American paper sizes

American paper sizes differ from standard paper sizes. The ISO 216 standard sizes are used internationally. A different standard is used in the United States, Canada and the Philippines.

Inch paper sizes

The American sizes are based on inches and not centimetres and millimetres. The American print market is huge. This is why American values are also used elsewhere in the world. The American paper sizes are the Letter, Legal and Ledger/Tabloid.

In addition to the mentioned sizes, there are a few other standards on a small scale. An example is Government-Letter. Government-Letters are used when printing American government forms.

Another example is the half Letter size which can be used for many applications. The size is 5 1⁄2 in × 8 1⁄2 in (140 mm × 215 mm). Another name for this size is Statement, Stationery, Memo, Half Letter, Half A (from ANSI sizes) or simply said as Half Size. The Half Letter size can be used for all kinds of applications such as personal letters and airline cards. The Half Letter size is similar to the A5 size from the ISO 216 series.

Loose American paper sizes.

Below is a table with the loose American paper sizes. The first column contains the name of the size; then you will see the size in inches, millimetres and aspect ratios.

Size inch × inch mm × mm AR
Ledger 17 × 11 432 × 279 0.647
Tabloid Extra, Extra Tabloide 12 × 18 305 × 457 3∶2
European EDP 12 × 14 305 × 356 7∶6
Tabloid, Doble Carta 11 × 17 279 × 432 1.545
11 × 15 11 × 15 279 × 381 15∶11
Fanfold 11 × 14 78 279 × 378 1.352
EDP 11 × 14 279 × 356 1.273
11 × 12 11 × 12 279 × 305 12∶11
10 × 14 10 × 14 254 × 356 7∶5
10 × 13 10 × 13 254 × 330 1.3
10 × 11 10 × 11 254 × 279 10∶11
Legal Extra 12 × 15 241 × 381 1.579
Letter Extra 12 × 12 241 × 305 1.263
Letter Tab, 9 × 11 9 × 11 229 × 279 11∶9
Legal 12 × 14 216 × 356 1.647
Oficio 12 × 13 25 216 × 340 1.576
Foolscap Folio 12 × 13 216 × 330 1.529
Letter Plus 12 × 12 23 216 × 322 1.49
European Fanfold 12 × 12 216 × 305 1.412
Letter, Carta 12 × 11 216 × 279 1.294
Quarto 12 × 10 56 216 × 275 1.275
Government Legal 8 × 13 203 × 330 ϕ∶1
Demitab 8 × 10 12 203 × 267 1.313
Government Letter, 8 × 10 8 × 10 203 × 254 5∶4
Executive 14 × 10 12 184 × 267 1.448
7 × 9 7 × 9 178 × 229 1.286
Memo, Statement, Mini, Invoice, Stationary, Half Letter 12 × 8 12 140 × 216 1.545
Junior Legal 5 × 8 127 × 203 8∶5
5 × 7 5 × 7 127 × 178 7∶5

Standardized American paper sizes of the ANSI.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) adopted a national standard for paper sizes in 1996. The ANSI paper sizes are based on the de facto standard 8 1⁄2 in × 11 in (220 mm × 280 mm).

The “Letter” format is defined as the “ANSI A” variant. The ANSI A size is used for technical drawings. The ANSI A variant also calls me “Engineering”. The series is similar to the A series of the ISO standard.

When you cut an ANSI A in half, you get two Ledger/ Tabloid versions. A Ledger / Tabloid is also called ANSI B. Deviating from the ISO standard, the random sides of this series mean that the ANSI A version is less elongated than the A4 size, while the ANSI B version is more elongated than an A3 size of the ISO standard.

ANSI size inch × inch mm × mm AR Comparable A-serie A-serie in mm x mm
ANSI A 8 12 × 11 216 × 279 1.2941 ISO A4 210 × 297
ANSI B 11 × 17 279 × 432 1.5455 ISO A3 210 × 297
ANSI C 17 × 22 432 × 559 1.2941 ISO A2 297 × 420
ANSI D 22 × 34 559 × 864 1.5455 ISO A1 594 × 841
ANSI E 34 × 44 864 × 1118 1.2941 ISO A0 841 × 1187

Architectonic mats / Arch sizes

Following the ANSI sizes, there is also a standard defined for architectural purposes. This standard is referred to as ANSI/ASME Y14.1 or Arch standard. The ratio of the Arch standard is 4:3 or 3:2. This corresponds to screen ratios.

Names   inch x inch mm x mm AR
Arch A Arch 1 9 × 12 229 × 305 4∶3
Arch B Arch 2 12 × 18 305 × 457 3∶2
Arch C Arch 3 18 × 24 457 × 610 4∶3
Arch D Arch 4 24 × 36 610 × 914 3∶2
Arch E1 Arch 5 30 × 42 762 × 1,070 7∶5
Arch E2   26 × 38 660 × 965 1.462
Arch E3   27 × 39 686 × 991 13∶9
Arch E Arch 6 36 × 48 914 × 1,220 4∶3

Image of the paper sizes.

American paper sizes
American Paper Sizes

American envelope sizes.

In addition to different paper sizes, the American standard also includes different envelope sizes.

Name inch × inch mm × mm AR
Personal 58 × 6 12 92.1 × 165 1.793
Monarch 78 × 7 12 98.4 × 191 1.935
A2 38 × 5 34 111 × 146 1.314
#9 78 × 8 78 98.4 × 225 2.29
#10, Commercial 18 × 9 12 105 × 241 2.303
#11 12 × 10 38 114 × 264 2.306
#12 34 × 11 121 × 279 2.316
#14 5 × 11 12 127 × 292 2.3