Add Margins to PDF
Add white space around your pages for binding, notes, or safe printing — without cropping anything.
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How to Add Margins to a PDF
Some PDFs are designed edge to edge: exported slides, scanned pages, e-books, and documents generated by apps that never expected to be printed. Print them and the edges get clipped; bind them and the text disappears into the spine; hand them out at a meeting and there's nowhere to write notes. Adding margins fixes all of this without editing the original. PDFDoco surrounds every page with clean white space in seconds — and, unlike cropping, it never cuts away any of your content.
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Upload your PDF
A live preview of your first page appears so you can see the result as you adjust.
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Choose a margin size
Small, Medium, or Large — or type an exact custom size in millimeters or inches.
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Pick sides and mode
Add space to every side or only the binding edge, by enlarging pages or shrinking content.
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Download
The margins are applied to every page and your new PDF downloads instantly.
Nothing gets cropped
Your content is moved, never cut — every word and image stays on the page.
Instant preview
See the new margins on your actual page before you download anything.
Completely private
Processing happens in your browser; your document is never uploaded.
Avoid clipped edges when printing
Almost every desktop and office printer has a non-printable border of a few millimeters around the sheet. Text, page numbers, or table lines placed in that zone are cut off or shifted by the printer's auto-scaling. A Small margin of a quarter inch moves everything into the printable area, so what you see on screen is exactly what comes out of the printer.
Room for binding and hole punching
Reports, manuals, and theses that will be spiral-bound, stapled, or filed in a ring binder need extra space along the inside edge. Use Binding edge only to add a margin to the left side without changing the other edges. For thick documents, choose Medium or Large so the text stays readable all the way to the spine.
Space for notes, comments, and grading
Teachers, editors, and reviewers often want wide margins for handwritten comments. Adding a Large margin to handouts, drafts, and lecture slides gives plenty of room to annotate on paper or with a tablet stylus, while keeping the original layout untouched in the middle of the page.
Enlarge pages or keep the paper size?
Enlarge pages is perfect for digital use and custom printing — nothing is scaled, so the content stays exactly the same size. Keep page size is the better choice when the file must still print on standard A4 or Letter paper: the content shrinks just enough to fit inside the new margins, and the live preview shows the result before you commit.
Pro tip: want the opposite — less white space? Use our Crop PDF tool to trim existing margins away.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Enlarge pages and Keep page size?
Enlarge pages adds the white space around the outside, so each page gets bigger and the content stays exactly the same size. Keep page size leaves the paper size unchanged and scales the content down slightly to make room for the margins — the right choice when the document must still print on standard A4 or Letter paper.
How big should margins for binding be?
For comb, coil, or ring binding, 0.5 inch (about 13 mm) on the binding edge is a safe minimum; thicker documents may need 0.75–1 inch. Use "Binding edge only" to add space just on the left side, where holes are punched.
Will adding margins reduce quality?
No. Pages are not converted to images. Text and graphics stay vector-sharp and selectable; with Keep page size they are simply drawn slightly smaller.
Do links and form fields still work?
Yes. Links, comments, and form fields are moved together with the page content, so they line up exactly where they did before.
Can I add different margins to different sides?
Yes. Turn individual sides on or off — for example, top and bottom only for a header and footer area, or left only for binding. The chosen margin size is applied to each selected side.
Why do printers cut off the edges of my PDF?
Most desktop printers can't print all the way to the edge of the paper, so content placed very close to it can be clipped. Adding a Small or Medium margin moves everything safely into the printable area.