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Troubleshooting PDF display issues in Document Viewer
Who is this article for?
Administrators responsible for managing documents.
Administration permissions are required.
Sometimes, PDFs appear much smaller than expected in the viewer, even with Fit to Width”.
This article explains the cause and provides a workaround.
1. Issue
PDF viewers scale documents based on page dimensions defined in the file. If a PDF includes pages of varying sizes (e.g., standard Letter pages alongside custom-sized pages), the viewer adjusts scaling to accommodate the largest or smallest page.
This can make the entire document appear smaller than expected.
Common causes include:
- Mixed page sizes within the same PDF
- Non-standard page boxes
- Oversized images or scanned content embedded in a page
To confirm the issue:
- Open the PDF editor or viewer that displays page properties.
- Check each page’s dimensions (e.g., Letter: 8.5" × 11" or A4: 210 × 297 mm).
- Look for outlier pages.
These often those containing large images or scans. - Inspect page boxes for inconsistencies.
2. Solution
To resolve the issue, use a PDF editor to resize or scale pages to the chosen size.
For uncontrolled documents, use the Replace option to upload the updated file. For controlled documents, follow your organization’s check-in/check-out process.