Selecting the right page format

Reactive Resume has three page formats: A4, Letter, and Free-Form. The format you pick changes how your resume is rendered and exported as a PDF.

Available formats

A4

A4 is the international standard paper size used in most countries outside North America. When you select A4, your resume pages conform to these dimensions:

Property	Value
Width	210mm (794px)
Height	297mm (1123px)

Choose A4 if you're applying to jobs internationally or in regions that use the metric system.

Letter

Letter is the standard paper size in the United States and Canada. When you select Letter, your resume pages conform to these dimensions:

Property	Value
Width	216mm (816px)
Height	279mm (1056px)

Choose Letter if you're applying to jobs in North America.

Free-Form

Free-Form is built for resumes that are only read on a screen. Instead of matching a physical page size, it produces a single continuous page with no height limit. The width matches A4 (210mm), and the height extends to fit all your content.

Property	Value
Width	210mm (794px)
Height	Unlimited

<Info> With Free-Form, there are no page breaks. Your resume renders as one continuous document, no matter how much content you have. </Info>

Why Free-Form exists

Most resumes are never printed. Yours is almost always read digitally: on a screen, in an applicant tracking system (ATS), or by an AI screening tool.

When your resume is processed digitally:

• ATS parsers extract the text regardless of page dimensions
• AI scanners analyze the full document as a single unit
• Recruiters scroll through PDFs on their screens rather than printing them
• PDF parsing tools read the whole file regardless of page height

Since physical page limits no longer apply in those cases, Free-Form lets you focus on the content instead of fitting it into a fixed page height.

<Tip> If you don't plan on printing your resume, Free-Form is usually the simplest choice. Nothing overflows, and there are no awkward page breaks. </Tip>

How to change your page format

<Steps> <Step title="Open your resume in the builder"> Navigate to your Dashboard and click on the resume you want to edit. </Step> <Step title="Open the right sidebar"> The sidebar sits on the right edge of the resume builder. </Step> <Step title="Navigate to the Page section"> In the right sidebar, find and click on the **Page** section to expand it. </Step> <Step title="Select your format"> Find the **Format** dropdown and select your preferred option: A4, Letter, or Free-Form. </Step> <Step title="Review the preview"> Your resume preview updates immediately to reflect the new format. Check that your content displays correctly. </Step> </Steps>

Choosing the right format

Situation	Recommended Format
Applying to jobs in North America	Letter
Applying to jobs internationally	A4
Digital-only applications (no printing)	Free-Form
Uploading to ATS or job portals	Free-Form
Need to print physical copies	A4 or Letter
Long resume with lots of content	Free-Form
Traditional industries (law, finance)	A4 or Letter

<Warning> If you switch from Free-Form to A4 or Letter, your content is split across multiple pages. Review the result and check that the page breaks don't fall in awkward places. </Warning>

Example PDFs

Download these sample resumes to see how different formats affect the final PDF output:

<CardGroup cols={1}> <Card arrow horizontal title="A4 Format Example" icon="file-pdf" href="https://github.com/user-attachments/files/24849548/a4.pdf" > A sample resume in A4 format showing traditional page breaks and constraints. </Card> <Card arrow horizontal title="Free-Form Example" icon="file-lines" href="https://github.com/user-attachments/files/24849552/free-form.pdf" > A sample resume in Free-Form format showing a continuous single-page layout. </Card> </CardGroup>

Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup> <Accordion title="Does Free-Form work with ATS systems?"> Yes. An ATS parses the text in your PDF, not the page dimensions. Free-Form resumes work with applicant tracking systems. </Accordion> <Accordion title="Can I switch formats after creating my resume?"> Yes. You can change the format at any time from the Page section in the right sidebar. Your content is preserved. Only the layout changes. </Accordion> <Accordion title="What if a job posting asks for a 'one-page resume'?"> If the employer asks for a one-page resume and expects a traditional format, use A4 or Letter and fit your content on a single page. See [Fitting content on a page](/guides/fitting-content-on-a-page) for tips. </Accordion> <Accordion title="Does Free-Form affect the file size?"> Slightly. A longer single page may produce a marginally larger PDF than a paginated version of the same content, but the difference is negligible for typical resume lengths. </Accordion> <Accordion title="Which format should I use for LinkedIn?"> LinkedIn doesn't display uploaded resumes in their original format; it extracts the content. Free-Form works fine for LinkedIn uploads. </Accordion> </AccordionGroup>