Paper Sizes: Letter, Legal, Tabloid (11x17) and the A-Series Compared

In Canada and the United States, paper sizes are measured in inches. Letter (8.5 x 11 in, 216 x 279 mm) is the everyday office and print standard, legal (8.5 x 14 in, 216 x 356 mm) is its longer sibling, and tabloid (11 x 17 in, 279 x 432 mm) is exactly two letter sheets side by side. Most of the rest of the world uses the metric A-series instead, where A4 (210 x 297 mm) plays the role of letter.

North American paper sizes

Name	Inches	Millimetres	What we print in it
Half letter	5.5 x 8.5	140 x 216	Flyers, booklets
Letter	8.5 x 11	216 x 279	Flyers, letterheads, brochures, booklets, notepads, postcards
Legal	8.5 x 14	216 x 356	Brochures
Tabloid (ledger)	11 x 17	279 x 432	Brochures, colour posters

Tabloid and ledger are the same 11 x 17 sheet: tabloid when it stands upright, ledger when it lies on its side. Because 11 x 17 folds in half to letter, it is the usual flat size for a brochure that finishes at 8.5 x 11.

Architectural sizes for plans

Construction and architecture drawings use their own ARCH series: ARCH C 18 x 24 in (457 x 610 mm), ARCH D 24 x 36 in (610 x 914 mm) and ARCH E 36 x 48 in (914 x 1219 mm). These are the three sizes our architect plans come in, in black and white or colour, printed on our 36-inch HP DesignJet.

The A-series, for comparison

ISO sizes start from A0, one square metre, and each step halves the sheet: A3 is 297 x 420 mm (11.7 x 16.5 in), A4 is 210 x 297 mm (8.3 x 11.7 in), A5 is 148 x 210 mm. Every A size keeps the same proportions, so an A4 layout scales cleanly to A3. Letter does not share those proportions: A4 is about 6 mm narrower and 18 mm taller. A file designed at A4 therefore has to be adjusted, not just scaled, to print on letter without white edges or cropping.

Which one for your job?

Design for letter unless you have a reason not to: it fits every office printer, #10 envelope and binder in North America. Choose legal for a longer tri-fold brochure, tabloid for a poster or a brochure that folds down to letter, and an ARCH size for drawings. If your file was built at A4, our file check catches the size mismatch before anything is printed, and you can mention it to the shop up front.

Common questions

What size is letter paper in mm?

Letter is 8.5 x 11 inches, which is 215.9 x 279.4 mm, usually rounded to 216 x 279 mm.

Is 11x17 called tabloid or ledger?

Both. It is the same 11 x 17 in sheet; tabloid usually means portrait orientation and ledger landscape. Print shops use the names interchangeably.

What is the difference between A4 and letter?

A4 measures 210 x 297 mm; letter measures 216 x 279 mm. A4 is slightly narrower and noticeably taller, so a page designed for one needs adjusting to print on the other.