Paper Sheet Sizes

We explain the sizes of sheets of paper and what series they are grouped into. In addition, we offer you a table with all the paper measurements.

What sizes of sheets of paper are there?

Paper formats, paper sheet sizes or paper sheet dimensions are the internationally standardized proportions for the production of sheets of paper . This means that those who manufacture and distribute them do so respecting certain guidelines regarding proportion and size, which allow the size of paper to be standardized or equated from one country to another.

There are numerous paper formats, each designed for certain specific activities and procedures, and which often receive different names, stemming from their particular history.

However, the current trend is to homogenize and standardize the sizes and names of the paper cut, using the guidelines of the ISO 216 standard as a guide. International Organization for Standardizationthat is, “International Organization for Standardization”), which is based on DIN 476 (from the German Deutsches Institute für Normungthat is, “German Institute for Standardization”) of 1922.

The idea behind these standardization formats is that the sheet of paper produced can be used to the maximum. reducing waste margins in industrial processing. For this, three series of cuts are considered, that is, three categories of paper formats, each with different exclusive measurements:

• A series (DIN-A) the most common, used in offices and schools around the world. It covers formats from DIN A0 (largest) to DIN A10 (smallest), starting from a sheet of paper measuring one square meter (1 m²).

• B series (DIN-B) less common and used above all to make posters, passports and official communications. It covers the formats DIN B0 (largest) to DIN B10 (smallest), starting from a sheet of one meter wide and a surface area of ​​0.707 m.².

• C series (DIN-C) exclusively intended for the manufacture of envelopes of different sizes. It covers the formats from DIN C0 (largest) to DIN C10 (smallest), starting from a sheet whose dimensions are the geometric mean between series A and B, that is, an intermediate size between these two series.

Although this is the most widely used standard format in the world, coming from the German paper tradition, there are other standards widely used in Anglo-Saxon America and Latin America, known as the American format (which includes letter, legal, legal, media letter and tabloid) and the Japanese format or format of the ukiyo-e (which includes the sizes kobosho, hosho, chubosho, obosho, obirohosho and takengabosho), among others.

Paper format table

The following is a table of equivalences between the different international stationery formats: