How to print and trim your resume to 8x10
By MTResume. Last reviewed .
A headshot is 8x10 inches, and the resume on its back has to be the same size. Home printers and copy shops use US Letter paper, 8.5x11, so a resume printed on Letter sticks out past the photo on two sides unless you cut it down. That is the one step most first resumes get wrong, and it takes about two minutes.
No account or payment needed. A new resume starts blank.
1. Pick the file for where you are printing
- At home or at a copy shop: print the Letter file with trim marks. It holds your 8x10 page at its exact size on a Letter sheet, with short lines at each corner showing where to cut.
- At a print shop that prints headshots, or on 8x10 paper: use the 8x10 PDF. It is already the size of the headshot, so nothing is scaled and nothing needs trimming.
- Uploading it to a college application or a casting site: upload the 8x10 PDF. There is nothing to cut.
In MTResume both files are free: Download PDF makes the 8x10 file, and Letter + trim marks makes the other.
2. Print at 100%, not “Fit to page”
In the print dialog, choose Actual Size or a scale of 100%. “Fit to page” shrinks the page to fill the paper, so your 8x10 comes out smaller than the headshot and the trim marks no longer frame it. If your printer offers “borderless”, leave it off. Print one copy and check it before you print twenty.
3. Trim it to 8x10
Cut along the lines the trim marks point to: first the long sides, then the short ones. A paper trimmer gives the straightest edge; a metal ruler and a craft knife on a cutting mat work too. Scissors wander, so save them for a last resort. Then lay the resume on the back of your headshot: the edges should match on all four sides.
4. Attach it to the back of the headshot
The photo faces out and the resume faces out on the back, both the right way up. Sources disagree about where the staples go, so if a school or audition notice says, do what it says:
- Acting Studio Chicago: “Staple all 4 corners with the flat side of the staple on the headshot & prongs on the resume.”
- MacTheatre: staple it “at the center top and bottom, being careful not to staple over any of your text.”
Both agree on one thing: one staple is not enough. “If you staple just a single corner, it is easy for the [resume] to detach from your headshot,” MacTheatre warns.
Questions people ask
Can a print shop print my resume straight onto the back of the photo?
Many can. The catch is that you cannot update it without reprinting the photos. MacTheatre recommends attaching the resume to the back of the headshot “so you can easily make changes”, and your resume changes after every show.
My resume is on Letter paper and I have no trimmer. Can I just fold it?
No. A folded or overhanging page is the first thing a reader notices. If you cannot trim it, ask the copy shop: most will cut a stack to 8x10 for you.
What type size should it be after printing?
The size you set, because you printed at 100%. MTResume never sets body text below 10 point, the minimum the Ohio Northern guidebook gives.
Where do I make the files?
In MTResume, free and with no account needed to start. See how to make an acting resume for everything that goes on the page first.
Where this advice comes from
- Resume Formatting Guidelines, Acting Studio Chicago. One 8x10 page, and staples in all four corners, flat side on the headshot, quoted above.
- Headshots, Resumes, & Social Media, MacTheatre. Cut to fit the 8x10 headshot, staples at the center top and bottom, and why one corner is not enough, quoted above.
- Theatre Resume Guidebook, Ohio Northern University. Format, order of sections, the 10 point minimum, and its list of dos and don'ts, quoted above.