Common printer paper sizes
Home and office printers mostly take Letter or A4. Other sizes appear for envelopes, photos and larger documents. These are the standard dimensions.
| Size | Inches | Millimeters |
|---|---|---|
| Letter | 8.5 x 11 | 215.9 x 279.4 |
| Legal | 8.5 x 14 | 215.9 x 355.6 |
| Statement (half Letter) | 5.5 x 8.5 | 139.7 x 215.9 |
| Ledger / Tabloid | 11 x 17 | 279.4 x 431.8 |
| A3 | 11.69 x 16.54 | 297 x 420 |
| A4 | 8.27 x 11.69 | 210 x 297 |
| A5 | 5.83 x 8.27 | 148 x 210 |
| B5 | 6.93 x 9.84 | 176 x 250 |
| Photo 4 x 6 | 4 x 6 | 101.6 x 152.4 |
| Photo 5 x 7 | 5 x 7 | 127 x 177.8 |
The A series (A3, A4, A5) halves the area at each step, so an A4 sheet folded in half is A5. North America uses Letter, Legal and Ledger instead. See A4 vs Letter for the difference that matters most, and ledger, tabloid and legal sizes for the larger ones.
Which size does your printer take?
Three places tell you, and they should agree.
- The paper tray. Many trays are marked with the sizes they hold, and adjustable guides slide to match.
- The ream label. The wrapper states the size, such as Letter or A4, along with weight and how many sheets are in the ream.
- The printer specifications. The manual or the maker’s product page lists supported sizes and the largest sheet the printer can take. Many home inkjets stop at Letter or A4 and cannot feed anything wider.
If you are unsure what the printer can handle, check the specifications before buying paper in an unusual size. A sheet the printer cannot grip can jam it.
Set the same size in three places
Prints come out scaled, clipped or with odd margins when the paper in the tray, the size set in the print dialog, and the page size of the document are not the same. Check all three.
- Load the paper and adjust the tray guides so they touch the stack lightly.
- In the print dialog, pick the matching paper size. The printer driver’s own setting can override the app, so check both if the result is wrong.
- For anything that must be true size, choose Actual size or 100% rather than Fit.
Then confirm it. Print the scale check sheet and measure the 100 mm bar. If it is not 100 mm, the page was scaled. The how-to guides for Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad, Android and Chromebook show where the paper size setting is.
Which test page file to use
Every PDF on this site comes in Letter and A4. Pick the one that matches the paper in the tray. The download hub lists both versions side by side. If you only have the other size, print at Actual size and expect the edges to be trimmed, or use Fit and accept that measurements will be off by a few percent.
You can also create printable lined paper in Letter or A4, with adjustable spacing and margins.
If the paper size looks wrong on the page
A print that comes out too small usually means Fit or a mismatched size was used, and prints too small covers the usual causes. Cut-off edges are easiest to see on the alignment and margins page, which shows which edges your printer clips.
After you pick a size, confirm the printer really prints at that size with the printer ruler test page, which has both millimetre and inch scales.