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Legal Printer Test Page
8.5 × 14 inches — 215.9 × 355.6 mm. Shares Letter’s width but runs 56 mm longer, which makes it the right size for testing feed consistency across a long sheet.
Set scaling to 100%. Choose Actual Size in the print dialog, never Fit to page — scaling distorts every measurement on this sheet. The Download PDF button hands you that same sheet as a ready-made file, so there is no scaling decision to get wrong.
How to print the Legal Printer Test Page
- Load plain white Legal stock and do not overfill the tray.
- Choose Legal in the paper size control.
- Set Actual Size or 100% in the print dialog.
- Print at Best or High quality.
- Compare the top third against the bottom third of the sheet.
- If the far end skews, repeat once with fewer sheets in the tray.
Reading the result
| The page fills the whole long sheet evenly | Legal is selected and scaling is at 100%. The extra length is available for feed testing. |
| Content stops part way down with white below | Letter artwork on Legal paper. Nothing is wrong with the printer — the wrong page was printed. |
| The sheet prints at Letter length | The driver silently resized the job because Legal was not selected. Choose Legal explicitly. |
| Marks near the trailing edge are skewed | Feed consistency drops over long sheets. Check the tray is not overfilled and the guides sit against the stack. |
| Top and bottom margins differ noticeably | The sheet entered the feed at an angle. Straighten the stack, fan the pages, and reprint. |
Also check
- Alignment page — The extra length makes Legal the clearest sheet for feed skew, since any angle error grows the further the sheet travels.
- Nozzle check — Confirms ink delivery independently of the feed test, so a long-sheet problem is not mistaken for a clog.
- Gradient and banding page — Compare the leading and trailing thirds: a difference between them points at the paper path rather than the nozzles.
Related test pages
- Paper sizes printer test page — A test page only measures your printer if the sheet matches the paper in the tray. Choose the size you actually load and the geometry on the page stays true.
- Nozzle Check printer test page — A nozzle check is the fastest way to find out whether an inkjet printhead has clogged nozzles. Print this page and read the gaps.
- Alignment printer test page — If lines that should be straight come out crooked, or text looks doubled, the printhead is out of alignment. This sheet measures it.
Frequently asked questions
Why test on legal paper at all?
Because a long sheet exposes feed problems that a short one hides. Ink lay-down is identical along the length, so if detail at the trailing edge differs from the leading edge, the paper path is varying rather than the nozzles.
Why does my printer refuse legal size?
Compact and photo printers often have no physical path for a 14-inch sheet. When the driver finds no legal path it resizes the job instead of failing loudly. Check the paper guide settings on the device itself before blaming the driver.
Is legal paper still used?
Mainly for contracts and long documents in the United States. Outside that use it is uncommon, and many printers outside North America do not offer it at all — Letter and A4 cover almost everything.
How far down a legal sheet is the paper path actually tested?
All the way to the trailing edge, which is exactly why the longer format is worth using at all. The pattern is drawn to the full 355.6 mm, so the last few centimetres pass through the feed rollers long after the sheet first entered the printer. If detail near the bottom differs from detail near the top while the leading edge is perfect, the paper path is varying rather than the nozzles. Reduce the stack height, fan the sheets before loading so they do not stick together, and reprint once before concluding anything. Consistency across the whole length is a stronger signal than a single spot check.
Can I use legal stock for everyday nozzle checks?
You can, but it is wasteful. A nozzle check only needs the top few centimetres of a sheet, and the rest of a legal page exists purely to exercise the feed path over distance. Run routine checks on A5 or A4 to save stock, then print a full legal sheet once a week or whenever you suspect the paper path — the value of the long format is continuity from leading edge to trailing edge, which a short sheet simply cannot provide. Keep a few sheets of legal on hand for that specific test rather than using them for daily checks.