFs into one file for free. Drag to set the page order, mix in JPG and PNG images, keep bookmarks, and merge without Adobe Acrobat on Windows or Mac.
- How to merge PDF files for free
- How to combine PDFs without Adobe Acrobat
- How to add scanned images to an existing PDF
Splitting and extracting PDF pages
Split a PDF into single pages or custom ranges, extract only the pages you need, delete the rest, and cut a big file down to fit an email attachment limit.
- How to split a PDF into separate pages or ranges
- How to extract specific pages from a PDF
- How to delete pages from a PDF
Compressing PDF files
Compare three PDF compression presets, keep text searchable when needed, and learn when to split a large file or use a sharing link.
- How to compress a PDF file for free
- How to reduce a PDF file size for email
- How to compress a PDF without losing quality
Converting PDF to other formats
How to get a PDF back into an editable format: Word, Excel, plain text and slides, what each conversion really preserves, and when the answer is to retype.
- How to convert a PDF to Word and keep the formatting
- How to convert a PDF table into Excel
- How to extract all the text from a PDF
Converting files to PDF
Turn documents, spreadsheets, web pages and photos into PDFs that look right. Font embedding, print areas, page-break CSS and the DPI that matters in print.
- How to convert Word to PDF and keep the fonts
- How to convert an Excel spreadsheet to PDF that actually fits
- How to convert HTML to PDF
PDFs and images
Turn PDF pages into JPG or PNG, pull the original embedded images out of a PDF, and choose the resolution and format that still looks sharp on real paper.
- How to convert PDF pages to JPG or PNG images
- How to extract the original images from a PDF
- PNG vs JPG for PDF pages: which should you pick?
Signing PDFs
Sign a PDF in your browser: draw, type or upload a signature, fill in form fields, flatten the result, and understand when an electronic signature is binding.
- How to sign a PDF without printing it
- Are electronic signatures legally binding?
- How to create a clean signature image with a transparent background
OCR and scanned documents
Make any scan searchable. How OCR works, how to add a text layer to a scanned PDF, how to pull text out of a photo, and how to get more out of bad scans.
- How to OCR a scanned PDF so you can search it
- How to extract text from an image or photo
- How to tell if a PDF is searchable, and make it so
Watermarks, page numbers and stamps
Add a watermark, page numbers, headers or footers to a PDF free in your browser. Opacity, rotation, placement and margin settings that actually look right.
- How to add a watermark to a PDF
- How to add page numbers to a PDF
- How to add a header or footer to a PDF
PDF privacy and security
What a PDF leaks about you, what a password really protects, and how to redact so the text is genuinely gone. Practical methods with the limits spelled out.
- How to remove hidden metadata from a PDF before sharing
- How to password protect a PDF, and what it actually protects
- How to redact a PDF so the text is really gone
Printing recipes
Print any recipe as one clean page: skip the life story and the ads, drop the photos to save ink, and build a kitchen binder and meal plan that get used.
- How to print a recipe without the life story and ads
- How to print a recipe without the pictures
- How to build a printed recipe binder that survives a kitchen
Students and research
Print academic PDFs two-up and duplex, annotate them so the notes survive to June, cite web pages in APA, MLA and Chicago, and stop slides eating a ream.
- How to print journal articles and papers properly
- How to annotate PDFs for studying
- How to cite a web page in APA, MLA and Chicago
For publishers and developers
Add a print or PDF button to WordPress or any website, write a print stylesheet that works, and stop readers printing nine sheets to get one article.
- How to add a print button to WordPress
- How to write a print stylesheet that actually works
- How to make your website printer-friendly
Saving paper and ink
Cut the cost of every print job: draft mode, greyscale, ink-efficient fonts, double-sided printing without a duplex unit, scaling, and the real cost per page.
- How to save ink when printing
- How to print double-sided, including without a duplex printer
- How to fit more on a printed page without making it unreadable
QR codes for print
Make QR codes that scan off paper every time. Real millimetre sizes, the 10:1 distance rule, quiet zones, error correction levels and vector export settings.
- How to make a QR code that actually scans off paper
- How to make a WiFi QR code guests can scan
- What size should a QR code be? The distance rule
Browser extensions and shortcuts
Get a clean printout from Chrome, Firefox and Safari using reader modes, keyboard shortcuts, bookmarklets and extensions, plus the permissions to check first.
- Print-friendly options for Google Chrome
- Printing better from Firefox
- Printing better from Safari on Mac and iPhone
Editing a PDF you already have
Change a word, trim the margins, fill in a form or find what changed between two drafts. Four guides to editing a PDF when the original document is gone.
- How to edit a PDF, and what editing a PDF cannot do
- How to crop a PDF, and why cropping hides nothing
- How to fill in a PDF form, fillable or flat
Slide decks and PDF
Convert PowerPoint to PDF and back, print a deck as handouts several slides per sheet, and design slides that still read once they are on paper in greyscale.
- How to convert a PowerPoint deck to PDF
- How to convert a PDF back into an editable deck
- How to print slide handouts without wasting a stack of paper
Ebooks and PDF
Convert EPUB and MOBI files to PDF, understand what EPUB, AZW3 and plain text actually are, and learn why copy-protected ebooks never convert.
- How to convert AZW3 to EPUB without losing the book
- How to convert an EPUB to PDF, and what you give up
- How to convert a MOBI file to PDF
Images, compression and ZIP archives
Convert an image between JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF, compress a photo without wrecking it, and make or open a ZIP file. All of it runs in your browser.
- How to convert an image between JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF
- How to compress an image without it looking wrecked
- How to make a ZIP file, and when zipping is pointless
Archiving documents for the long term
Make documents that still open decades from now: PDF/A with fonts embedded, clean scans of paper, Markdown for text, and which formats actually survive.
- What is PDF/A, and when do you actually need it?
- How to scan paper to PDF with a phone and get a clean result
- How to convert a PDF to Markdown