Printer Margin & Scaling Test
This test answers a different question than a color or nozzle test: not "does the ink look right" but "did the printer output this at the exact size I asked for." It combines a 10mm grid you can measure with a ruler, a dashed outline at a standard margin, and corner registration marks with centimeter ticks — so you can catch silent scaling ("Fit to page" quietly shrinking your document) or content clipped by a margin the printer can't actually reach.
If the button doesn't work, press Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+P (Mac) to open your browser's print dialog.
This is an on-screen preview. Your printer, paper, ink or toner level, and print driver settings all affect the final physical result.
How to use this printer test
- Choose the paper size that matches what's physically loaded in your tray — this test is specifically about catching a paper-size or scale mismatch, so this matters more here than on other tests.
- In the print dialog, set Scale to exactly 100% and turn off any "Fit to page", "Shrink to fit", or "Scale to fit paper" option — those are exactly what this test is designed to catch.
- Print, then measure a few grid squares with a ruler.
- Compare the corner-to-corner distance against the paper's real dimensions (printed in small text at the center of the page).
What should the printed page look like?
Grid square size
Each square in the grid should measure exactly 10mm (1cm) on a ruler. If squares measure smaller, the page was scaled down somewhere in the print pipeline.
Margin guide
The dashed rectangle marks a standard 12.7mm margin. Content shouldn't be clipped inside that line, and there shouldn't be a much larger blank margin than expected either.
Corner marks and ruler ticks
The small L-shaped marks should sit right at the physical corners of the page, and the tick marks along the top and left edges should be evenly spaced — a bent or offset pattern means the paper fed in skewed.
Center label
The faint text in the middle states the expected page size in millimeters — measure your printed page's width and height and compare directly against it.
Common printer problems
Grid squares measure smaller than 10mm on every side
Likely cause: Your print driver has "Fit to page", "Shrink oversized pages", or "Scale to fit" enabled, quietly scaling the document down to fit the selected paper.
How to fix it: Open the print dialog's scaling options and set it to "Actual size" or "100%" explicitly, then reprint.
Content or grid lines are cut off near one or more edges
Likely cause: The margin you're printing to is smaller than your printer's unprintable area (every printer has a small border it physically cannot reach), or the loaded paper size doesn't match what you selected in the print dialog.
How to fix it: Increase the margin in your document or use a borderless print mode if your printer supports it for that paper type, and double-check the paper size selected in the print dialog matches what's in the tray.
The corner marks or ruler ticks aren't evenly spaced, or the page looks slightly rotated
Likely cause: The paper fed in skewed, often from paper guides that aren't snug against the stack.
How to fix it: Reload the paper, square it against the tray's edge guides, and reprint.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my printer is scaling my documents incorrectly?
Print this test at 100% scale and measure a few grid squares with a ruler. Each should be exactly 10mm — if they're smaller, something in your print pipeline is shrinking the page.
Why is content missing or cut off near the edge of my printed page?
Every printer has a small unprintable margin near the edges it physically can't reach. If your document's margin is smaller than that, content there gets clipped — increase your margin or use borderless mode if available.
What does "100% scale" mean in the print dialog?
It means the page prints at its true physical size with no enlarging or shrinking. The opposite is "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit", which silently rescales the document to fit the selected paper — useful sometimes, but it's the most common reason a printed page doesn't measure the size you expect.
Can this test also tell me if I loaded the wrong paper size?
Yes — measure the full printed page against the paper size you selected. If your printer applied "fit to page" because the loaded paper didn't match, both the grid squares and the overall page size will read smaller than expected.