Printing Tips for Printables, Including Letter vs A4

Letter and A4 at a glance

US Letter and A4 are close enough that people often do not notice which one they are using, but different enough to cause trouble. A4 is a little narrower and noticeably taller. When a page designed for one is printed on the other, something has to give: the printer shrinks the page, crops the bottom, or leaves an uneven white band.

A4 belongs to the A series defined in the international standard ISO 216, where each size is half of the one before it and every sheet has the same proportions. That is why an A4 page reduces neatly to A5 on a photocopier. Letter does not follow that system, so it has a slightly squarer shape.

Set the paper size before you generate

Every generator on frogsdream has a Paper setting with US Letter and A4. It picks a starting value from your browser's language settings, so a browser set to US English starts on Letter and most others start on A4. Check it anyway, especially on a shared school computer. Canada and Mexico use Letter too, so readers there will usually want to switch it.

The paper setting changes the layout, not just the label. Bingo cards, word search grids and charts are sized to fit the page you chose, the margins are set for that sheet, and the downloaded PDF uses the same page size. If you share a link with a colleague in another country, they can switch the paper size and print the same cards on their own paper.

If you are not sure which paper you have, look at the ream wrapper, or measure a sheet. A Letter sheet is exactly 11 inches tall; an A4 sheet is just under 11.7 inches.

Print dialog settings that matter

Most browsers hide the useful options behind a "More settings" link. In Chrome, Edge and on Chromebooks, check these before you print:

• Paper size. Make it match the paper in the tray and the size you chose in the generator.
• Scale. Leave it on Default or set Custom to 100. Fit to page options can shrink the sheet a little, which matters for cut lines.
• Margins. Default is fine. Our printables already leave room for the margins most home printers need.
• Headers and footers. Turn these off, or the browser adds the page title, the web address and the date in tiny print at the edges.
• Background graphics. Turn this on if you want colored backgrounds and shaded squares to print. Leave it off if you want to save ink.

Firefox and Safari have the same options under slightly different names, usually in a panel labeled Scale or Page Setup. If anything looks too small or cut off in the preview, the scale or paper size is almost always the cause.

Printing a downloaded PDF

When you print a PDF from a PDF viewer, look for an option called Actual size or 100 percent. Many viewers default to Fit or Shrink oversized pages, which quietly reduces everything a few percent. That is harmless for a word search but can make bingo cards a slightly different size from the ones you printed last week.

Choosing paper

Ordinary copy paper is fine for anything used once, like a word search or a scavenger hunt checklist. In the US it is usually sold as 20 lb bond, which is about 75 grams per square meter (gsm); elsewhere 80 gsm is the common weight.

For bingo cards, routine charts and reward charts that will be handled many times, use cardstock. Paper weights are confusing because US pound ratings depend on the paper type, so a cover stock and a bond paper with the same pound number are not the same thickness. Grams per square meter avoid this. As a rough guide, 65 lb cover is about 176 gsm and 110 lb cover is about 300 gsm.

• About 160 to 180 gsm (around 65 lb cover): stiff enough for bingo cards and handles most home inkjet printers well.
• About 200 to 250 gsm: sturdier cards and charts. Check your printer manual for its maximum weight.
• Around 300 gsm (110 lb cover): very stiff. Many home printers struggle with it, so feed one sheet at a time through the manual or rear tray if your printer has one.

Cardstock in the US is sold in Letter size and elsewhere in A4, so the paper toggle matters here too.

Saving ink

Tick Ink saver (black and white) in any generator to switch the sheets to black, gray and very light gray, with no colored fills. The layout stays exactly the same. It looks clean on a black and white laser printer, photocopies well for a whole class, and avoids using up your color cartridges.

Other ways to cut ink use:

• Choose the draft or economy quality setting for practice copies.
• Print one master and photocopy it, which is usually cheaper per page than printing every copy.
• Turn off background graphics in the print dialog.
• Untick the little frog stamp in the corner if you want the plainest possible page.

Cutting, laminating and reusing

Bingo cards print one, two or four to a page. Two per page gives a good size for adults, while four per page makes small cards for quick classroom games. For straight cuts, a paper trimmer is faster and neater than scissors. Cut all sheets in a stack only if your trimmer is rated for that thickness of cardstock.

To reuse cards, laminate them or slide them into clear sheet protectors and mark with dry-erase pens. Laminating pouches add stiffness, so you can print on ordinary paper and still get a durable card. Wipe the cards with a dry cloth after each game; a little rubbing alcohol on a cloth usually lifts stubborn marks.

For charts on a wall or fridge, a sheet protector is the easiest option. Your child can add stickers to the outside, and you can slide in a fresh printout each week.

Printing at school, a library or a copy shop

Download the PDF rather than printing from the web page when you use someone else's printer. A PDF keeps its page size and layout on any computer, and copy shop staff can print it without opening a website. Tell them to print at actual size, and mention the paper size you chose.

On a Chromebook, printing works the same way as in Chrome on any computer, and the same settings apply. If your school printer only stocks A4 or only stocks Letter, set the generator to match before you download.

Quick fixes for common problems

• The bottom of the page is cut off. The printer has Letter paper but the page was made for A4. Switch the Paper setting to Letter and print again.
• There is a wide blank strip at the bottom. The reverse: A4 paper with a Letter layout. Switch to A4.
• Everything looks slightly small. Scale is set to fit. Change it to 100 or Actual size.
• The web address and date appear at the edges. Turn off headers and footers in the print dialog.
• Colored squares print white. Background graphics is turned off. Turn it on, or use ink saver on purpose.
• Cardstock jams. Use the manual feed slot, print one sheet at a time, or choose a lighter weight.