What Is Letter and Legal Size Paper

There are many, many different paper sizes – and a corresponding name for each. The most common confusion between American paper sizes is legal and letter. Do you know what the difference is or which one you use in your office? Choosing the right type of paper can be a confusing process, especially since North America uses a different system than most countries in the world. Legal size paper is sometimes referred to as Foolscap and refers to an old brand of paper that used the „Foolscap“ logo as a watermark on the paper. Legal size paper was traditionally used for drafting contracts, the idea was that longer paper was suitable for longer documents and made it easier to score notes and recommended changes. Of course, most lawyers today stick to the typical letter format for their agreements. The legal format also has extra-wide margins compared to standard paper – 1.5 inches vs. 1 inch – to allow for notes and corrections. Read on to learn all about U.S. and international paper sizes. We mainly focus on legal size versus letter size, but you`ll also find A-series paper dimensions, as well as a size chart that breaks down inches, millimeters, and the proper use for each size. This works with envelope formats B and C. Another commonly used format is the DL format.

A DL-sized envelope contains an A4 sheet folded into thirds or an A5 sheet cut lengthwise. Learn more about common envelope sizes and styles. North American paper sizes are based on traditional formats with any ratio. The most popular formats of the traditional formats are Letter (8.5 × 11 inches), Legal (8.5 × 14 inches) and Tabloid (11 × 17 inches). You probably use these formats in your daily life. The letter is the standard for business and academic documents. The legal format is used to make legal blocks, and the tabloid format is often used to create tabloids or smaller newspapers. Letter size paper is probably the format you are most in contact with. This is the most common paper size you can find in a printer, office supply company, or receive in the mail. What is the difference between letter size (also called US letter size or standard size) and legal paper size? B Plus, or Super B as it is sometimes called, has dimensions of 13″ x 19″ (330mm x 483mm). This size is ANSI-B size with a margin of 1 inch for a complete cut of the print.

It is sometimes referred to as A3+ or Super A3 in countries that use ISO 216 paper sizes. European manufacturers sometimes indicate this size as 330mm x 482mm. Another theory comes from the bad jokes department: lawyers use legal size because they need 14 inches to say what ordinary people can say in 11. A6 is a compact paper size that is regularly used for postcards, flyers and data storage. Everywhere in the world, with the exception of Canada and the United States, paper sizes are standardized to ISO sizes. These dimensions are as follows: Here are some records that can store paper in legal size: Although there are other paper size standards, today there are two main systems, the international system and the North American system. The international standard, also known as ISO 216, is used worldwide. Today we will focus on the North American system, which is mainly used in the United States and Canada. The standard includes the famous Letter (8.5-inch × 11-inch) and Legal (8.5-inch × 14-inch), but also some extra sizes you may not use as often. In the past, legal paper was often used to draft contracts, although today it is common to find measures of pages of letters. In the battle between letters and legal size, legal paper has a little more space, but it is completely more troublesome. It doesn`t always fit perfectly into folders and filing cabinets, and drawers often need to be adapted to its extra length.

Legal paper does not always work with printers, photocopiers and fax machines. You often have to manually adjust the device to print a legal document. Europe and other parts of the world use the international paper size system. In this system, the legal paper size is the A4 document, which has dimensions of 216 x 279 mm (8.5 inches x 11 inches). However, in America and Canada, there is another legal paper size which is 216 x 356 mm or 8.5 inches x 14 inches. The most common is the A series. Each paper in series A folded in half becomes the next paper in series A. For example, A2 is half of A1, A3 is half of A2, A5 is half of A4, etc.

Whether you look at the letter versus legal paper or the letter size versus A4 paper, it`s pretty obvious that there is a standard. This standard is designed to support single-space fonts that take up less space per line. The ISO-A series standard (including A0, A1, A2, A4 and beyond) was established in 1975 and was based on paper, used in Germany since 1922. The only thing about letter-sized paper is that it is often confused with A4. If you look at the size of the letter compared to A4, you will definitely notice a significant difference. A4 is the standard paper size in the UK, but it is slightly larger than letter size and narrower in width. The dimensions of A4 are 8.27 x 11.69 inches or 210 x 297 mm. A4 is the most well-known A paper size.

It is the international equivalent of the American paper mill, although it is larger and narrower. It is used for your average daily pressure worldwide. A4 is widely used for letterheads, manuals, tests and reports. Letter size paper is 8.5″ x 11″ and legal paper is 8.5″ x 14″. Many copiers have predefined magnification factors to enlarge or shrink a copied document to print it on a different paper size. These presets usually take the form of buttons labeled A3 or A4, etc. This eliminates wasted margins and saves you from guessing the right magnification factor, which can lead to paper waste. ISO standardized paper sizes are not widely used in the United States and Canada. Instead, paper sizes such as „Letter“ (8.5 x 11 inches), „Legal“ (8.5 x 14 inches), „Executive“ (7 x 10 inches) and „Ledger / Tabloid“ (11 x 17 inches) are widely available.

The formats „Letter“, „Legal“, „Tabloid“ and other formats (but not these names) are defined in the US national standard ANSI X3.151. When you look at the letter versus the legal paper, there are obvious differences and a few different situations where you want to choose one over the other. There are a few things you need to know about two of the most common paper sizes in America. This relatively young standard is based on the traditional letter format (ANSI A). The letter size is similar to the ISO A4 format in that it is widely used for business and academic needs, but the sizes differ. A3 is a large paper format that is often used as a diagram for presentations, as well as for movie posters, wall displays, and architectural plans. North America, including the United States, Canada and parts of Mexico, is the only first-world territory that does not use standard ISO 216 paper sizes, but rather Letter, Legal, Executive and Ledger/Tabloid paper sizes, as well as those formalized in ASME Y14.1 – Drawing sheet size and size. ANSI also includes ISO 216 with ASME Y14.1M – Metric Drawing Sheet Size and Format US envelope sizes are also not ISO 216 and are listed on this page. The following table shows the sizes in millimeters and inches of commonly used U.S. paper sizes. Page protectors for legal paper aren`t common and you probably won`t find them at your local Walmart or Staples, but you can buy them online here: Have you ever looked at the cover of a box of printer paper and wondered what all those numbers mean? Have you wondered what the difference is between A5, A4 or Tabloid and why there are so many confusing numbers on the box? Don`t worry, we`re here to demystify and simplify the confusing world of paper sizes.