Standard Paper Size

Two standard paper sizes exist: the international ISO standard and the North American sizes. The North American standards are used in the US, the Philippines and a few other countries.

The ISO Paper Dimensions: A Series (in mm)

The sizes are AO: 841 x 1189, A1: 594 x 841; A2: 420 x 594; A3: 297 x 420; A4: 210 x 297 and A5: 148 x 210. Other sizes in the A series format are A6: 105 x 148; A7: 74 x 105; A8: 52 x 74: A9: 37 x 52 and A10, 26 x 37.

The ISO Paper Dimensions: B Series Format (in mm)

They are B0 39.37 x 55.67, B1: 27.83 x 39.37, B2: 19.69 x 27.83; B3: 13.90 x 19.69; B4: 9.84 x 13.90 and B5, 6.93 x 9.84. Other sizes in the ISO B series is B6: 4.92 x 6.93, B7: 3.46 x 4.92; B8: 2.44 x 3.46, B9: 1.73 x 2.44 and B10: 1.22 x 1.73.

The ISO Paper Dimensions: C Series Format (in mm)

These paper sizes are numbered from C0 to C10. Their sizes are 917 x 1297, 648 x 917, 458 x 648, 324 x 458, 229 x 324, 162 x 229, 114 x 162, 81 x 114, 57 x 81, 40 x 57 and 28 x 40 respectively.

North American Standard Paper Sizes

The sizes are letter 8.5 x 11 in (216 x 279 mm), legal, 8.5 x 14 in (216 x 356 mm), junior legal, 8.0 x 5.0 in (203 x 127), ledger 17 x 11 (432 x 279) and tabloid 11 x 17 in (279 x 432).

Notes on US Paper Dimensions

The US, Mexican and Canadian sizes are subsets of the paper dimensions give above. There are many other sizes, but the letter, legal, junior legal, ledge and tabloid are the most widely used. The letter is used most frequently. It is unclear as to where the letter paper size originated.

One theory is that the 8.5 x 11 size came from the days when paper was made manually. The 11 inch length it is said, is the typical maximum stretch of a vatman’s arms.

Knowing the standard paper sizes is necessary in today’s business world. If you are used to working with the US sizes, being aware of what sizes are used internationally will be beneficial. Note that 8.5 x 11 and A4 sizes are supported by all printers and many scanners.