Packing slips: full page, half page or 4 × 6 in?
Last updated October 28, 2026
The right paper format for a packing slip depends on your printer and your volume. This guide compares three common options and explains how to stop your printer from rescaling the page.
Comparing the options
| Format | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Full page (Letter or A4) | Orders with many lines; an ordinary office printer | Wastes paper on one-item orders |
| Half sheet, two per page (cut or fold) | Most small shops; halves paper use | You must cut the sheets or fold them; long orders need a second slip |
| 4 × 6 in on a thermal printer | A shop that already prints 4 × 6 in shipping labels | Small space: long item names and long orders run over |
If a slip is the same size as a label, you can print slips and labels on the same printer and the same stock, but read the label-stock instructions of your carrier or marketplace first.
Print at actual size
- Open the PDF and choose Print. In Acrobat's Print dialog, choose Actual size under Size; Adobe's documentation says this prints without scaling, whereas Fit reduces or enlarges the page and the default setting shrinks oversized pages.
- Choose the same paper size as the PDF. A 4 × 6 in PDF should go to a 4 × 6 in media setting.
- If you print from a browser, use the browser's print preview and set scale to 100%, margins to None or Default as the preview suggests, and headers and footers off. Chrome's help describes opening the print dialog with Ctrl+P (or ⌘+P on a Mac) and changing the print settings before you click Print.
- Print one slip, check that nothing is cut off at the edges, and then print the batch.
Layout tips
- Leave at least a quarter inch (about 6 mm) of margin; many printers cannot print to the edge.
- Use 10–11 pt text for item lines on paper and larger on 4 × 6 in if you can fit it.
- Put the order number at the top, where it is visible in a stack.
- Decide whether to show prices. Many sellers leave them off because gifts are common. That is your call.
Sliploom offers Letter or A4 (one or two per page) and 4 × 6 in layouts, clamps item names to two lines and continues long orders onto more slips ("Page 1 of 3"). Whichever tool you use, test with a long order before a busy day.
Sources
- Adobe, "Adjust page size for printing PDFs in Acrobat": https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/print-documents/set-up-and-print-pdfs/page-size.html (read 2026-10-28 as a search-index excerpt)
- Google Chrome Help, "Print from Chrome": https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1069693 (read 2026-10-28)
Related tool: Sliploom. Estimates and guidance only; check the source documents before relying on a figure.