How to print lecture slides and notes several pages per sheet
To print several PDF pages on one sheet, prepare the pages first with Extract Pages, Reorder Pages and Page Numbers, then run N-up PDF and choose 2, 4, 6 or 9 pages per sheet. Every output sheet is A4 landscape and each page is rendered as an image, so the printout looks right but the text in the new file can no longer be selected or searched.
Updated · Runs in your browser, no upload, no account
Why print several pages per sheet
Lecture slides, meeting decks and long reading notes are rarely worth one sheet of paper per page. Putting several pages on one sheet saves paper and gives you a compact handout you can annotate. The technique is called N-up printing: N pages are scaled down and arranged in a grid on one sheet.
Many print dialogs offer this setting already. A separate tool is useful when you want to create a real PDF with that layout, to share it, print it somewhere else or keep it as a study copy. N-up PDF makes exactly that file in your browser, without uploading the document.
What N-up PDF offers
There are four layouts: 2-up (2 columns by 1 row), 4-up (2 by 2), 6-up (3 columns by 2 rows) and 9-up (3 by 3). You also choose the page order. Horizontal reads left to right and then down; vertical goes top to bottom and then across to the next column.
The output sheet is always A4 landscape (842 by 595 points), whatever the size or orientation of your source pages. Each page is scaled to fit its cell, keeps its proportions, is centred and has a fixed 10-point padding. There are no options for margins, gaps, borders, paper size or custom grids, and the tool does not do booklet imposition or duplex-aware ordering.
The output file is named after your original with _2up, _4up, _6up or _9up added. If the page count is not a multiple of the layout, the last sheet is only partly filled.
What the output loses
Each page is rendered to an image at 1.5x scale and saved as a JPEG at quality 0.85 before it is placed on the sheet. This has three practical consequences.
- Text is not selectable or searchable in the N-up file. Keep your original PDF for searching and copying text.
- Small cells look softer. In 9-up each slide is small, so fine print, thin lines and small fonts can look soft when zoomed or printed large. Try 4-up or 6-up for dense slides.
- Links, form fields and bookmarks are not carried over, because the pages are placed as pictures.
Since the output is landscape A4, a portrait source page is shrunk to fit a cell; 2-up with portrait pages produces two tall pages side by side, which uses a landscape sheet well, while 2-up with landscape slides leaves the cells wide and short.
Prepare the PDF before N-up
N-up copies the pages exactly as they are, so the best time to fix problems is before running it. Three tools help, and the order matters.
- Keep only the pages you need with Extract Pages. Click the thumbnails of the slides to print and download a new PDF. Pages come out in ascending order. To drop a few unwanted pages instead, Delete Pages does the reverse.
- Put the pages in the order you want with Reorder Pages. The list shows page numbers, not thumbnails, so it works best when you know which page is which. Drag rows or use the arrows, then click Apply New Order.
- Add page numbers with Page Numbers. Numbers added now become part of each small page, so every slide in the handout shows its number. Numbering always starts at 1 and covers every page; choose a format such as 'Page 1 of 10' and a position that will not collide with slide content.
Run N-up last. If you run Page Numbers after N-up, the number is drawn once per sheet, not once per slide, which is rarely what you want.
A worked example: a 60-slide lecture
Suppose a lecture PDF has 60 slides, the first is a title page and slides 41 to 48 are a break-out exercise you will not need. You want a handout with six slides per sheet to annotate.
- Open Delete Pages, click slides 41 to 48, and download the shorter PDF. Delete Pages is quicker here than selecting 52 pages in Extract Pages.
- Add numbers with Page Numbers: bottom right, format 'Page 1 of 52', font size 10. The numbering restarts at 1 on the first remaining page.
- Open N-up PDF, choose 6 pages per sheet and horizontal order, and click Create N-up PDF.
- Download the _6up file. With 52 pages and 6 per sheet it has 9 sheets, and the last one holds only 4 slides.
- Open the file and zoom in on one cell to confirm the text is readable at print size before sending it to the printer.
To see the page count before and after each step, PDF Info reports it without changing the file.
Choosing a layout
| Layout | Grid (columns x rows) | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-up | 2 x 1 | Portrait documents, reading notes | Landscape slides become wide, short cells |
| 4-up | 2 x 2 | Slides you want to read comfortably | Most readable of the multi-page layouts for slides |
| 6-up | 3 x 2 | Standard lecture handouts | Small text may get soft on dense slides |
| 9-up | 3 x 3 | Quick overview or a revision sheet | Fine print may be hard to read when printed |
If you need more control
If you need margins or borders between pages, booklet printing, or a layout that keeps text selectable, use your PDF viewer's print dialog or desktop software. For other tools that change the page itself, Resize PDF changes page dimensions without scaling the content, and Rotate All Pages turns the whole document. For an overview of everything the site offers, see all tools.
Frequently asked questions
What paper size does N-up PDF produce?
Always A4 landscape (842 by 595 points), whatever the size or orientation of the source pages. There is no option to change paper size.
Why can I not select text in the N-up file?
Each page is rendered to an image (JPEG, quality 0.85) before it is placed on the sheet, so the text becomes pixels. Keep your original PDF if you need to search or copy text.
Can I print double-sided booklets with it?
No. There is no booklet imposition or duplex-aware ordering. The tool arranges pages in a plain grid, horizontally or vertically.
Which layout is best for lecture slides?
4-up gives larger, more readable slides; 6-up is a common compromise; 9-up is best for overviews because fine print can become hard to read.