# Selecting the right page format

> Choose between A4, Letter and Free-form pages for your resume and see how each one affects the PDF.

The page format sets the size of your resume's pages in the preview and in the exported PDF. Hiresweep has three: **A4**, **Letter** and **Free-form**. New resumes start on A4.

## Change the format

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Page group">
    In the builder, select the **Design** tab of the Edit panel and scroll to **Page**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Choose a format">
    Open **Format** and choose **A4**, **Letter** or **Free-form**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Check the preview">
    The preview updates at once. Check where the pages now break.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You can switch formats at any time. Your content stays the same; only the page size changes.

## The formats

| Format | Size | Use it when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **A4** | 210 × 297 mm | You apply outside North America, or the employer expects A4. |
| **Letter** | 216 × 279 mm (8.5 × 11 in) | You apply in the United States or Canada. |
| **Free-form** | 210 mm wide, height grows with your content | The resume will only be read on screen. |

### Free-form

Free-form keeps the A4 width but drops the fixed height. Each page in your [layout](https://docs.hiresweep.com/guides/designing-your-resume#layout) becomes one long page that grows to fit its content, and is never shorter than an A4 page. With a single layout page, the PDF is one continuous page with no page breaks.

Applicant tracking systems read the text in a PDF, not its page size, so a Free-form resume parses the same way as an A4 or Letter one. Choose A4 or Letter instead when someone may print the resume, or when a job posting asks for a set number of pages.

<Warning>
  When you switch from Free-form to A4 or Letter, content that no longer fits continues on an extra page. Check the
  page breaks before you export. See [Fitting content on a page](https://docs.hiresweep.com/guides/fitting-content-on-a-page).
</Warning>

## Which format to pick

| Situation | Format |
| --- | --- |
| Applying in the United States or Canada | Letter |
| Applying elsewhere | A4 |
| Read on screen only, no page limit | Free-form |
| Someone may print it | A4 or Letter |
| The posting asks for a one-page resume | A4 or Letter, kept to one page |

## Example PDFs

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="A4 example" icon="file-pdf" href="https://github.com/user-attachments/files/24849548/a4.pdf">
    A sample resume on A4 pages, with normal page breaks.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Free-form example" icon="file-lines" href="https://github.com/user-attachments/files/24849552/free-form.pdf">
    The same kind of resume as one continuous page.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does Free-form work with applicant tracking systems?">
    Yes. They read the text of the PDF, not the page dimensions.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="Does the format change the DOCX or JSON export?">
    The DOCX export uses Letter pages when the format is Letter and A4 pages otherwise, including for Free-form. The
    JSON backup stores the format, so it comes back when you import the file.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="What if a posting asks for a one-page resume?">
    Use A4 or Letter and make sure everything fits on page 1. The label above each page in the preview, for example
    **Page 1 of 2**, shows how many pages the resume has. See [Fitting content on a page](https://docs.hiresweep.com/guides/fitting-content-on-a-page).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>