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Print only certain pages of a PDF: pick a page range

Published 2026-10-30 · How-to

Most documents are printed because one or two pages matter: the final invoice page, the signature page, a single table, the cover. Printing the whole file wastes paper, ink and time, yet this is exactly what most people do. Every PDF viewer and printer dialog lets you print only the pages you need. Here is how that works and how to get the exact pages you want.

Find the Pages field in the print dialog

When you open the print dialog, look for a section labelled Pages or Page range. It usually sits near the top with the printer and copy count. By default it is set to All, which is why a 40 page document prints all 40 pages. Switching it to a range or to specific page numbers is all it takes to print a fraction of the file, and it is identical across Adobe, Preview, Chrome and most apps because it is handled by the operating system printer dialog.

Print a contiguous range

For a block of pages, type the first and last page separated by a dash, for example 3-7 to print pages three through seven. This is the fastest way to print one chapter, one section or the middle of a report. The file itself is untouched, so you can print a different range tomorrow from the same document.

Print several separate pages

If the pages you need are not consecutive, list them separated by commas, for instance 2,5,9 to print only those three. You can combine a range and single pages in one field too, like 1,4-6,12. This is ideal when you need the cover, a middle section and the last page but nothing else.

When the PDF makes this harder

A few documents fight back. If each of your required pages is actually a different physical sheet within the file, you may need to split or rearrange first. The Split PDF tool can pull a page or a range out into its own file, and if pages are in the wrong order the remove and reorder pages tool or rotate PDF fixes orientation before you print. Doing the cleanup once means you can print the same set tomorrow without re-entering ranges. Some apps also let you filter odd or even pages, which prints either half of a double-sided file in one pass.

Combine with the other printing tricks

Page ranges combine cleanly with other money-saving options. Put multiple pages per sheet to read drafts on one page, or go borderless for a clean full-bleed final. Keep an eye on print resolution so you do not print more detail than the paper needs. Choose the range first, then apply the layout option to the pages you actually want.

Shrink what you print from

Printing a range is a habit that also lowers file sizes later. If you only ever need a few pages of a document, consider producing a smaller PDF that contains just those pages using Compress PDF and Split PDF, so the version you share or print is already small and clean instead of a slice of a huge file.