How to print multiple pages per sheet (2-up, 4-up)
Updated
Contents
To put several pages of a PDF on one sheet, open Multiple Pages per Sheet, add your file, and choose 2, 4, 6, or 9 per sheet. Press Create sheets and download a new PDF whose every page holds that many of the original pages, shrunk to fit.
It does what a print dialog's pages-per-sheet setting does, but saves the result as a file. You can check it on screen before printing, send it to someone else to print, or print it on a printer whose settings you cannot find; print it at one page per sheet, since the pages are already laid out.
It runs in your browser, so your PDF stays on your device. It opens one file at a time, up to 100 MB.
Step by step
- 1Open the Multiple Pages per Sheet tool and drop your PDF where it says Drop your PDF here, or click browse. It stays on your device.
- 2Under Pages per sheet, choose 2, 4, 6, or 9 per sheet. Beside the heading, the tool shows how many sheets that makes.
- 3Under Sheet size choose A4 or US Letter, and under Orientation keep Auto or choose Portrait or Landscape.
- 4Under Order choose Across, then down or Down, then across, and under Margin choose None, Small (18 points), or Large (36 points). Tick Draw a thin border around each page for an outline you can cut along.
- 5Press Create sheets, then Download PDF. The copy is named after yours, with the count added, such as -4-up.
How the pages are laid out
Auto picks portrait or landscape, whichever draws the first page largest: two portrait pages sit side by side on a landscape sheet, and four fill a portrait sheet in a grid. Each page is scaled to fit its place with its proportions kept, so a landscape page among portrait ones is simply drawn smaller.
Across, then down fills each row from left to right and then moves down, the way you read. Down, then across fills each column from top to bottom and then moves right, like newspaper columns. When the last sheet is not full, its remaining places are left empty. The margin keeps the same space at the sheet's edges and between pages, and the border is a 0.5-point line.
What the sheets keep
Each page is placed as a drawing, not a picture, so text stays sharp and selectable however far you zoom in. What shrinks is the printed size: at the higher counts, body text becomes small, so print a test sheet before a long run.
Filled form fields and stamps show on the sheets as they look, but links and form fields stop being clickable or editable there. The sheets are a new PDF, so the original's bookmarks are not carried over. Keep the original for anything that has to stay interactive.
Common questions
How do I print two pages on one sheet of paper?
Choose 2 per sheet, keep Orientation on Auto, and press Create sheets. Two portrait pages land side by side on a landscape sheet. Download the PDF and print it at one page per sheet.
Is the text still sharp and searchable?
Yes. Each page is placed as a scaled-down drawing, not turned into an image, so text stays selectable and sharp when you zoom in. Only its printed size changes.
Do links and form fields still work on the sheets?
They show as they looked, but they stop being interactive: a link on a sheet does not open and a field cannot be edited. Keep the original file for anything that has to stay clickable.
Can it make a folded booklet?
No. Pages fill the sheets in their own order, across, then down or down, then across; there is no booklet ordering for folding and stapling.
Is my PDF sent to a server?
No. The sheets are made in your browser tab and saved on your device; the PDF is not sent to pdf.xyz.