How to use this calibration sheet
Print this page before a box, a wallpaper sheet, or anything else where a few millimeters will show. The file is one PDF page. The squares stay the same physical size whichever paper you choose.
- Select US Letter or A4 so the PDF matches the paper in the tray.
- Leave the quarter-inch grid on if you want a light reference. Turning it off does not move the squares.
- Download the PDF. It is drawn in your browser and is not fetched from a server.
- Print one copy with the settings below, then measure the squares before you trust a more detailed sheet.
How to print at actual size (100%)
The PDF is already the size of the page. The printer should not shrink it or enlarge it.
- Set the scale to Actual Size, or type 100%.
- Turn off Fit to Page, Fit to printable area, and Shrink oversized pages. The name changes by brand.
- Choose the same paper size you selected above. A Letter file sent to an A4 tray is a common reason a square comes out short.
- Skip borderless and "fill the page" modes. Those expand the drawing even when the dialog preview looks fine.
How to measure 1-inch and 10-mm squares
The larger square is 1 inch on each side, which is 72 points. The smaller square is 10 millimeters on each side. Both distances run from the center of one stroke to the center of the opposite stroke.
Use an inch ruler on the larger square and a metric ruler on the smaller one. The 2-inch ruler is marked every eighth of an inch, with longer ticks at the quarter, the half, and the inch. The 5 cm ruler is marked every millimeter, with longer ticks at 5 millimeters and a label at each centimeter.
Do not measure the picture on your monitor. The preview is scaled to the column. Only the printed PDF, at 100%, is the sheet to check.
US Letter versus A4
US Letter is 8.5 by 11 inches, or 612 by 792 points. A4 is 210 by 297 millimeters. In the PDF that width is 210 times 72/25.4 points, and the height is 297 times 72/25.4 points, about 595.28 by 841.89 points.
The calibration marks are the same physical size on both pages. What changes is the page around them. Pick the page that matches the paper you will load. If the sizes disagree, most drivers scale the drawing to force it onto the sheet, and both squares come out wrong together.
Troubleshooting incorrect print scaling
- Both squares are small by about the same amount. The driver fit the page. Set the scale back to 100% and print again.
- Both squares are large. Look for a scale above 100%, or a borderless setting that expands the image.
- One direction is off and the other is close. The PDF page size and the tray size are probably different.
- The marks run off the paper. This file keeps the drawing at least half an inch from each edge. Clipped squares mean the page was enlarged or the wrong paper was selected.
- The screen looks right and the paper does not. Trust the ruler on the paper.