Paper size

A size chart illustrating the ISO A series and a comparison with American letter and legal formats.

Comparison of some paper and photographic paper sizes close to the A4 size.

Many paper size standards conventions have existed at different times and in different countries. Today, the A and B series of ISO 216, which includes the popular A4 size, are the international standard used by almost every country. The only exceptions are United States and Canada, where 'Letter' is more prevalent. Paper sizes affect writing paper, stationery, cards, and some printed documents. The international standard for envelopes is the C series of ISO 269.

International paper sizes

The international paper size standard is ISO 216. It is based on the German DIN 476 standard for paper sizes. ISO paper sizes are all based on a single aspect ratio of square root of 2, or approximately 1:1.4142. There are different series, as well as several extensions.

A series

A size chart illustrating the ISO A series.

The base A0 size of paper is defined as having an area of 1 m². Rounded to the nearest millimetre, the A0 paper size is 841 by 1,189 millimetres (33.1 in × 46.8 in).

Successive paper sizes in the series A1, A2, A3, and so forth, are defined by halving the preceding paper size across the larger dimension. This also effectively halves the area of each sheet. The most frequently used paper size is A4 measuring 210 by 297 millimetres (8.27 in × 11.7 in).

The significant advantage of this system is its scaling: if a sheet with an aspect ratio of √2 is divided into two equal halves parallel to its shortest sides, then the halves will again have an aspect ratio of √2. Folded brochures of any size can be made by using sheets of the next larger size, e.g. A4 sheets are folded to make A5 brochures. The system allows scaling without compromising the aspect ratio from one size to another—as provided by office photocopiers, e.g. enlarging A4 to A3 or reducing A3 to A4. Similarly, two sheets of A4 can be scaled down and fit exactly 1 sheet without any cutoff or margins.

The behavior of the aspect ratio is easily proven: on a sheet of paper, let a be the long side and b be the short side; thus, a/b = √2. When the sheet of paper is folded in half widthwise, let c be the length of the new short side: c = a/2. If we take the ratio of the newly folded paper we have:

${\frac {b}{c}}={\frac {b}{\frac {a}{2}}}={\frac {2}{\frac {a}{b}}}={\frac {2}{\sqrt {2}}}={\sqrt {2}}$

Therefore, the aspect ratio is preserved for the new dimensions of the folded paper.

Weights are easy to calculate as well: a standard A4 sheet made from 80 g/m² paper weighs 5 g (as it is  ¹⁄₁₆ of an A0 page, measuring 1 m²), allowing one to easily compute the weight—and associated postage rate—by counting the number of sheets used.

The advantages of basing a paper size upon an aspect ratio of √2 were first noted in 1786 by the German scientist and philosopher Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.^[1] The formats that became A2, A3, B3, B4 and B5 were developed in France on proposition of the mathematician Lazare Carnot and published for judiciary purpose in 1798 during the French Revolution.^[2] Early in the 20th century, Dr Walter Porstmann turned Lichtenberg's idea into a proper system of different paper sizes. Porstmann's system was introduced as a DIN standard (DIN 476) in Germany in 1922, replacing a vast variety of other paper formats. Even today, the paper sizes are called "DIN A4" (IPA: [diːn.ʔaː.fiːɐ̯]) in everyday use in Germany and Austria.

The DIN 476 standard spread quickly to other countries. Before the outbreak of World War II, it had been adopted by the following countries:

Belgium (1924) Netherlands (1925) Norway (1926)

Finland (1927) Switzerland (1929) Sweden (1930)

Soviet Union (1934) Hungary (1938) Italy (1939)

During World War II, the standard was adopted by Uruguay (1942), Argentina (1943) and Brazil (1943), and afterwards spread to other countries:

Spain (1947) Austria (1948) Iran (1948) Romania (1949) Japan (1951) Denmark (1953) Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia) (1953) Israel (1954) Portugal (1954) Yugoslavia (now Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia) (1956) India (1957)

Poland (1957) United Kingdom (1959) Ireland (1959) Venezuela (1962) New Zealand (1963) Iceland (1964) Mexico (1965) South Africa (1966) France (1967) Peru (1967) Turkey (1967)

Chile (1968) Greece (1970) Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) (1970) Singapore (1970) Bangladesh (1972) Thailand (1973) Barbados (1973) Australia (1974) Ecuador (1974) Colombia (1975) Kuwait (1975)

By 1975, so many countries were using the German system that it was established as an ISO standard, as well as the official United Nations document format. By 1977, A4 was the standard letter format in 88 of 148 countries. Today the standard has been adopted by all countries in the world except the United States and Canada. In Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and the Philippines, the US letter format is still in common use, despite their official adoption of the ISO standard.

B series

A size chart illustrating the ISO B series.

In addition to the A series, there is a less common B series. The area of B series sheets is the geometric mean of successive A series sheets. So, B1 is between A0 and A1 in size, with an area of 0.707 m² ( ¹⁄_√2 m²). As a result, B0 is 1 metre wide, and other sizes in the B series are a half, a quarter or further fractions of a metre wide. While less common in office use, it is used for a variety of special situations. Many posters use B-series paper or a close approximation, such as 50 cm × 70 cm; B5 is a relatively common choice for books. The B series is also used for envelopes and passports. The B-series is widely used in the printing industry to describe both paper sizes and printing press sizes, including digital presses. B3 paper is used to print two US letter or A4 pages side by side using imposition; four pages would be printed on B2, eight on B1, etc.

C series

A size chart illustrating the ISO C series.

The C series is usually used for envelopes and is defined in ISO 269. The area of C series sheets is the geometric mean of the areas of the A and B series sheets of the same number; for instance, the area of a C4 sheet is the geometric mean of the areas of an A4 sheet and a B4 sheet. This means that C4 is slightly larger than A4, and slightly smaller than B4. The practical usage of this is that a letter written on A4 paper fits inside a C4 envelope, and C4 paper fits inside a B4 envelope.

Some envelope formats with mixed sides from adjacent sizes (and thus an approximate aspect ratio of 2:1) are also defined in national adaptations of the ISO standard, e.g. DIN C6/C5 is 114 mm × 229 mm where the common side to C5 and C6 is 162 mm.

Overview: ISO paper sizes

ISO paper sizes in portrait view (with rounded inch values)

Format	A series[3]		B series[4]		C series[5]
Size	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in
0	841 × 1189	33.1 × 46.8	1000 × 1414	39.4 × 55.7	917 × 1297	36.1 × 51.1
1	594 × 841	23.4 × 33.1	707 × 1000	27.8 × 39.4	648 × 917	25.5 × 36.1
2	420 × 594	16.5 × 23.4	500 × 707	19.7 × 27.8	458 × 648	18.0 × 25.5
3	297 × 420	11.7 × 16.5	353 × 500	13.9 × 19.7	324 × 458	12.8 × 18.0
4	210 × 297	8.27 × 11.7	250 × 353	9.84 × 13.9	229 × 324	9.02 × 12.8
5	148 × 210	5.83 × 8.27	176 × 250	6.93 × 9.84	162 × 229	6.38 × 9.02
6	105 × 148	4.13 × 5.83	125 × 176	4.92 × 6.93	114 × 162	4.49 × 6.38
7	74 × 105	2.91 × 4.13	88 × 125	3.46 × 4.92	81 × 114	3.19 × 4.49
8	52 × 74	2.05 × 2.91	62 × 88	2.44 × 3.46	57 × 81	2.24 × 3.19
9	37 × 52	1.46 × 2.05	44 × 62	1.73 × 2.44	40 × 57	1.57 × 2.24
10	26 × 37	1.02 × 1.46	31 × 44	1.22 × 1.73	28 × 40	1.10 × 1.57

The tolerances specified in the standard are

• ±1.5 mm (0.06 in) for dimensions up to 150 mm (5.9 in),
• ±2 mm (0.08 in) for lengths in the range 150 to 600 mm (5.9 to 23.6 in) and
• ±3 mm (0.12 in) for any dimension above 600 mm (23.6 in).

German extensions

The German standard DIN 476 was published in 1922 and is the original specification of the A and B sizes. It differs in two details from its international successor:

DIN 476 provides for formats larger than A0, denoted by a prefix factor. In particular, it lists the formats 2A0 and 4A0, which are twice and four times the size of A0 respectively:

DIN 476 overformats

Name	mm × mm	in × in
4A0	1682 × 2378	66.22 × 93.62
2A0	1189 × 1682	46.81 × 66.22

However, ISO 216:2007 notes 2A0 and 4A0 in the table of Main series of trimmed sizes (ISO A series) as well: "The rarely used sizes [2A0 and 4A0] which follow also belong to this series."

DIN 476 also specifies slightly tighter tolerances:

• ±1 mm (0.04 in) for dimensions up to 150 mm (5.9 in),
• ±1.5 mm (0.06 in) for lengths in the range 150 mm to 600 mm (5.9 to 23.6 in) and
• ±2 mm (0.08 in) for any dimension above 600 mm (23.6 in).

Swedish extensions

Comparison of ISO 216 and Swedish standard SIS 014711 paper sizes between A4 and A3 sizes.

The Swedish standard SS 014711^[6] generalized the ISO system of A, B, and C formats by adding D, E, F, and G formats to it. Its D format sits between a B format and the next larger A format (just like C sits between A and the next larger B). The remaining formats fit in between all these formats, such that the sequence of formats A4, E4, C4, G4, B4, F4, D4, H4, A3 is a geometric progression, in which the dimensions grow by a factor ¹⁶√2 from one size to the next. However, the SIS 014711 standard does not define any size between a D format and the next larger A format (called H in the previous example). Of these additional formats, G5 (169 × 239 mm) and E5 (155 × 220 mm) are popular in Sweden and the Netherlands for printing dissertations,^[7] but the other formats have not turned out to be particularly useful in practice and they have not been adopted internationally.

SIS 014711 formulas,^[8] including hypothetical H series, n = 0…9, r = ⁸√2, s =  ¹⁄_√2

Designation	Longer edge	Shorter edge
(Hn)	r^+5½ × s^n	r^+1½ × s^n
Dn	r^+5 × s^n	r^+1 × s^n
Fn	r^+4½ × s^n	r^+½ × s^n
Bn	r^+4 × s^n	r^0 × s^n
Gn	r^+3½ × s^n	r^−½ × s^n
Cn	r^+3 × s^n	r^−1 × s^n
En	r^+2½ × s^n	r^−1½ × s^n
An	r^+2 × s^n	r^−2 × s^n

Japanese B-series variant

The JIS defines two main series of paper sizes. The JIS A-series is identical to the ISO A-series, but with slightly different tolerances. The area of B-series paper is 1.5 times that of the corresponding A-paper (instead of the factor √2 = 1.414... for the ISO B-series), so the length ratio is approximately 1.22 times the length of the corresponding A-series paper. The aspect ratio of the paper is the same as for A-series paper. Both A- and B-series paper is widely available in Japan, Taiwan and China, and most photocopiers are loaded with at least A4 and either one of A3, B4 and B5 paper.

There are also a number of traditional paper sizes, which are now used mostly by printers. The most common of these old series are the Shiroku-ban and the Kiku paper sizes.

JIS paper sizes (plus rounded inch values)

Format	B series		Shiroku ban		Kiku
Size	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in
0	1030 × 1456	40.55 × 57.32
1	728 × 1030	28.66 × 40.55
2	515 × 728	20.28 × 28.66
3	364 × 515	14.33 × 20.28
4	257 × 364	10.12 × 14.33	264 × 379	10.39 × 14.92	227 × 306	8.94 × 12.05
5	182 × 257	7.17 × 10.12	189 × 262	7.44 × 10.31	151 × 227	5.94 × 8.94
6	128 × 182	5.04 × 7.17	127 × 188	5.00 × 7.40
7	91 × 128	3.58 × 5.04
8	64 × 91	2.52 × 3.58
9	45 × 64	1.77 × 2.52
10	32 × 45	1.26 × 1.77
11	22 × 32	0.87 × 1.26
12	16 × 22	0.63 × 0.87

North American paper sizes

Loose sizes

North American paper sizes

Size	in × in	mm × mm	Aspect ratio
Letter	8 ^1⁄2 × 11	216 × 279	1.2941…
Legal	8 ^1⁄2 × 14	216 × 356	1.6470…
Tabloid	11 × 17	279 × 432	1.54
Ledger[9]	17 × 11	432 × 279	0.6470…
Junior Legal	5 × 8	127 × 203	1.6
Half Letter, Memo	5 ^1⁄2 ×  8 ^1⁄2	140 × 216	1.54
Government Letter	8 ×  10 ^1⁄2	203 × 267	1.3125
Government Legal	8 ^1⁄2 × 13	216 × 330	1.5294…

The United States, Canada and Mexico use a different system of paper sizes compared to the rest of the world. The current standard sizes are unique to that continent, although due to the size of the North American market and proliferation of both software and printing hardware from the region, other parts of the world have become increasingly familiar with these sizes (though not necessarily the paper itself). The traditional North American inch-based sizes differ from those described below.

Common loose sizes

Letter, Legal and Ledger/Tabloid are by far the most commonly used of these for everyday activities, and the only ones included in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

The origins of the exact dimensions of Letter size paper (8 ¹⁄₂ in × 11 in or 216 mm × 279 mm) are lost in tradition and not well documented. The American Forest and Paper Association argues that the dimension originates from the days of manual paper making, and that the 11-inch length of the page is about a quarter of "the average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms."^[10] However, this does not explain the width or aspect ratio.

Outside of North America, Letter size may also be known as "American Quarto".^[11] If one accepts some trimming, the size is indeed one quarter of the old Imperial paper size known as Demy, 17 ¹⁄₂ in × 22 ¹⁄₂ in (444 mm × 572 mm).^[12]

Usage and adoption

Colombian inch-based paper sizes

Size	Equivalent	mm × mm	in × in	Ratio
Carta	Letter, ANSI A	216 × 279	8½ × 11	1.2916
Oficio	Government Legal	216 × 330	8½ × 13	1.527
Extra Tabloide	Arch B	305 × 457	12 × 18	1.5

US paper sizes are currently standard in the United States and at least in the Philippines, Colombia and Chile. The latter use US Letter, but their Legal size is 8 ¹⁄₂ in × 13 in (216 mm × 330 mm).^[13]

Mexico and Colombia have adopted the ISO standard, but US Letter format is still the system in use throughout the country. It is virtually impossible to encounter ISO standard papers in day-to-day uses, with "Carta 216 mm × 279 mm" (Letter), "Oficio 216 mm × 340 mm" (Government-Legal) and "Doble carta" (Ledger/Tabloid) being nearly universal. US sizes are also widespread and in common use in Colombia and some other American countries.^[14]

In Canada, US paper sizes are a de facto standard. The government, however, also uses ISO paper sizes.

Variant loose sizes

There is an additional paper size, 8 in × 10 ¹⁄₂ in (203 mm × 267 mm), to which the name Government-Letter was given by the IEEE Printer Working Group (PWG). It was prescribed by Herbert Hoover when he was Secretary of Commerce to be used for US government forms, apparently to enable discounts from the purchase of paper for schools, but more likely due to the standard use of trimming books (after binding) and paper from the standard letter size paper to produce consistency and allow "bleed" printing. In later years, as photocopy machines proliferated, citizens wanted to make photocopies of the forms, but the machines did not generally have this size paper in their bins. Ronald Reagan therefore had the US government switch to regular Letter size, which is both half an inch longer and wider.^[10] The former government size is still commonly used in spiral-bound notebooks, for children's writing and the like, a result of trimming from the current Letter dimensions.

By extension of the American standards, the halved Letter size, 5 ¹⁄₂ in × 8 in (140 mm × 203 mm), meets the needs of many applications. It is variably known as Statement, Stationery, Memo, Half Letter, Half A (from ANSI sizes) or simply Half Size. Like the similar-sized ISO A5, it is used for everything from personal letter writing to official aeronautical maps. Organizers, notepads, and diaries also often use this size of paper; thus 3-ring binders are also available in this size. Booklets of this size are created using word processing tools with landscape printing in two columns on letter paper which are then cut or folded into the final size.

Standardized American paper sizes

A size chart illustrating the ANSI sizes.

In 1996, the American National Standards Institute adopted ANSI/ASME Y14.1 which defined a regular series of paper sizes based upon the de facto standard 8 ¹⁄₂ in × 11 in (216 mm × 279 mm) Letter size which it assigned "ANSI A", intended for technical drawings, hence sometimes labeled "Engineering". This series is somewhat similar to the ISO standard in that cutting a sheet in half would produce two sheets of the next smaller size and therefore also includes Ledger/Tabloid as "ANSI B". Unlike the ISO standard, however, the arbitrary base sides forces this series to have two alternating aspect ratios. For example, ANSI A is less elongated than A4, while ANSI B is more elongated than A3. The Canadian standard CAN 2-9.60M "Paper Sizes for Correspondence" specifies P1 through P6 paper sizes, which are the ANSI paper sizes rounded to the nearest 5 mm.^[15]

With care, documents can be prepared so that the text and images fit on either ANSI or their equivalent ISO sheets at 1:1 reproduction scale.

ANSI and CAN paper sizes

US size	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio	Canadian size (mm × mm)		Similar size (mm × mm)
N/A				CAN P6	107 × 140	ISO A6	105 × 148
N/A				CAN P5	140 × 215	ISO A5	148 × 210
ANSI A	8 ^1⁄2 × 11	216 × 279	1.2941	CAN P4	215 × 280	ISO A4	210 × 297
ANSI B	11 × 17	279 × 432	1.5455	CAN P3	280 × 430	ISO A3	297 × 420
ANSI C	17 × 22	432 × 559	1.2941	CAN P2	430 × 560	ISO A2	420 × 594
ANSI D	22 × 34	559 × 864	1.5455	CAN P1	560 × 860	ISO A1	594 × 841
ANSI E	34 × 44	864 × 1118	1.2941	N/A		ISO A0	841 × 1187

Other, informal, larger sizes continuing the alphabetic series illustrated above exist, but it should be noted that they are not part of the series per se, because they do not exhibit the same aspect ratios. For example, Engineering F size is 28 in × 40 in or 711 mm × 1,016 mm with ca. 1.4286:1; it is commonly required for NAVFAC drawings, but is generally less commonly used. Engineering G size is 22 ¹⁄₂ in (572 mm) high, but it is a roll format with a variable width up to 90 in (2,286 mm) in increments of 8 ¹⁄₂ in (216 mm). Engineering H through N sizes are also roll formats.

Such huge sheets were at one time used for full-scale layouts of aircraft parts, automotive parts, wiring harnesses and the like, but are slowly being phased out, due to widespread use of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Some visual arts fields also continue to use these paper formats for large-scale printouts, such as for displaying digitally painted character renderings at life-size as references for makeup artists and costume designers, or to provide an immersive landscape reference.

Architectural sizes

A size chart illustrating the Architectural sizes.

In addition to the system as listed above, there is a corresponding series of paper sizes used for architectural purposes defined in the same standard, ANSI/ASME Y14.1, which is usually abbreviated "Arch". This series also shares the property that bisecting each size produces two of the size below, with alternating aspect ratios. It may be preferred by North American architects because the aspect ratios (4:3 and 3:2) are ratios of small integers, unlike their ANSI (or ISO) counterparts. Furthermore, the aspect ratio 4:3 matches the traditional aspect ratio for computer displays.

The size Arch E1 has a different aspect ratio because it derives from adding 6 inches to each side of Arch D or subtracting the same amount from Arch E. An intermediate size between Arch C and D with a long side of 30 inches (760 mm) does not exist.

US architectural standard paper sizes^[16]

Names		in × in	mm × mm	Ratio
Arch A	Arch 1	9 × 12	229 × 305	3:4
Arch B	Arch 2	12 × 18	305 × 457	2:3
Arch C	Arch 3	18 × 24	457 × 610	3:4
Arch D	Arch 4	24 × 36	610 × 914	2:3
Arch E1	Arch 5	30 × 42	762 × 1067	5:7
Arch E	Arch 6	36 × 48	914 × 1219	3:4
Arch E2		26 × 38	660 × 965	13:19
Arch E3		27 × 39	686 × 991	9:13

Other sizes

Assorted sizes

Name	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio
Organizer J	2 ^3⁄4 × 5	70 × 127	≈1.8142
Marching band flip-folder	6 ^3⁄4 ×  5 ^1⁄4	171 × 133	≈1.2857
Choral Octavo	6 ^3⁄4 ×  10 ^1⁄2	171 × 267	≈1.55
Fanfold 12 × 8.5	8 ^1⁄2 × 12	216 × 304	≈1.4118
US Std Fanfold	11 ×  14 ^7⁄8	279 × 377	≈1.3513

Notebook sizes

The sizes listed above are for paper sold loose in reams. There are many sizes of tablets of paper, that is, sheets of paper bound at one edge, usually by a strip of plastic or hardened PVA adhesive. Often there is a pad of cardboard (also known as chipboard or greyboard) at the bottom of the stack. Such a tablet serves as a portable writing surface, and the sheets often have lines printed on them, usually in non-repro blue, to make writing in a line easier. An older means of binding is to have the sheets stapled to the cardboard along the top of the tablet; there is a line of perforated holes across every page just below the top edge from which any page may be torn off. Lastly, a pad of sheets each weakly stuck with adhesive to the sheet below, trademarked as "Post-It" or "Stick-Em" and available in various sizes, serve as a sort of tablet.

"Letter pads" are 8 ¹⁄₂ by 11 inches (215.9 by 279.4 mm), while the term "legal pad" is often used by laymen to refer to pads of various sizes including those of 8 ¹⁄₂ by 14 inches (215.9 by 355.6 mm). There are "steno pads" (used by stenographers) of 6 by 9 inches (152.4 by 228.6 mm).

In countries where the ISO sizes are standard, most notebooks and tablets are sized to ISO specifications (for example, most newsagents in Australia stock A4 and A3 tablets).

Office sizes

US personal organizers

Company	Name	in × in	mm × mm	Holes
Filofax[17]	M2	2 ^1⁄2 × 4	64 × 103	3 holes
	Mini	2 ^5⁄8 ×  4 ^1⁄8	67 × 105	5 holes
	Pocket	3 ^1⁄6 ×  4 ^3⁄4	81 × 120	6 holes
	Personal, Slimline	3 ^3⁄4 ×  6 ^3⁄4	95 × 171	6 holes
	A5		148 × 210	6 holes
	Deskfax (B5)		176 × 250	9 holes
	A4		210 × 297	4 holes
Franklin Planner[18]	Micro (⅛-Letter)	2 ^5⁄8 ×  4 ^1⁄4	67 × 108
	Pocket	3 ^1⁄2 × 6	89 × 152
	Compact	4 ^1⁄4 ×  6 ^3⁄4	108 × 171
	Classic (½-Letter)	5 ^1⁄2 ×  8 ^1⁄2	140 × 216
	Monarch (Letter)	8 ^1⁄2 × 11	216 × 280
Jeppesen	Aeronautical Chart (½-Letter)	5 ^1⁄2 ×  8 ^1⁄2	140 × 216	7 holes
FAA				3 holes at top

US Index and business cards

Name	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio
Index card	3 × 5	76 × 127	1.6
	4 × 6	102 × 152	1.5
	5 × 8	127 × 203	1.6
International business card	2 ^1⁄8 × 3.37	53.98 × 85.6	1.586
US business card	2 ×  3 ^1⁄2	51 × 89	1.75
Japanese business card	ca.  2 ^1⁄6 ×  3 ^1⁄2	55 × 91	1.654
Hungarian business card	ca. 2 ×  3 ^1⁄2	50 × 90	1.8

The international business card has the same size as the smallest rectangle containing a credit card. However, credit card size, as defined in ISO/IEC 7810, also specifies rounded corners and thickness.

Photography sizes

US photographic paper sizes

Name	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio
2R	2 ^1⁄2 ×  3 ^1⁄2	64 × 89	1.4
-	3 × 5	76 × 127	1.6
LD, DSC	3 ^1⁄2 ×  4 ^2⁄3	89 × 119	1.3 (4:3)
3R, L	3 ^1⁄2 × 5	89 × 127	≈1.4286
LW	3 ^1⁄2 ×  5 ^1⁄4	89 × 133	1.5 (3:2)
KGD	4 ×  5 ^1⁄3	102 × 136	1.3 (4:3)
4R, KG	4 × 6	102 × 152	1.5 (3:2)
2LD, DSCW	5 ×  6 ^2⁄3	127 × 169	1.3 (4:3)
5R, 2L	5 × 7	127 × 178	1.4
2LW	5 ×  7 ^1⁄2	127 × 190	1.5 (3:2)
6R	6 × 8	152 × 203	1.3 (4:3)
8R, 6P	8 × 10	203 × 254	1.25
S8R, 6PW	8 × 12	203 × 305	1.5 (3:2)
11R	11 × 14	279 × 356	1.27
A3+, Super B	13 × 19	330 × 483	≈1.46154

Postage sizes

US Postal postcard size limitations^[19]

Dimension	Minimum (inch)	Maximum (inch)
Height	3 ^1⁄2	4 ^1⁄4
Width	5	6
Thickness	0.007	0.016

This implies that all postcards have a width:height aspect ratio in the range 1.18 to 1.71. The only ISO 216 size in the post card range is A6.

Grain

Most industry standards express the direction of the grain last when giving dimensions (that is, 17 × 11 inches is short grain paper and 11 × 17 inches is long grain paper), although alternatively the grain alignment can be explicitly indicated with an underline (11 × 17 is short grain) or the letter "M" for "machine" (11M × 17 is short grain). Grain is important because paper will crack if folded across the grain: for example, if a sheet 17 × 11 inches is to be folded to divide the sheet into two 8.5 × 11 halves, then the grain will be along the 11-inch side.^[20] Paper intended to be fed into a machine that will bend the paper around rollers, such as a printing press, photocopier or typewriter, should be fed grain side first so that the axis of the rollers is along the grain.

French paper sizes

Before the adoption of the ISO standard system in 1967, France had its own paper size system. Some of these formats are still used today, and they are standardized by the AFNOR.^[21] Their names come from the watermarks that the papers were branded with when they were handcrafted, which is still the case for certain art papers. They also generally exist in double versions where the smallest measure is multiplied by two, or in quadruple versions where both measures have been doubled.

AFNOR paper sizes

Name	Format (cm × cm)	Use
Cloche	30 × 40
Pot, écolier	31 × 40
Tellière	34 × 44	old French administration
Couronne écriture	36 × 46
Couronne édition	37 × 47
Roberto	39 × 50	anatomic drawing
Écu	40 × 52
Coquille	44 × 56
Carré	45 × 56
Cavalier	46 × 62
Demi-raisin	32,5 × 50	drawing
Raisin	50 × 65	drawing
Double raisin	65 × 100
Jésus	56 × 76	Atlas des sentiers et chemins vicinaux
Soleil	60 × 80
Colombier affiche	60 × 80
Colombier commercial	63 × 90
Petit Aigle	70 × 94
Grand Aigle	75 × 105	Plans cadastraux primitifs (Napoleonic land registry)
	75 × 106[22]
	75 × 110[23]
Grand Monde	90 × 126
Univers	100 × 130

Traditional inch-based paper sizes

Traditionally, a number of different sizes were defined for large sheets of paper, and paper sizes were defined by the sheet name and the number of times it had been folded. Thus a full sheet of "royal" paper was 25 × 20 inches, and "royal octavo" was this size folded three times, so as to make eight sheets, and was thus 10 ×  6 ¹⁄₄ inches.

Common divisions and their abbreviations

Name	Abbr.	Folds	Leaves	Pages
Folio	fo, f	1	2	4
Quarto	4to	2	4	8
Sexto, sixmo	6to, 6mo	3	6	12
Octavo	8vo	3	8	16
Duodecimo, twelvemo	12mo	4	12	24
Sextodecimo, sixteenmo	16mo	4	16	32

Imperial sizes were used in the United Kingdom and its territories.

Imperial paper sizes

Name	Classic British definitions			Modern American adaptations
	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio
Emperor	48 × 72	1219 × 1829	1.5
Quad demy				35 × 45	889 × 1143	1.2857
Antiquarian	31 × 53	787 × 1346	1.7097
Grand eagle	28 ^3⁄4 × 42	730 × 1067	1.4609
Double elephant	26 ^3⁄4 × 40	678 × 1016	1.4984
Atlas	26 × 34	660 × 864	1.3077
Colombier	23 ^1⁄2 ×  34 ^1⁄2	597 × 876	1.4681
Double demy	22 ^1⁄2 ×  35 ^1⁄2	572 × 902	1.57	22 ^1⁄2 × 35	572 × 889	1.5
Imperial	22 × 30	559 × 762	1.3636
Double large post	21 × 33	533 × 838	1.5713
Elephant	23 × 28	584 × 711	1.2174	same
Princess	21 ^1⁄2 × 28	546 × 711	1.3023
Cartridge	21 × 26	533 × 660	1.2381
Royal	20 × 25	508 × 635	1.25	same
Sheet, half post	19 ^1⁄2 ×  23 ^1⁄2	495 × 597	1.2051
Double post	19 ×  30 ^1⁄2	483 × 762	1.6052
Super royal	19 × 27	483 × 686	1.4203
Broadsheet				18 × 24	457 × 610	1.3
Medium	17 ^1⁄2 × 23	470 × 584	1.2425	18 × 23	457 × 584	1.27
Demy	17 ^1⁄2 ×  22 ^1⁄2	445 × 572	1.2857	same
Copy draught	16 × 20	406 × 508	1.25
Large post	15 ^1⁄2 × 20	394 × 508	1.2903	16 ^1⁄2 × 21	419 × 533	1.27
Post	15 ^1⁄2 ×  19 ^1⁄4	394 × 489	1.2419	15 ^1⁄2 ×  19 ^1⁄2	394 × 489	1.2581
Crown	15 × 20	381 × 508	1.3	same
Pinched post	14 ^3⁄4 ×  18 ^1⁄2	375 × 470	1.2533
Foolscap	13 ^1⁄2 × 17	343 × 432	1.2593
Small foolscap	13 ^1⁄4 ×  16 ^1⁄2	337 × 419	1.2453
Brief	13 ^1⁄2 × 16	343 × 406	1.1852
Pott	12 ^1⁄2 × 15	318 × 381	1.2
Quarto				9 × 11	229 × 279	1.2
Executive, Monarch				7 ^1⁄4 ×  10 ^1⁄2	184 × 267	1.4483

Traditional British paper sizes

These sizes are no longer commonly used since the UK switched to ISO sizes.^[24] Many of these sizes were only used for making books (see bookbinding), and would never have been offered for ordinary stationery purposes.^[25]

Previous British writing paper sizes

Name	in × in	mm × mm	Ratio
Foolscap	8 × 13	203 × 330	1.625
Quarto	8 × 10	203 × 254	1.25
Imperial	7 × 9	178 × 229	1.2857
Kings	6 ^1⁄2 × 8	165 × 203	1.2307
Dukes	5 ^1⁄2 × 7	140 × 178	1.27

Foolscap folio is often referred to simply as "folio" or "foolscap". Similarly, "quarto" is more correctly "copy draught quarto" and "Kings" is an alias for "Foolscap quarto".

Demitab

The demitab or demi-tab (from the French "demi" or half tabloid) is 5 ¹⁄₂ in × 8 ¹⁄₂ in (140 mm × 216 mm), equal to one quarter of a sheet of 11 in × 17 in (279 mm × 432 mm) tabloid size paper. In actual circulation, the size 8 in × 10 ¹⁄₂ in (203 mm × 267 mm) is common for a demitab.^[26] Tabloid newspapers, which are "generally half the size of a broadsheet", also vary in size. To add to the lack of uniformity, broadsheets also vary in size.

Transitional paper sizes

PA4 or L4

Hypothetic PA4-based series

Name	mm × mm	Ratio
PA0	840 × 1120	3:4
PA1	560 × 840	2:3
PA2	420 × 560	3:4
PA3	280 × 420	2:3
PA4	210 × 280	3:4
PA5	140 × 210	2:3
PA6	105 × 140	3:4
PA7	70 × 105	2:3
PA8	52 × 70	≈3:4
PA9	35 × 52	≈2:3
PA10	26 × 35	≈3:4

A transitional size called PA4 (210 mm × 280 mm or 8.27 in × 11.02 in), sometimes dubbed L4, was proposed for inclusion into the ISO 216 standard in 1975. It has the height of Canadian P4 paper (215 mm × 280 mm, about  8 ¹⁄₂ in × 11 in) and the width of international A4 paper (210 mm × 297 mm or 8.27 in × 11.69 in), i.e. it uses the smaller value among the two for each side. The table below, shows how this format can be generalized into an entire format series.

The PA formats did not end up in ISO 216, because the committee decided that the set of standardized paper formats should be kept to the minimum necessary. However, PA4 remains of practical use today. In landscape orientation, it has the same 4:3 aspect ratio as the displays of traditional TV sets, some computer displays (e.g. iPad) and data projectors. PA4, with appropriate margins, is therefore a good choice as the format of presentation slides.

As a compromise between the two most popular paper sizes globally, PA4 is used today by many international magazines, because it can be printed easily on equipment designed for either A4 or US Letter. That means it is not as much a paper size than a page format.

F4

Hypothetic F4-based series

Name	mm × mm	in × in	Ratio
F0	841 × 1321	33.1 × 52	1.5714
F1	660 × 841	26 × 33.1	1.27
F2	420 × 660	16.5 × 26	1.5714
F3	330 × 420	13 × 16.5	1.27
F4	210 × 330	8.27 × 13	1.5714
F5	165 × 210	6.5 × 8.27	1.27
F6	105 × 165	4.13 ×  6 ^1⁄2	1.5714
F7	82 × 105	3 ^1⁄4 × 4.13	1.27
F8	52 × 82	2.05 ×  3 ^1⁄4	1.5714
F9	41 × 52	3 ^5⁄8 × 2.05	1.27
F10	26 × 41	1.02 ×  3 ^5⁄8	1.5714

A non-standard F4 paper size is common in Southeast Asia. It is a transitional size with the shorter side from ISO A4 (210 mm) and the longer side from British Foolscap (13 in, 330 mm) and is sometimes known as (metric) foolscap or folio as well.

A sheet of F4 can be cut from a sheet of SRA4 with very little wastage. The size is also smaller than its Swedish equivalent SIS F4 at 239 mm × 338 mm.

A0a

Although the movement is towards the international standard metric paper sizes, on the way there from the traditional ones there has been at least one new size just a little larger than that used internationally.

British architects and industrial designers once used a size called "Antiquarian", 31 in × 53 in (787 mm × 1,346 mm), as listed above, but given in the New Metric Handbook (Tutt & Adler 1981) as 813 mm × 1,372 mm (32 in × 54 in) for board size. This is a little larger than ISO A0, 841 mm × 1189 mm. So for a short time, a size called A0a of 1,000 mm × 1,370 mm (39.4 in × 53.9 in) was used in Britain, which is actually just a slightly shorter version of ISO B0 at 1414 mm.

Pliego

Colombian metric paper sizes

Size	mm × mm	aspect ratio
^1⁄8 pliego	250 × 350	1.4
^1⁄4 pliego	350 × 500	1.412857
^1⁄2 pliego	500 × 700	1.4
Pliego	700 × 1000	1.412857

The most common paper sizes used for commercial and industrial printing in Colombia are based upon a size referred to as pliego that is ISO B1 (707 mm × 1000 mm) cut to full decimetres. Smaller sizes are derived by halving as usual and just get a vulgar fraction prefix:  ¹⁄₂ pliego and  ¹⁄₄ pliego.

Other metric sizes

Envelope sizes

Other DIN paper formats

Name	mm × mm	in × in	Notes
DL	99 × 210	3.7 × 8.3	DL stands for "DIN lang" (DIN long); common flyer  ^1⁄3 of A4
DLE	110 × 220	4.3 × 8.7	Common envelope size as it fits an A4 sheet folded to  ^1⁄3 height.

Raw sizes

ISO 217 raw paper formats

Name	mm × mm	in × in	Name	mm × mm	in × in
RA0	860 × 1220	33.9 × 48.0	SRA0	900 × 1280	35.4 × 50.4
RA1	610 × 860	24.0 × 33.9	SRA1	640 × 900	25.2 × 35.4
RA2	430 × 610	16.9 × 24.0	SRA2	450 × 640	17.7 × 25.2
RA3	305 × 430	12.0 × 16.9	SRA3	320 × 450	12.6 × 17.7
RA4	215 × 305	8.5 × 12.0	SRA4	225 × 320	8.9 × 12.6

Newspaper sizes

Comparison of some newspaper sizes with metric paper sizes. Approximate nominal dimensions are in millimetres.

Newspapers have a separate set of sizes.

• Berliner
• Broadsheet
• Compact
• Rhenish
• Tabloid (newspaper format)

In a recent trend^[27] many newspapers have been undergoing what is known as "web cut down", in which the publication is redesigned to print using a narrower (and less expensive) roll of paper. In extreme examples, some broadsheet papers are nearly as narrow as traditional tabloids.

See also

• Book size
• Paper density
• Units of paper quantity – ream, quire etc.
• New Zealand standard for school stationery
• PC LOAD LETTER
• Hole punch – filing holes

References

1. "Lichtenberg's letter to Johann Beckmann". Cl.cam.ac.uk. 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
2. "Loi sur le timbre (Nº 2136)". Bulletin des lois de la République (in French). Paris: French government (237): 1–2. 1798-11-03. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
3. Dimensions of A Paper Sizes - A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10
4. Dimensions of B Paper Sizes - B0, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B10
5. Dimensions of the C Envelope Sizes - C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, C10
6. "Papper — Formatserier A-G". Svensk standard. Swedish Standards Institute. Retrieved 30 October 2013. (subscription required)
7. "Print format for dissertations" (PDF). Karolinska University press.
8. Dave Barber: International paper sizes. A, B, C and D series, version of 2012-05-08
9. Adobe Systems Incorporated (1996-02-09). "PostScript Printer Description File Format Specification" (PDF) (4.3 ed.). San Jose, California. p. 191. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
10. American Forest and Paper Association. "Why is the standard paper size in the U.S. 8½" x 11"?". Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
11. "Junior Legal Paper Size". Dimensions Guide. Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
12. Fyffe, Charles (1969). Basic Copyfitting. London: Studio Vista. p. 74. ISBN 0-289-79705-5.
13. de Leon, Rally. "Request for inclusion of Page Size 8.5"×13"". Retrieved 2008-08-11.
14. "Armada mil". Retrieved 2010-12-12.
15. Kuhn, Markus. "International standard paper sizes". Retrieved 2008-03-06.
16. Technical drawing paper sizes in the United States at sizes.com
17. "Filofax".
18. "Franklin Planner".
19. United States Postal Service. "DMM 101: Physical Standards". Section "6.3.2 Postcard Dimensions". retrieved 2014-04-26.
20. "Paper Grain & Smoothness: Don't Go Against the Grain". Xerox Corp. A paper mill may indicate paper grain on carton and ream labels, product brochures, swatch books and price lists in several ways:
    1. You may see the words Grain Long or Grain Short.
    2. The dimension parallel to the grain may be underscored. For example, 8.5x11 indicates long grain, while 11x17 indicates short grain.
    3. "M" may be used to indicate machine direction, for example, 11Mx17 indicates short grain.
    
    Fold paper parallel to the grain direction. Paper folded against the grain may be rough and crack along the folded edge. The heavier the paper, the more likely roughness and cracking will occur.
21. Norme NF Q 02-000: Dimensions des papiers d’écriture et de certaines catégories de papiers d’impression.
22. CNRTL. "AIGLE: Définition de AIGLE" (in French). Retrieved 22 May 2015.
23. "L'origine des noms de papier" (in French).
24. "Traditional sizes for writing paper in the United Kingdom". sizepaper.com (formerly atsyn.com). Retrieved 2013-04-16.
25. "Book sizes, with reference tables".
26. "Max Image Area". Horizon Publications.
27. "Press web". Naa.org. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved 2010-12-12.

Further reading

• International standard ISO 216, Writing paper and certain classes of printed matter—Trimmed sizes—A and B series. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1975.
• International standard ISO 217: Paper—Untrimmed sizes—Designation and tolerances for primary and supplementary ranges, and indication of machine direction. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1995.
• Max Helbig, Winfried Hennig: DIN-Format A4—Ein Erfolgssystem in Gefahr. Beuth-Kommentare, Beuth Verlag, Berlin, 1998. ISBN 3-410-11878-0
• Arthur D. Dunn: Notes on the standardization of paper sizes. Ottawa, Canada, 54 pages, 1972.

External links

• Palme, Jacob (May 1998). Making Postscript and PDF International. IETF. RFC 2346. https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2346. Retrieved 2012-06-22.  — Notably: About margin settings for using just the space common to both A4 and US Letter.
• IEEE-ISTO PWG 5101.1-2013 "PWG Media Standardized Names 2.0" (PDF)
• Paper Sizes Explained by Matt Parker, BBC Number Hub (Youtube video)