Erin Wright Writing

Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Switch PDFs to Legal Page Size in Adobe Acrobat

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This tutorial shows how to change a PDF to the legal page size (8.5” x 14”) in Adobe Acrobat. Specifically, we will switch from letter size to legal size. However, you can use these steps to switch from other sizes, as well.

After switching to legal size, we will remove the extra white space that appears at the top of the page and discuss the limitations of changing the extra white space at the bottom of the page.

Table of Contents

Watch this tutorial in real-time on my YouTube channel:


These steps apply to the current subscription versions of Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Acrobat Standard on PC and Mac.

How to Switch to the Legal Page Size

Important Note: This process can be difficult to reverse. Therefore, strongly consider performing these steps on a secondary copy of your PDF, not on the original.
  1. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
  2. Select All tools in the global toolbar.
  3. Select Organize Pages in the All tools pane.
  4. Select Set Page Boxes in the Organize pages pane.
  5. Choose Legal in the Page Sizes menu in the Set Page Boxes dialog box.
  6. Select All in the Page Range section.

Alternatively, enter a From and To page range or select Odd Pages Only or Even Pages Only in the Apply to menu.

Important Note: Although not shown in the Set Page Boxes dialog box preview, the contents will be centered in the new page size. If that is acceptable for your purposes, skip to step 9. Otherwise, follow steps 7 and 8 to shift the content up and remove the extra white space at the top of the page.

How to Remove the Extra White Space at the Top of the Page

  1. Select Center if it is not already selected.
  2. Enter a larger amount, such as “3,” in the YOffset text box. (Be careful not to change the XOffset.)
  3. Select the OK button.
  4. Save your PDF to save your changes.

What About the Extra Space at the Bottom of the Page?

Adobe Acrobat handles each page individually, so content does not flow between pages as it does in Microsoft Word. Therefore, the content will not shift upwards to fill the extra white space at the bottom of the pages.

If your text is written in small portions, you can copy and paste each text box into a higher location to fill this empty space. However, that is not an efficient option for most projects.

If the extra space at the bottom is not acceptable, another workaround is to convert your PDF to a Microsoft Word document, change to legal page size in Word, and then reconvert it to a PDF. Be forewarned, however, that this double conversion process can alter other formatting in your document.

Related Resources

How to Rearrange and Delete Pages in PDFs in Adobe Acrobat

How to Find and Replace Text in Adobe Acrobat