How To Change the Default Margins For Printed Pages on Mac OS X

Now that I have a new Mac, I can finally show how to adjust the printer margins. One of the nice things with Mac OS X is that all three browsers that I tested (Safari, Firefox and Opera) have the exact same settings for adjusting the margins of printed pages. Also, once you add this new "No Margins" setting in one browser on your Mac, it will be available not only for all the browsers you may have installed, it will also be available for any other applications on your Mac! Very handy huh :)

Step 1

To begin, go to File -> Page Setup... (File -> Print... on Safari 3) (or click Command p), in the drop down list next to 'Paper Size' choose 'Manage Custom Sizes'. Here's a screenshot to show you the steps:

Osx Custom Sizes

Step 2 - Add A Custom Page Size

In this window, click the plus sign, rename (double click on it to be able to edit the name) the new custom print setting from the default 'untitled' to something more memorable and descriptive like 'No Margins'.

Osx Custom Page Sizes

Step 3 - Remove Margins

Then simply type a zero into the top, right, bottom and left spaces like in the screenshot below. If your printer doesn't like taking a zero, try a small margin like .5, each brand is different so your results may vary. That said, mine takes a zero margin but will leave a very tiny bit around the edges anyway.

Osx Adjusted Margins

Step 4 - Going to print:

When you need to print something without margins (a large image for example), go back to Print... ( Command p) and switch paper size to 'No Margins' (or whatever you'd called your custom page setting). When you'd like to have the defaults back, just change the dropbox to showing US Letter (or the default print setting if it's different in your case).

Osx Final Printing

A note about Safari 2 & printing the images here at Mint Printables

I noticed Safari 2 has an odd idea that for each printable it really needs 3 pages, while it's a bit annoying, the 2 pages that aren't needed remain blank so at least you can reuse them. Sorry, I hope to find out why this is happening and correct it. If anyone knows a cure, please let me know.