Guides / Letter size paper
Paper size reference
Letter size paper dimensions.
US Letter paper is 8.5 × 11 inches, or 215.9 × 279.4 mm. It is the standard sheet for documents, printers and forms in the United States and Canada, the counterpart of A4 in the rest of the world.
The quick answer
8.5 × 11 in
Portrait, width × height
- Millimeters
- 215.9 × 279.4 mm
- Centimeters
- 21.59 × 27.94 cm
- Pixels at 300 DPI
- 2550 × 3300 px
- Aspect ratio
- 17:22 (1 : 1.294)
Letter size in inches, mm, cm and points
Letter is defined in inches, so the metric values below are exact conversions (one inch is exactly 25.4 mm), not roundings.
| Unit | Portrait | Landscape |
|---|---|---|
| Inches | 8.5 × 11 in | 11 × 8.5 in |
| Millimeters | 215.9 × 279.4 mm | 279.4 × 215.9 mm |
| Centimeters | 21.59 × 27.94 cm | 27.94 × 21.59 cm |
| Points (PDF, 1/72 in) | 612 × 792 pt | 792 × 612 pt |
| Picas | 51 × 66 pc | 66 × 51 pc |
In the US standard for drawing sizes the same sheet is called ANSI A, and the series continues with ANSI B (11 × 17, tabloid), ANSI C (17 × 22) and so on, each made of two sheets of the size below. Unlike the A series, the shapes alternate between two ratios instead of staying the same.
What is letter size in pixels?
Multiply 8.5 and 11 by the resolution you need. At 300 DPI that is 8.5 × 300 = 2550 and 11 × 300 = 3300 pixels.
| Resolution | Portrait pixels | Landscape pixels | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72 DPI | 612 × 792 px | 792 × 612 px | PDF page size in points, screen preview |
| 96 DPI | 816 × 1056 px | 1056 × 816 px | Screen and CSS layouts |
| 150 DPI | 1275 × 1650 px | 1650 × 1275 px | Drafts, email attachments of scans |
| 200 DPI | 1700 × 2200 px | 2200 × 1700 px | Good everyday print and scans |
| 300 DPI | 2550 × 3300 px | 3300 × 2550 px | High-quality print and archival scans |
| 600 DPI | 5100 × 6600 px | 6600 × 5100 px | Fine text and line-art scans |
For a printed flyer or a scanned document that must stay sharp, use 2550 × 3300 pixels. For a scan you will email or upload, 150 or 200 DPI keeps text readable at a fraction of the file size; if an upload form has a strict limit, a PDF compressor can bring a multi-page scan under it. To check a picture’s current pixel size, open it in the Image Metadata Viewer; to change it, use the Image Resizer.
Letter vs A4: which is bigger?
Neither is bigger in both directions. Letter is wider and A4 is taller, and A4 has about 3% more area.
| US Letter | A4 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 215.9 mm (8.5 in) | 210 mm (8.27 in) | Letter 5.9 mm wider |
| Height | 279.4 mm (11 in) | 297 mm (11.69 in) | A4 17.6 mm taller |
| Ratio | 1 : 1.294 | 1 : 1.414 | A4 is narrower in shape |
| Pixels at 300 DPI | 2550 × 3300 | 2480 × 3508 | |
| Used in | US, Canada, parts of Latin America | Most other countries |
When a letter document is printed on A4 with “fit to page”, the printer shrinks it to about 97% to fit the narrower width, and leaves extra space at the bottom. An A4 document printed on letter is shrunk to about 94% to fit the shorter height. Text documents survive either way. For forms with boxes that must line up, CVs with tight layouts, or anything with a printed scale, set the page size to match the paper the reader will use. Many international organizations publish both versions for this reason.
Legal, tabloid, half letter and other US sizes
| Size | Inches | Millimeters | Common use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half letter (statement) | 5.5 × 8.5 | 139.7 × 215.9 | Booklets, planners, notepads |
| Letter (ANSI A) | 8.5 × 11 | 215.9 × 279.4 | Documents, letters, forms |
| Government letter | 8 × 10.5 | 203.2 × 266.7 | Historic US government use |
| Legal | 8.5 × 14 | 215.9 × 355.6 | Contracts, some legal forms |
| Tabloid / ledger (ANSI B) | 11 × 17 | 279.4 × 431.8 | Posters, spreadsheets, drawings |
Tabloid is two letter pages side by side, much as A3 is two A4 pages. Half letter is a letter page folded in half, the usual size for a stapled booklet printed on letter paper. The international equivalents are A5 for half letter and A3 for tabloid.
Printing and setting up a letter page
- Pick the page size.In Word, Layout → Size → Letter. In Google Docs, File → Page setup → Letter. Apps installed outside North America often default to A4, so check before printing.
- Mind the printable area.Most desktop printers leave 0.125 to 0.25 inches unprinted at the edges. Keep text inside the default 1-inch margins.
- For edge-to-edge designs, add bleed.Print shops usually ask for 0.125 inches of bleed on each side: a file of 8.75 × 11.25 inches, trimmed to 8.5 × 11.
- Use the right resolution.Photos at 300 DPI (2550 × 3300 px for a full page); vector text in a PDF is sharp at any resolution.
- Print at 100%.Turn off “fit to page” when the file is already letter size, so measurements and form boxes stay exact.
Frequently asked questions
What are the dimensions of letter size paper?
US Letter is 8.5 × 11 inches in portrait orientation, which is exactly 215.9 × 279.4 mm or 21.59 × 27.94 cm. In landscape it is 11 × 8.5 inches.
What is letter size in pixels?
At 300 DPI, a letter page is 2550 × 3300 pixels. At 150 DPI it is 1275 × 1650 pixels, and at 72 DPI, the resolution PDF page sizes are measured in, it is 612 × 792.
Is letter size the same as A4?
No. A4 is 210 × 297 mm (8.27 × 11.69 in): about 6 mm narrower and 18 mm taller than letter. Documents usually print acceptably on the other size with “fit to page”, but layouts that fill the page can lose a margin or gain white space.
What is the difference between letter and legal size?
Both are 8.5 inches wide. Letter is 11 inches long and legal is 14 inches long (215.9 × 355.6 mm). Legal is used for some contracts and forms in the US.
Which countries use letter size paper?
Letter is the standard in the United States and Canada, and is also widely used in Mexico, the Philippines and several other countries in the Americas. Most of the rest of the world uses A4.
What are the default margins on a letter page?
Microsoft Word and Google Docs use 1-inch margins on all sides by default, which leaves a 6.5 × 9 inch area for text. Many printers cannot print right to the edge, leaving about 0.125 to 0.25 inches unprinted.
Calculation note: millimeters = inches × 25.4; pixels = inches × DPI. Points are 1/72 inch and picas are 1/6 inch. A4 values are rounded to two decimals in inches.
Scans and images
Make an image fit a letter page.
Crop to the 8.5 × 11 shape, then resize to the pixels you need. Nothing is uploaded.