Skip to main content
Many employers expect a one-page resume, or two pages at most. Reactive Resume tells you as soon as your content runs past the pages you planned, and can tighten the design for you until it fits. This guide covers the automatic fit and the changes you can make by hand.

​
Know when content runs over

Your layout has a set number of pages (one, unless you add more; see Arranging the layout). When the content needs more than that, three things show it:
  • A warning above the first page identifies the first planned page that spills, for example “Page 1 runs over by about 6 lines”, next to a Fit to one page button. When sections spill off the last page, an Add page 2 button sits beside it. If that page needs several extra sheets, the warning shows the total, for example “Runs to 6 pages”.
  • A dashed amber line with the page number marks each spill page, including spills between planned pages. For example, planned pages 1 and 2 can spill onto printed pages 2 and 4; printed page 5 can still be a planned page.
  • The zoom bar at the bottom of the page shows the total number of pages.
Above the fictional resume, Page 1 runs over by about 12 lines appears beside Fit to 3 pages

Overflow warning with the automatic Fit action

Fictional resume at the dashed amber boundary marking the extra Page 4

An extra page begins at the dashed amber marker

Zoom bar showing minus, Fit, plus and 4 pages

Zoom controls and actual page count

The Fit button in the zoom bar (it shows a percentage after you zoom in or out) only zooms the page to fit your screen. It doesn’t change your resume.

​
Fit it automatically

Select Fit to one page in the warning (it reads Fit to 2 pages, Fit to 3 pages and so on when your layout has more pages). Reactive Resume tightens the design one step at a time and checks the result after each step:
  1. Density: Roomy, then Normal, then Compact.
  2. Margins: Wide, then Normal, then Narrow.
  3. Text size: half a point smaller each time, never below 9 pt.
If your density or margins are exact values from Advanced rather than one of the presets, Fit goes straight to Compact or Narrow for that step. It stops as soon as everything fits and tells you what it changed, for example “Fits on one page: Compact, narrow margins, 10 pt”. Select Undo in that message, or press ⌘ Z (Ctrl Z on Windows and Linux), to reverse the whole fit in one step. If the content still doesn’t fit at 9 pt, Fit puts the design back as it was and says so (“Couldn’t fit on one page, even at 9 pt, so the design is back as it was. Add a page or shorten entries.”). Select Add page 2 in that message to plan a second page, or trim the content itself. In the mobile app, Fit leaves the design unchanged in that case and the Page tab shows the same message.

​
Add a page instead

When two pages are fine, select Add page 2 in the warning (Add page 3 and so on when your layout already has more pages). Reactive Resume adds a page after the last one and moves the sections that spill onto it, each in the column it was in. If no section starts on the extra page, it moves the one that runs across the break. It’s one step: select Undo in the message to take it back. The button appears only when there’s a section to move. If one long section is all the page holds, shorten it, or split it across pages yourself in Design → Page → Pages and sections.

​
Tighten the design yourself

You can make the same changes by hand in Design, and go further in Advanced: See Customizing typography and Choosing paper size, margins and language for details.

​
Trim or rearrange the content

Design changes only go so far. A resume that fits because its content is focused reads better than one squeezed into small type.
  • Shorten entries. Cut filler words, keep measurable results, and aim for three to five bullet points per job.
  • Hide what doesn’t help. Hide older or less relevant entries and sections from the page without deleting them; see Editing entries and Managing sections.
  • Put short sections in columns. Skills, languages and interests take less height in two or three columns; see Arranging the layout.
  • Plan a second page. If two pages are acceptable, add a page and move less important sections onto it, so page one holds your strongest material. Add page 2 does this for the sections that spill; Design → Page → Pages and sections lets you choose which ones move. The warning then counts two planned pages.
If your resume will only be read on screen, the Free-form paper format makes each page as tall as its content, so nothing ever runs over. See Choosing paper size, margins and language.