A PDF where text is cut off at the edges — the right side of lines disappear, words are missing at the bottom, or content runs off the page — looks like a conversion error. Most of the time it isn't. The text was always there; what changed is the relationship between the content area and the page boundaries. There are a few specific causes, each with a direct fix.
Cause 1: Page Size Mismatch
The most common cause: the document was created for one page size (A4) but is being viewed or printed at another (Letter), or vice versa. A4 is slightly taller and narrower than Letter. Content designed to fit an A4 page may have lines that extend beyond the width of a Letter page, resulting in text cut off on the right edge.
Check this in Adobe Reader: File > Properties > Description — the page size is listed. If it doesn't match what your printer expects, the printing dialog's "Fit" or "Shrink to fit" option scales the content down to fit the paper. Enable this before printing. For a permanent fix, re-export the document from the source application at the correct page size.
Cause 2: Content Outside the Printable Area
Every printer has a minimum margin — an unprintable border around the page edge where the paper feed mechanism holds the sheet. Content positioned within this border is cut off in print even though it displays correctly on screen. A PDF designed with very narrow margins (5mm or less) will lose content at the edges when printed on most consumer printers.
The fix for printing: in the print dialog, enable "Fit" or "Scale to fit" to reduce the content slightly so it falls within the printable area. The fix in the source document: increase margins to at least 12-15mm on all sides, which is safely inside the printable area of virtually all printers. Re-export to PDF after adjusting margins.
Cause 3: PDF Crop Box Is Hiding Content
PDFs have multiple page boundary boxes — MediaBox, CropBox, BleedBox, TrimBox. The CropBox defines what's displayed by viewers; content outside it is hidden but still in the file. If someone set the CropBox incorrectly — too small, offset to the side — content that exists in the file appears cut off because the viewer is only showing the cropped region.
In Adobe Acrobat Pro, go to Tools > Edit PDF > Crop Pages. The crop dialog shows all page boxes and lets you reset the CropBox to match the MediaBox — restoring the full page view. If the content was always there but wasn't visible, resetting the crop box reveals it immediately.
Cause 4: Text Overflow From the Source Document
Sometimes the text was genuinely cut off in the source document — a text box in Word or PowerPoint with content that extended beyond its visible area, or a table column that was too narrow for its content. The PDF faithfully reproduces what the source document defined, including the truncated text.
To check this: open the source file and look for red markers or overflow indicators on text boxes. In Word, a text box with more content than it can display shows a small indicator at the bottom edge. In PowerPoint, an overflow indicator appears when text extends beyond a placeholder. Fix the text box size or reduce the font size, then re-export the PDF.
Cause 5: Font Substitution Changing Line Lengths
When a PDF doesn't embed its fonts, viewers substitute available alternatives. Substituted fonts have different character widths — the same text in a different font takes more or less horizontal space. A line that fit within the page width in the original font may extend beyond the margin with the substituted font, causing text to appear cut off.
Check File > Properties > Fonts in Adobe Reader. If any fonts show as "Not Embedded," font substitution is occurring. Re-export from the source document with font embedding enabled — the PDF Fonts will be included in the file and every viewer will display them correctly without substitution.
Quick Diagnosis Path
Check page size in File > Properties — mismatch with printer paper is the most common cause → enable Fit in print dialog as an immediate workaround → check font embedding to rule out substitution → if still cut off on screen (not just in print), check the CropBox in Acrobat Pro → if the source document is available, open it and look for text overflow indicators. Most PDF Printing cut-off issues resolve by enabling Fit in the print dialog and separately fixing the source document's margins for future exports.