Printing Word Searches on US Letter and A4

Choose US Letter if you’re in the United States, Canada, Mexico or the Philippines, and A4 almost everywhere else. Download the word search PDF in the matching size and print it at actual size (100%). The two sizes are close but not the same — Letter is wider and shorter, A4 is narrower and taller — so a PDF made for one and printed on the other gets scaled or cropped.

The two sizes

	US Letter	A4
Inches	8.5 × 11	8.27 × 11.69
Millimeters	215.9 × 279.4	210 × 297
Points (1/72 in)	612 × 792	595.28 × 841.89
Used in	US, Canada, Mexico, Philippines and parts of Latin America	Most of the world

A4 is part of the ISO 216 standard, where each size is half the one before it (A3 → A4 → A5) and every sheet has the same proportions. You can read more about the series on Wikipedia’s ISO 216 page. US Letter is a North American standard with no such halving relationship.

How the difference affects a word search

Word search grids are square, so width is what limits them. With half-inch margins:

• US Letter gives about 540 points of width.
• A4 gives about 523 points.

That’s why the largest large print grid (18-point letters) is 18×18 on Letter but 17×17 on A4. At standard size, every grid up to 25×25 fits on both.

A4’s extra height leaves more room below the grid, so long word lists fit on the same page more often.

Each size is laid out separately

On this site, the PDF isn’t squeezed from one size into another — the layout is calculated for the paper you choose: margins, title wrapping, grid size and word list columns. Switching paper size never changes the puzzle itself, only how it sits on the page.

Printer settings

1. Paper size: match the PDF (Letter or A4) to the paper in your printer.
2. Scale: Actual size, 100%, or “None.” Avoid Fit to page, Shrink oversized pages and Fit to printable area, which reduce everything slightly.
3. Orientation: portrait.
4. Margins: leave the defaults; the PDF already includes half-inch margins.
5. Color: black and white or grayscale is fine.

Each page footer reminds you: Print at actual size (100%).

Troubleshooting

The edges are cut off. The printer has Letter paper but the PDF is A4 (or the reverse), or the printer’s own margins are larger than usual. Re-download in the right size and print at 100%.

Everything looks slightly small. “Fit to page” is on. Switch to Actual size. This matters most for large print, where the 18-point minimum is only true at 100%.

The answer key printed on the back. Turn off double-sided printing if you want the key separate.

I’m printing from a phone. Open the PDF, use Share → Print, and check the paper size and scale options in the print preview. If the download doesn’t start automatically, the site offers a link to open the PDF directly.

Copying and scaling

Photocopying a Letter master onto A4 (or the reverse) with “auto” scaling can shrink the page by a few percent — barely noticeable at standard size, but enough to take large print below 18 points. Print a fresh master on the right paper instead.

Reducing two pages onto one sheet halves the letter size. If you want two puzzles per page, use smaller grids instead.

How to tell which paper you have

If you’re not sure what’s in the printer tray, measure one sheet:

• US Letter: 8.5 inches (21.6 cm) wide and 11 inches (27.9 cm) tall.
• A4: 8.27 inches (21 cm) wide and 11.69 inches (29.7 cm) tall.

The easiest tell is height: A4 is about 1.8 cm (¾ inch) taller. Packaging usually says “Letter,” “8.5 × 11” or “A4.” Your computer’s printer settings also show a default paper size, which is set by your region when the printer is installed — worth checking if you’ve moved countries or bought a printer abroad.

Printing from different apps and devices

Print dialogs use different words for the same setting. Look for these:

Where you print	Setting to choose
Chrome or Edge PDF viewer	Scale: Default or Actual size, not “Fit to printable area”
Firefox PDF viewer	Scale: 100%
Adobe Acrobat Reader	Page Sizing: Actual size
macOS Preview	Scale: 100%; untick “Scale to fit”
iPhone or iPad	Share → Print; check the paper size in Options
Android	Print → paper size; set scaling to 100% if offered

If an app has no scaling option, it usually prints at actual size, but check one copy before printing many.

Checking a print is really at 100%

You can verify scaling with a ruler. The PDFs have half-inch margins, so the gap between the edge of the paper and the title or grid should be about 12.7 mm (½ inch). If it is noticeably wider, the page was shrunk. For large print, this check matters: the 18-point minimum letter size is only guaranteed at 100%.

Shared printers in schools and offices

Shared printers often have a fixed default tray and may be set to “Fit to page” for everyone. Before printing a class set:

• check the tray paper matches the PDF,
• set scaling to 100% for this job,
• turn off double-sided printing if the answer key must stay separate,
• print one test page and check the margins.

Many copier-printers also have an “auto paper select” mode that picks a different tray when sizes don’t match. If the printout arrives on the wrong size, that’s usually why.

Packs and booklets

Packs made with the pack builder are ordinary multi-page PDFs: puzzle pages first, then answer keys at the end (or a key after each puzzle, if you choose). For a stapled booklet, print single-sided and staple in the top-left corner. Booklet printing that folds two pages onto one sheet halves the letter size, so it’s best avoided, especially with large print.

Frequently asked

Can I print an A4 PDF on Letter paper if I have no choice? Yes, but choose “Fit to page” in that one case. The page will shrink by about 6%, which is fine for standard print but drops large print below 18 points. Downloading the Letter version is better.

Why doesn’t the site detect my paper size automatically? Browsers don’t tell websites what paper is in your printer. The print panel suggests a size based on your region, and you can change it.

Does the paper size change the answer key? No. The key is drawn from the same grid and laid out for the same paper as the puzzle.

What about legal size or A5? The PDFs are made for Letter and A4 only. A5 is half of A4, so printing an A4 PDF “two per sheet” gives A5-sized pages — but with letters at about 70% of their intended size.

Sending puzzles to someone in another country

If you make a puzzle for a relative or a class abroad, download it in their paper size, not yours. A grandparent in the UK needs A4; a cousin in the US needs Letter. The puzzle is identical either way, so you can download both and send the right one. For large print, this matters most: a Letter large print PDF printed on A4 with scaling can drop below 18 points.

Saving paper and ink

• Print only the pages you need: choose Puzzle only or Answer key only rather than both.
• Use grayscale; the PDFs contain no color.
• Print a master and photocopy at 100% rather than printing every copy.
• For keys, the printer’s draft mode is usually clear enough.

Why the sizes differ at all

US Letter comes from traditional North American paper-making sizes, while A4 comes from a metric system designed so that every sheet keeps the same proportions when cut in half. Neither is going away soon, so the practical answer is to choose the right PDF for the paper you have — which takes one click on any puzzle here.

Remembering your choice

The print panel remembers the paper size you chose last time on this device, so after the first puzzle you don’t need to change it again. If you share a computer with someone who prints on the other size, check the setting before downloading.

Quick reference

• Letter: US, Canada, Mexico, Philippines. A4: most other countries.
• Download the PDF in the size you’ll print on.
• Print at Actual size (100%), portrait.
• Large print: up to 18×18 (Letter) or 17×17 (A4).

Download any puzzle from the printable word search library, or read how to print a word search and matching answer key.