Have you ever needed to print your PowerPoint slides on legal paper but struggled to properly size them? I know I have! Legal paper, which measures 8.5 x 14 inches, provides extra space that can be useful for some presentations. However, PowerPoint’s default slide size is set for standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the easy process of resizing your PowerPoint 2013 slides to fit legal paper. Whether you want to print handouts, notes, or outlines, properly sizing your slides ensures all your content will fit and print correctly. Let’s get started!

Why Use Legal Paper?

Here are some of the benefits of legal paper:

Provides around 30% more space than standard paper
Great for presentations with a lot of text and images
Allows your slides to stand out from standard sizes

Legal paper is easy to find at office supply stores

Keep in mind legal paper may not work with some older printers. But most modern printers have no problem handling the larger size.

Access PowerPoint’s Slide Size Options

Resizing your slides is simple thanks to PowerPoint’s handy customization features:

Open your PowerPoint presentation
Select the Design tab
Click Slide Size in the Customize section

Choose Custom Slide Size

This opens the Slide Size dialog box where you can enter precise dimensions for slide width and height.

Set Slide Width and Height

In the Slide Size dialog box:

Width – enter 8.5 inches
Height – enter 14 inches
Set orientation to Landscape

Click OK

That’s it! PowerPoint will now resize all the slides in your presentation to fit legal paper.

Scale Existing Content to Fit

After you click OK, another dialog box appears asking how you want to scale existing content to fit the new slide size. You have two options:

Maximize – enlarges content to fill the new slide size. Text and images may get cut off if they overflow.
Ensure Fit – shrinks content proportionally to fit inside the new slide size.

I normally choose Ensure Fit first to see how my existing slides are impacted. If the text gets too small, I then redo the resizing using Maximize.

Preview and Print Your Slides

The last step is previewing your newly resized slides:

Select the View tab
Click Print Layout to see how your slides will look when printed

Make any final tweaks if needed
When you’re ready, click File > Print to send your slides to the printer!

More Handy PowerPoint Tips

Along with custom slide sizes, there are lots of other PowerPoint features that can help boost your presentation superpowers:

Save custom themes and templates to reuse for new decks
Add slide numbers, headers and footers
Use slide masters for quick global changes

Insert videos, photos, charts and shapes
Animate text and graphics
Morph images from one to another

Draw with digital ink
Add presenter notes only you can see

Now that you know how to resize slides for legal paper, you have one more trick to enhance your PowerPoint skills. Refer back to this guide anytime you need to customize your slide dimensions for a specific printing or display need. PowerPoint makes it easy to get the perfect fit!