Library, Museums and Press Staff
February 28, 2025

Paper Size Conversions for Printing

by Kyle Krieger, Student Multimedia Design Center

 

When printing documents or posters, you may come across an overwhelming variety of different measurements and sizes. Your UD professors or a manager may request a poster in a specific size that requires you to convert it into a different measurement system. Sometimes, the measurements may be provided using a standard paper size.

In the United States, most paper sizes are measured by imperial units, such as inches or feet, and commonly use designations such as Legal and Letter sizes. In Europe and most other areas outside the Americas, paper sizes are based on the ISO 216 standard, commonly represented with the letter “A” followed by a number (and sometimes preceded by a number).

Below are charts listing the ISO 216 and imperial paper size measurements for easy reference.

 

ISO 216 STANDARD
Size Metric Imperial
A0 1189 x 841 mm 46.8 x 33.1 in
A1 841 x 594 mm 33.1 x 23.4 in
A2 594 x 420 mm 23.4 x 16.5 in
A3 420 x 297 mm 16.5 x 11.7 in
A4 297 x 210 mm 11.7 x 8.3 in
A5 210 x 148 mm 8.3 x 5.8 in
A6 148 x 105 mm 5.8 x 4.1 in
A7 105 x 74 mm 4.1 x. 2.9 in
A8 74 x 52 mm 2.9 x 2.0 in
A9 52 x 37 mm 2.0 x 1.5 in
A10 37 x 26 mm 1.5 x 1.0 in
A11 18 × 26 mm 0.7 × 1 in
A12 13 × 18 mm 0.5 × 0.7 in
A13 9 × 13 mm 0.4 × 0.5 in
2A0 1189 × 1682 mm 46.8 × 66.2 in
4A0 1682 × 2378 mm 66.2 × 93.6 in
A0+ 914 × 1292 mm 36 × 50.9 in
A1+ 609 × 914 mm 24 × 36 in
A3+ 329 × 483 mm 13 × 19 in
* The sizes in BOLD represent the most common requests at the Student Multimedia Design Center (SMDC) and those closest to the most common imperial poster request sizes. A0, A1, and A1+ are posters, while an A4 can be slightly adjusted to fit a letter-sized print.

 

IMPERIAL SIZES
Size Metric Imperial
Letter 279 x 216 mm 8.5 x 11 in
Legal 356 x 216 mm 8.5 x 14 in
Ledger 279 x 432 mm 11 x 17 in
A7 (Small Photo) 127 x 178 mm 5 x 7 in
* Letter and Ledger are the two standard sizes that the SMDC desk can print out without delay.

* The Imperial A7 measurement is a little different than the A7 size found on the ISO 216 standard. This comes from a European size standard called DIN A7, also known as a 5R size photo.

 

R Standard Series (Fig.3)
Size Metric Imperial
2R 36.5 x 88.9 mm 2.5 x 3.5 in
3R 88.9 x 127 mm 3.5 x 5 in
4R 102 x 152 mm 4 x 6 in
5R 127 x 178 mm 5 x 7 in
6R 152 x 203 mm 6 x 8 in
8R 203 x 254 mm 8 x 10 in
10R 254 x 305 mm 10 x 12 in
* This chart is very useful when printing photographs and wanting to figure out frame sizes for standard photo prints.

* The sizes listed in BOLD (2R and 4R) are some of the most common photo print sizes. 2R is a standard wallet size photo, 4R is the size of a postcard, 5R is used for the majority of framed photos and portraits, and 8R is a popular size for wall art and family photos that one might see framed on a wall!

* 4R is also the most common format as the 2 by 3 ratio is the default size ratio for photos taken on a majority of digital cameras!

 

Here at the SMDC, the poster printers are set up to handle any prints up to 36” wide, while the document printers can handle both Letter and Ledger sizes. Using these conversion charts, you can easily determine what sizes are needed for any desired handout, poster, or photo print.

 

This video is part of the weekly series “Multimedia Tips and Tricks,” which shares content in response to frequently asked questions from the Student Multimedia Design Center. We’d love to hear from you. Please share your feedback with us by filling out our survey.