How to Print

Every worksheet on Pencil Camp is a one page PDF in portrait, sized for US Letter. It prints on A4 as well with one setting changed. Here is how to get a clean sheet the first time.

Step by step

1. On any worksheet page, click a card or the "Download PDF" button. The file downloads straight away, with no sign-up.
2. Open the PDF and press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
3. Pick the paper that is in your tray. On US Letter, print at 100% or "Actual size". On A4, choose "Fit to page": the sheet shrinks very slightly and nothing is cut off.
4. Keep the orientation on portrait. If the printer picks landscape by itself, the page is rotated and shrunk.
5. Leave the margins on the default setting. Every sheet already has a white border inside the page edge.

Which settings suit which sheet

• Trace and draw sheets print the drawing very faintly so a pencil line shows on top. Draft or ink saving modes can make it disappear, so use normal quality for these.
• Step sheets and finish the drawing sheets show the newest lines in red. In black and white the red turns dark grey and still stands out against the pale dashed guides.
• Grid sheets only work if the cells stay square. Do not use "Fill page" or a custom zoom that stretches one direction more than the other.
• Prompt cards last longer on thin card, about 160 to 200 g/m², if your printer takes it.

Paper

• Ordinary copy paper, 75 to 90 g/m², is right for almost everything. Pencil grips it and the guide shapes rub out cleanly.
• Use slightly heavier paper, 100 to 120 g/m², if children will colour in with felt tips, which can bleed through thin sheets.
• Avoid glossy photo paper. Pencil slides on it and erasers smear.

Something looks wrong?

A cut off edge almost always means the scaling or the paper size does not match the tray. A blank left half on a tracing sheet means draft mode. If neither fixes it, tell us which sheet it was and which printer you used.

Last updated: October 2026.