macOS makes it incredibly easy to print any document or image to PDF. In this guide, we look at every different way to do so including how to print to PDFs with no margins (borderless), how to create PDFs from Word, Excel, Acrobat, Safari, Preview and options when you don’t have a printer.

Quick Overview

• Fastest (no printer required): File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF (works in almost any app).
• From Microsoft Word / Excel: File → Save As / Export → PDF OR File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF.
• With Adobe Acrobat Pro: File → Create PDF from File, or export / save as PDF, and use the Crop tool to remove margins.
• No margins (borderless): Either export a PDF at the exact page size and crop the white area, or use a borderless-capable printer driver. Note that true borderless depends on the app and printer.

1. Built-in macOS Method (works in Finder, Safari, Pages, Preview etc.)

1. Open the document (or webpage / image / file).
2. Choose File → Print… (or press ⌘P).
3. In the Print dialog you see a preview and options. To save as PDF: click the PDF button in the lower-left corner.
4. Choose Save as PDF… (or Open PDF in Preview, Save as PostScript, Send PDF via Mail, etc.).
5. Enter filename, author, tags (optional), choose location, click Save.

What This Does:

• This produces a standard PDF of the printed page(s). Paper size, orientation and scaling are taken from the app’s page settings.
• If you want only a subset of pages, enter page range in the Print dialog (Pages: from X to Y) before saving.

2. Create a PDF With No Margins (Borderless / Trimmed PDF)

macOS and most apps cannot create a true “printer-style” borderless PDF unless the original page size and app allow zero margins and/or the printer driver supports borderless printing. For most needs you can create a PDF that visually has no white margins by exporting/cropping to the correct trim size.

There are two main methods you can use:

A) Export at exact page size & set margins to 0 in the source app

1. In your app (Word, Pages, InDesign, etc.) set Page Size to the final size you need (e.g., 210 × 297 mm for A4).
2. Set all margins to 0 mm (or minimum). In Word: Layout → Margins → Custom Margins → set to 0 (Word may warn about printer minimums). In Pages: Click on the Document tab in the top right of the screen and manually change the margins to 0.
3. Place your content so it extends to the page edges (or include built-in bleed if needed).
4. Export / Save as PDF (File → Save As or File → Export → PDF). This produces a PDF whose artboard equals the page size — when viewed it has no white border (if content reaches edges).

B) Create a PDF then crop to remove unwanted white space

1. Save as PDF (using method in Section 1).
2. Open the PDF in Preview.
3. Show the Markup toolbar (if hidden). Draw a rectangle selecting the region you want (to trim away margins). Choose Tools → Crop. Save.
   • In Adobe Acrobat Pro: use Tools → Edit PDF → Crop Pages; drag to set new page box; double-click to set exact dimensions / range and apply.
4. Result: PDF trimmed to the content area, so when printed or viewed it appears borderless.

Note: If you plan to physically print borderless on a commercial printer, request a bleed (typically 3–5 mm beyond trim) and create your PDF with bleed in your graphic design app (such as InDesign / Illustrator / Affinity). For home prints, true borderless printing depends on the printer hardware/driver.

3. Save To PDF With No Printer

You do not need a physical printer to make a PDF on a Mac: use File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF (see Section 1). That creates a PDF file locally – no printer required.

Other ways:

• Export from app (File → Export … → PDF). Many apps provide this (Pages, Word, Chrome: Print → Save as PDF, etc.).
• Print to PDF via Preview: open file(s) in Preview → File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF.

4. From Microsoft Word For Mac

Option A – Best for preserving layout / editable quality

Save/Export as PDF

1. File → Save As…
   • Choose File Format: PDF (or Export → PDF in newer versions).
   • Click Export or Save.

Why use Save/Export instead of Print? Saves a better-quality PDF with embedded fonts and better layout fidelity.

Option B – Using Print dialog

1. File → Print (⌘P).
2. Click PDF → Save as PDF.

Option C – Removing margins in Word

1. Layout → Margins → Custom Margins and set to 0 (or lowest allowed).
2. Word may show a warning about printer minimum margins: Word will still export a PDF; the visible result depends on whether content reaches the page edge. If Word forces white borders, export then crop in Preview or Acrobat as described in Section 2.

Option D – Printing specific content or selection to PDF

• Select text or graphic → File → Print → in the Print dialog choose Selection (if available) → PDF → Save as PDF. (Note: not every Word version supports “Selection” in Print dialog; when not available use Save As → PDF after copying the selection into a blank document.)

5. From Microsoft Excel For Mac

Option A – Prepare the sheet for printing

1. File → Page Setup (or Page Layout tab) — set Orientation, Paper Size, and Scaling (Fit to 1 page wide by 1 page tall if desired).
2. Set Print Area: select the range → File → Print Area → Set Print Area (or Page Layout → Print Area → Set Print Area).
3. Remove headers/footers: Page Layout → Header/Footer → None.

Option B – Remove margins in Excel

1. Page Layout → Margins → Custom Margins → set to 0 or smallest allowed. Excel may enforce minimum margins; to remove white space visually you’ll likely need to export then crop the PDF.

Option C – Export as PDF / Save to PDF

• File → Save As… (choose PDF) OR File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF.

Option D – Tips for spreadsheets

• Use Print Preview to check layout before saving.
• If you need multiple sheets in one PDF: in Print dialog choose Entire Workbook.

6. From Adobe Acrobat (Pro)

There are two common tasks Mac users often need to do in Acrobat Pro: create a PDF and edit/crop margins.

Option A – Create a PDF from another file

1. In Acrobat Pro: File → Create → PDF from File… → choose your Word/Excel/Images. Acrobat converts and preserves layout.
2. Or open a file and Acrobat will prompt to convert.

Option B – Export / Save As PDF (from within Acrobat)

• If you opened a document that’s not already PDF, use File → Save As… to create a PDF.

Option C – Remove or change margins (crop)

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro.
2. Tools → Edit PDF → select Crop Pages (Crop tool in toolbar).
3. Drag to select the new page box (or double-click to enter exact values). Choose page range and click OK.
4. Save the PDF. This removes white borders by adjusting the page boxes (TrimBox / CropBox).

Option D – Print to PDF within Acrobat

• On Acrobat Reader for Mac (free) you can use File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF (system dialog). Acrobat Pro has creation tools that are more direct and precise.

Note: Acrobat Pro is best for precise, batch cropping, adding bleeds, setting page boxes and professional pre-press tasks.

Useful Variations & Tips

• Print selection / specific pages: In Print dialog set Pages or Range before saving PDF.
• Multiple pages per sheet: Print dialog → Layout → Pages per Sheet.
• Combine files into single PDF: Select multiple files in Finder → Right-click → Quick Actions → Create PDF OR use Preview: open several files → Thumbnails sidebar → drag pages to reorder → File → Export as PDF.
• Compressing PDFs: Preview: File → Export → Quartz Filter → Reduce File Size (beware quality loss). Acrobat: File → Save As Other → Reduced Size PDF / PDF Optimizer.
• Passwords / security: Preview doesn’t add passwords. Acrobat Pro or third-party tools can set passwords and permissions. In Preview you can use File → Export as PDF and set a password (Recent macOS versions added password export in Print dialog → Save as PDF — check your macOS version).

Third-Party Options

• PDFwriter for Mac (open source) – installs a virtual PDF printer; useful if you want a printer-style option.
• Online file converters (e.g., for Word/Excel → PDF): quick but don’t upload sensitive files as conversion takes place in the Cloud.
• Dedicated desktop publishing apps (Affinity Publisher, InDesign) — best for precise bleed/trim and borderless export.

Troubleshooting & Common Problems

• White edges remain after export: The app likely enforces printable margins. Export at the correct page size and crop the PDF (Preview or Acrobat).
• Fonts look different: Embed fonts during export (Word: Save As → PDF usually embeds fonts; Acrobat has font embedding options).
• PDF too large: Use Acrobat’s PDF Optimizer or Preview’s Quartz Filter, or choose a lower DPI when exporting images.
• Print dialog greyed-out or no PDF button: Try File → Export or use Preview (open the file and export from Preview). Restart the app or macOS if system Print dialog is broken.
• Need transparent background: Export as PDF from app that supports transparency (e.g., Illustrator, Photoshop) and use PDF/X if needed. Preview rasterizes transparency for some exports.

Quick Step-by-Step Tips By App

Save a webpage as PDF (Safari)

1. File → Print (⌘P) → PDF → Save as PDF.

Export Word doc to PDF (best quality)

1. File → Save As → File Format: PDF → Save.

Create a borderless-looking PDF quickly (Preview crop)

1. Print → PDF → Save as PDF → Open in Preview → select area → Tools → Crop → Save.

Combine several files into one PDF (Preview)

1. Open first PDF in Preview → View → Thumbnails → drag other PDFs into thumbnail sidebar → File → Export as PDF.

Crop pages in Acrobat Pro

1. Tools → Edit PDF → Crop Pages → drag → apply → Save.

If You Need True Printer-Style Borderless PDFs

For those that need a true printer-style borderless PDF, there are only a few realistic options:

• Use a printer that explicitly supports borderless printing; choose that in the Print dialog (Printer-specific setting).
• Design with bleed in a page-layout app and export a PDF with bleed and correct trim boxes (InDesign, Affinity Publisher).
• Give the printer the trim/bleed PDF and request borderless printing.

FAQs

Can Preview create a PDF?
Yes – Preview can export to PDF (File → Export as PDF) and crop/annotate PDFs.

Does Google Chrome have Save as PDF?
Yes. Chrome: File → Print → Destination: Save as PDF (macOS Print dialog has PDF button too).

Can I create PDFs with hyperlinks preserved?
Exporting from Word using Save As/Export → PDF usually preserves clickable links. Printing to PDF sometimes loses them. Acrobat conversion preserves links well.

How do I make a PDF without margins from Word on Mac?
Set page size and margins to zero in Word (Layout → Margins), ensure content reaches edges, then Save As → PDF. If Word enforces margins, export then crop in Preview or Acrobat.