Printable periodic table PDF
Download a free periodic table PDF, or build your own below. Choose colour or black and white, the standard or the wide layout, and which details to show. The preview is exactly what you get, and you can download it as a PDF or print it straight away. No sign-up, and nothing leaves your device.
Preview. The PDF is a vector file, so it stays sharp when printed or enlarged. Scroll sideways on a phone.
Guide
How to use the printable periodic table
- 1
Pick a starting point
Tap a preset (Complete colour, Ink saver, Black & white, Quiz or Blank worksheet), or start from the default and change what you like.
- 2
Fine-tune it
Switch between the standard and wide layout, choose the paper size, and turn on or off the number, symbol, name, mass, group and period labels, the legend and the title.
- 3
Download or print
Every PDF follows the layout of the interactive table, includes a “how to read a tile” key and a QR code that opens the interactive version. Download PDF saves a sharp vector file. Print opens your browser’s print dialog with the same table, already set to landscape.
How to read a tile
Every element is a tile with the same layout, so you can scan the whole table quickly.
Rows are periods (1–7) and columns are groups (1–18); the numbers sit outside the table. Masses in [brackets] are the mass number of the element’s longest-lived isotope.
In the colour versions the symbol’s colour shows the state at room temperature: black for solids, blue for liquids (bromine and mercury), red for gases and grey where it is not yet known. Turn on Electron shells to print the electrons in each shell down the edge of a tile.
Category letters (black & white)
In the black and white version each tile carries a letter, so you can still tell the categories apart on a monochrome printout.
- Alkali metal
- Alkaline earth metal
- Transition metal
- Post-transition metal
- Metalloid
- Reactive nonmetal
- Halogen
- Noble gas
- Lanthanide
- Actinide
Which version should I choose?
- Standard, colour
- Everyday study sheet or wall chart. The familiar 18-column shape with the f-block underneath, symbols coloured by state of matter.
- Detailed
- Adds the electrons in each shell and a category letter on every tile. Good for chemistry courses.
- Wide
- One unbroken table with the lanthanides and actinides in place, with the category legend above the transition metals. Best for seeing the true order of the elements. On a banner size it fills a 3.9:1 strip.
- Ink saver
- Coloured outlines instead of filled tiles. Uses far less ink and still reads by category.
- Black & white
- For monochrome printers and photocopies. A letter in each corner shows the category, so no information is lost.
- Quiz and worksheet
- Hide names, symbols and masses so students fill them in from the atomic number or from memory.
Print it right
- The Print button sends the PDF itself to your printer, so the logo, QR code and footer are always on the sheet. In the print dialog, keep the paper size you chose, landscape, and Fit to page or 100%.
- Choose Fit to page or Actual size (100%) rather than a smaller custom scale, so the table fills the sheet.
- For the sharpest result, download the PDF and print it from your PDF viewer rather than from the browser.
- Short of ink? Use the Ink saver style. Printing in greyscale? Use Black & white.
- For a poster, have the PDF printed at a print shop on A3 or larger. The table is vector, so it stays crisp.
Ideas for classrooms and study
- Hide the names and ask students to write each one from its symbol, then swap papers to mark them.
- Print the blank worksheet and have students build the table themselves from a list of elements.
- Outline every category in a different marker on the Ink saver or Black & white version.
- Keep only atomic numbers and trace trends such as electronegativity or atomic radius with arrows.
- Print the masses for stoichiometry homework, then check formulas with the molar mass calculator.
- Use the wide version as a poster strip above a whiteboard.
Ready-made
Download a periodic table PDF
Eight free files: six for everyday printing (four on A4, an A4-width wide strip and an A2 wide banner) and two print-shop files on A3 and A2. Need US Letter or a different combination? Use the customiser above.
Periodic table PDF
The complete table in colour, with names, symbols, masses, groups, periods and a legend.
Download PDF · 86 KBDetailed periodic table PDF
Adds electrons per shell and a category letter on every tile.
Download PDF · 133 KBWide periodic table PDF
All 118 elements in one continuous 297 × 77 mm strip, with the lanthanides and actinides inline and the title across the top. Fits the width of an A4 sheet.
Download PDF · 83 KBWide banner PDF, A2 strip
All 118 elements in one continuous 594 × 153 mm strip, with electron shells and category letters. Print at a copy shop.
Download PDF · 133 KBBlack & white periodic table PDF
Prints cleanly on any printer. Letters in each corner show the element category.
Download PDF · 92 KBBlank periodic table worksheet
Only the atomic numbers. Students fill in the symbols, names and masses.
Download PDF · 55 KBPrint-shop PDF, A3
For professional printing: PDF/X-1a structure, CMYK colours, embedded fonts, 3 mm bleed and crop marks.
Download PDF · 563 KBPrint-shop poster PDF, A2
The same print-shop file at poster size, readable from across a classroom.
Download PDF · 565 KB
For teachers
Share it with your class
Save a printable to Pinterest, post this page to Google Classroom or email it to a colleague. The PDFs may be printed, copied and handed out unchanged for classroom use.
FAQ
Printable periodic table questions
Is there a free printable periodic table PDF?
Yes. Download one of the ready-made PDFs on this page, or use the customiser to choose exactly what appears on the table and download your own PDF. Everything is free, with no sign-up.
Can I print the periodic table in black and white?
Yes. Choose the Black & white style, or the Ink saver style, which uses coloured outlines instead of filled tiles. In black and white, a letter in the corner of each tile shows its category, so no information is lost on a monochrome printer.
What is the difference between the standard and the wide periodic table?
The standard table is 18 columns wide and shows the lanthanides and actinides in two rows underneath. The wide table places them inline in periods 6 and 7, making one continuous table 32 columns wide with no gaps.
How do I make a blank periodic table for a quiz or worksheet?
Pick the Quiz preset to hide element names, or the Blank worksheet preset to hide names, symbols and masses so only atomic numbers remain. Then download or print it.
Which paper sizes are supported?
The standard layout comes in A4, US Letter, A3 and A2, all in landscape. The wide layout comes as 3.9:1 banner strips in A4, A3 and A2 widths. The table is drawn as a vector, so it stays sharp at any size, which makes the larger sizes suitable for classroom posters.
What is the print-shop PDF?
It is a version prepared for professional printers: colours are converted to CMYK, the fonts are embedded in the file, the page has a 3 mm bleed area and crop marks, and the table stays inside a 5 mm safe margin. It is also marked as PDF/X-1a:2001 with a FOGRA39 output condition, the structure most print shops ask for. Ask your printer which output condition they use if it is not FOGRA39. Send it to a print shop for posters or large runs. For an ordinary office printer, use the standard PDF instead, since the crop marks and extra margin are not needed.
Is the periodic table PDF in HD?
Yes. Every periodic table PDF on this page is a vector file, not a photo, so it has no fixed resolution. It stays sharp when you zoom in on a phone, show it on a projector or print it as an A2 poster.
Can I use this periodic table for GCSE, IGCSE or A level revision?
Yes. The PDF shows all 118 elements with names, symbols, atomic numbers and atomic masses, which covers GCSE, IGCSE and A level chemistry. AQA, OCR and Cambridge each print their own periodic table in the exam, with rounded masses and their own tile layout, so check your board's copy as well before the exam.
Prefer to explore on screen? Open the interactive periodic table, the list of elements or test yourself with the element quiz.