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Print Scaling

Overview

One of the most important things when printing sight tapes is to ensure that the tape is printed to the correct scale.

PDF documents downloaded from Precision Cut Archery are scaled exactly right. We simply need to ensure they are printed at this size.

We always want to make sure to set a custom scale of 100% while printing, and make sure it is not set to 'scale-to-fit' or 'fit-to-page'.

Tip

If you plan to print on fancy label paper, we recommend printing a 'Default' sight tapes page first to ensure the scaling is correct.

Then, use the Custom Position printing method to print a single tape on the label paper. This way, you can fit many tapes on a single sheet of label paper over time.

What This Looks Like

The exact steps will vary depending on the PDF application you are using. Here are some examples:

Google Chrome:

Preview:

Safari:

Firefox:

Adobe Acrobat Reader:

I don't see this option when printing from my phone!

This is a common issue. Phones usually do not allow you to set a custom scale when printing.

Some printers seem to print documents at 100% scale by default, and some do not.

If yours does not, see this section for a solution!

Verifying the Scale of a Printout

There are a few ways to verify that the scale of the printout is exactly correct.

1) Utilize the 'Scale Check' at the bottom of the printout. A credit card should fit exactly in side the outline, and the 1" lines should measure exactly 1" long.

2) Measure the length of the sight tape. From inside-border to inside-border, it should measure exactly the length the sight tape is configured for.

Troubleshooting

99.9% of the time, printing at a custom scale of 100% produces tapes that are sized exactly right on the printout.

However, every now and then we see something weird.

Here are a couple of things to try:

  1. Try printing from a different PDF application

  2. Poke around your printer's settings to see if there are any extra 'scaling' settings or options

  3. Try a different printer

  4. Try a different computer

  5. Try updating your printer's firmware

  6. Try updating your printer's drivers installed on your computer

  7. See below for a solution!

No matter what I do, the scale is not correct!

We have an option to slightly adjust the scaling of our PDF documents. This is also helpful when printing from a phone or tablet, as they often do not allow you to set a custom scale when printing.

Click on the "Advanced options" button on the print form.

Here you can enter a scale modifier percentage. Values between 95 and 105 are accepted.

  • Entering 98% will make the printout 2% smaller.
  • Entering 102% will make the printout 2% larger.

For example, let's say the 1" lines on the scale checker are measuring 0.965". You'd enter 103.5% in the scale modifier to make the PDF document 3.5% larger on the next printout.