Sizes, explained.
Almost no size in print is arbitrary. Each one comes from the sheet it is cut from, the envelope it goes in, or the mailbox it has to fit. Here are the sizes we are asked for most, why each is the size it is, and what it mails in.
Why a size is the size it is.
Three things decide nearly every size on this page: the sheet, the envelope and the post office.
8.5 x 11
The sheet
Letter is a quarter of the 17 x 22 in sheet that office paper (bond) is weighed and sold on. Fold it and you have half letter, 5.5 x 8.5. Double it and you have tabloid, 11 x 17. Quarter it and you have a 4.25 x 5.5 card. Our parent sheets, the big sheets we print on and cut down, are 12 x 18 and 13 x 19 in, and this family tiles onto them with little left over. A size outside the family comes from the same sheets; it leaves more of the sheet on the floor, and what is trimmed away is on the quote.
+0.25 in
The envelope
A card is sized to its envelope, not the other way around. An envelope is about a quarter inch bigger than its card, an eighth of an inch of air on each side, so the card slides in without catching and does not rattle. (The two smallest, A1 and A2, give an eighth in width and a quarter in height.) A 5 x 7 card takes an A7 envelope, 5.25 x 7.25 in. Choose the envelope first and the card size is decided.
6.125 x 11.5
The mailbox
The post office sorts by size and charges by class. A postcard is at most 4.25 x 6 in, a letter at most 6.125 x 11.5 in and 0.25 in thick, and anything bigger is a flat. Every mailer size on this page sits just inside one of those lines: a 4 x 6 postcard, a 6 x 11 card, a 6 x 9 envelope. Cross a line and the postage changes.
Business cards and postcards.
One size fits a wallet, in two orientations, and a square that does not. The rest are mailers, each sized against a postal line.
3.5 x 2 in
The business card
The American standard, within an eighth of an inch of a credit card (3.375 x 2.125 in) either way, so it fits wallet slots, card holders and desk boxes. Built at 4 x 2.5 in with bleed, printed many to a sheet and cut to size on our own cutter. This is the card on our shop page.
2 x 3.5 in
Vertical
The same card turned on end: same stock, same wallet, and the same order on our shop page, since only the artwork changes. Build the file as a page 2 in wide and 3.5 in tall rather than a horizontal card with the art rotated, so the proof reads the way the card will be held.
2.5 x 2.5 in
Square
Stands out in a stack and does not fit a card slot or a holder, which is the appeal and the catch in one. Square cards are a quote rather than a shop order, and rounded corners are a line on it. There is also 2 x 2 in, which works as a tag or a token more than as a card. A card that is not a rectangle at all (a circle, a tag with a hole) is cut on our plotter or our laser, with no die to make; the finishes guide covers it.
4 x 6 in
The postcard
The classic, and the largest common size inside the postcard limit of 4.25 x 6 in, so it mails at the postcard rate on its own. It is also the size of a photo print, and it slides into an A6 envelope when you want one (and then it mails as a letter). Cover stock, so it survives the mail; the paper guide has the weights.
5 x 7 in
The invitation size
Too big for the postcard rate, so it mails as a letter, bare or in an A7 envelope. It is the size wedding invitations settled on: room for a date, a place and a name at a size that reads at arm's length, and it fits a standard frame afterward. As a postcard it is the sturdy, generous one.
6 x 9, 6 x 11
The big mailers
The largest cards that still mail as letters. A 6 x 11 sits just inside the 6.125 x 11.5 in limit, the biggest piece the letter rate allows; a 6 x 9 does the same with a little less to say. Either is a small poster that lands in a hand. Anything bigger becomes a flat, and the postage steps up.
A postcard gets the postcard rate only up to 0.016 in thick, which is 16 pt. Our 80 lb and 100 lb covers and the 12 pt coated-one-side card are inside the line. The 130 lb covers are another matter: the coated ones sit close to it and the thick uncoated one is over it, and a card over the line mails as a letter. A laminate adds about a point a side; a UV coating adds next to nothing. Tell us a card is mailing bare and we will put it on a stock that qualifies; the paper guide has the calipers.
Letter, and everything cut or folded from it.
One family of sizes. Fold it, halve it or double it and you have most of what sits on a desk.
Drawn at one scale
Letter, half letter, a 4 x 6 postcard and a business card, drawn to the same scale, with a #10 envelope and a 5 x 7 card beside them. Half letter is letter folded once. The postcard is close to a quarter of the sheet. The card is what a wallet takes.
8.5 x 11 in
Letter
The page. Letterhead, flyers, one-sheets, menus, the pages of a full-size booklet. Folded in thirds it fits a #10 envelope; flat, it needs a 9 x 12 and mails as a flat. Two fit on a 13 x 19 parent sheet with their bleed and the margin the press needs, with little of the sheet left over.
5.5 x 8.5 in
Half letter
Letter folded in half. The most common booklet size, and the size of programs, menus, notepads and a good many invitations. Flat, it goes in an A9 or a 6 x 9 envelope. Folded once more it is a 4.25 x 5.5 in card in an A2. Four to a 13 x 19 parent sheet with their bleed.
8.5 x 14 in
Legal
Letter with three more inches, kept alive by contracts, forms and restaurant menus. Little else on the desk is made for it: most folders, frames and envelopes assume letter. Folded in four along its length, to 8.5 x 3.5, it fits a #10; flat, a 10 x 15. If a document only needs the room, a letter booklet or a folded tabloid is often the better answer.
11 x 17 in
Tabloid
Two letters side by side, called ledger when it lies on its side. The small poster, the newsletter, the menu that folds to letter, and folded in half, every letter-size booklet. Unfolded it is too long to mail as a flat and ships as a parcel; folded to letter it goes in a 9 x 12, or folded in thirds after that, in a #10.
x4
Booklets
A saddle-stitched booklet is folded sheets, and each sheet is four pages. Letter sheets fold to a 5.5 x 8.5 in booklet; tabloid sheets fold to an 8.5 x 11 in one. Those two are on the shop page, 8 to 64 pages in steps of four. A 6 x 9 (the paperback size), a square, or anything else is a quote; the artwork guide covers the file.
Sheets and cards are written width by height: 8.5 x 11 is portrait, 11 x 8.5 is landscape. Envelopes are the one exception: by long custom the trade writes them short side first, as they sit with the flap up, so a #10 is 4.125 x 9.5 in and 9.5 in wide, and we keep to that so the numbers match the box. Metric sizes are welcome too: A4 is 8.27 x 11.69 in (210 x 297 mm) and A3 is 11.69 x 16.54 in (297 x 420 mm), and both come from the same parent sheets. They are a different family from the A envelopes in the next section, which are an American series. For anything that folds, tell us the flat size, the folded size and which way it folds, and we take it from there.
Invitations and the envelopes they fit.
Announcement envelopes come in a lettered series, each about a quarter inch bigger than its card. Choose the envelope, and the card size is settled.
A card and its envelope
An envelope is about 0.25 in bigger than its card in both directions, so there is 0.125 in of air on each side. Tighter and the card catches on the flap and scuffs going in; looser and it slides around and the corners ding in the mail. The bigger sizes in the series all keep that gap; A1 and A2 give a little less in width. The figure is drawn to scale: the gap is small, and it is enough.
A2
4.375 x 5.75 in, for a 4.25 x 5.5 in card
A quarter of a letter sheet, or a half letter folded once. Thank-you notes, RSVP cards, enclosure cards, small flat invitations. Six come from a 13 x 19 parent sheet with their bleed. With a pointed flap the same envelope is called a 5.5 bar.
A6
4.75 x 6.5 in, for a 4.5 x 6.25 in card
Also the envelope for a 4 x 6 in postcard or photo, with a little room around it. Save-the-dates, holiday photo cards, a folded note made from a 6.25 x 9 in sheet. The pointed-flap version is a 6 bar.
A7
5.25 x 7.25 in, for a 5 x 7 in card
The invitation envelope. It takes a 5 x 7 invitation plus a details card and an RSVP card in its own A1 envelope (3.625 x 5.125 in, the 4 bar), all flat, and still mails as a letter. Most wedding suites are built around it, and a 5 x 7 frame is waiting afterward.
A9, A10
For a 5.5 x 8.5 or a 5.75 x 9.25 in card
A9 is 5.75 x 8.75 in and takes a half-letter piece flat, or a letter folded in half: programs, larger invitations, a brochure with a note. A10 is 6 x 9.5 in and takes a 5.75 x 9.25 in card, the announcement with presence. At 6 in tall it is the last of the series that still mails as a letter.
5.5 x 5.5 in
Square, in a 5.75 x 5.75 in envelope
Square looks modern on a table and costs more in the mail. The sorting machines orient a piece by its long side, and a square has none, so a square envelope is nonmachinable and pays a surcharge on every piece. Square envelopes are a special order rather than a stock item. Worth it for some; know before you commit.
Flat cards go in any of these. A folded card takes the envelope of its folded size: a 7 x 10 in sheet folded once is a 5 x 7 and goes in an A7. Envelope, card and RSVP set are lines on one quote.
Business envelopes.
Numbered rather than lettered (a #10 is read as number ten), and most of them sized to a letter sheet folded one way or another.
A letter, folded in thirds
A letter sheet folded twice is 8.5 x 3.67 in. A #10 envelope is 4.125 x 9.5 in, so there is an inch to spare across and nearly half an inch up and down, and the folded sheet goes in without a fight. Nearly every business envelope size is this arithmetic done for a different fold.
#10
4.125 x 9.5 in
The business envelope: letterhead, invoices, statements, a letter with a business card tucked in the fold. A 4 x 9 in rack card, the size brochure holders take and a size on our Start a project path, goes in flat, which is no accident. Plain, or printed with a return address and a logo on the face or the flap. It mails as a letter, and so does most of what fits in it.
#9
3.875 x 8.875 in
The reply envelope, a quarter inch less tall and five eighths of an inch less wide than a #10, so it goes inside one flat. Address it to yourself and send it with the invoice, the appeal or the RSVP, and it comes back with the answer. The #6 3/4, at 3.625 x 6.5 in, is the personal size: a letter folded in half, then in thirds.
6 x 9 in
The booklet envelope
Holds a half-letter piece flat or a letter folded once, and at 6 in tall it still mails as a letter, which is what makes it useful. It comes two ways: booklet style opens on the long side, so a booklet slides in without bending; catalog style opens on the short end. Also the envelope for a 5.5 x 8.5 in booklet, up to 0.25 in thick.
9 x 12 in
The catalog envelope
A letter sheet flat, a folder, a booklet, a proposal you do not want creased. It is a flat to the post office, not a letter, so the postage steps up. Opens on the short end. The 10 x 13 in takes a thicker stack or a 9 x 12 presentation folder with something in its pockets, and the 10 x 15 takes a legal sheet flat.
#10 window
Window envelopes
A #10 with a window shows the address printed on the letter itself, so nothing is addressed twice and no letter goes in the wrong envelope. The standard window is 4.5 x 1.125 in, 0.875 in from the left edge and 0.5 in from the bottom, so the address block has to land there after the fold, with at least 0.125 in of clear space between the address and every edge of the window however the letter shifts inside. Ask us for the template.
Envelopes come plain or printed, in white and natural as standard and in colors to match a suite by order. Either way the envelope is a line on the quote beside the piece that goes in it.
Posters and prints.
Past the sheet, sizes come from frames, easels, the width of the roll, and how far away the reader is standing.
11 x 17 in
The small poster
Tabloid: the flyer that becomes a poster. It fits a standard frame, a bulletin board and a shop window, and it comes off the sheet press, from a 13 x 19 sheet with its bleed, on the same papers as everything else on this page. It is read up close, so build it the way you would build a page.
18 x 24 in
The poster
The size the ready-made frames are cut for, and the poster in the frame on an easel by the door. Concert posters, event posters, a menu in a frame. From this size up, a poster is printed wide format, from a roll of poster paper or photo paper. It is 3 to 4 in proportion and a 24 x 36 is 2 to 3, so the same design does not simply scale between them; design for the size you will print.
24 x 36 in
The big poster
The largest common frame size, and about the biggest poster one person carries comfortably. Trade show posters, window posters, directional posters in a frame or a stand, a conference poster. Past it, 36 x 48 in is the easel size, and the size most conference poster sessions ask for. Build the file at full size; the artwork guide covers the resolution.
One piece
As wide as the roll, and wider
Prints up to 44 in wide come off the roll here, 44 in on the short side and as long as the roll on the other, in one piece with no seam: a 40 x 60 in display, a print for a whole wall, a timeline down a hallway. Wider ones are by arrangement: name the size. Pigment inks on paper, photo media and more; the print holds its color for years indoors and, on the right media or under a laminate, outdoors too.
16 x 20 in
Photographs and art prints
The same pigment inks make photographic and fine art prints, on photo paper and on matte art papers. 8 x 10, 11 x 14, 16 x 20, 20 x 30 and 24 x 36 in are the frame sizes, and any size between them, or past them, is trimmed from the roll. Send the full-resolution image, not a copy sized for a screen; the artwork guide says how large it needs to be.
4 x 8 ft
Banners, yard signs and rigid boards
Vinyl banners, corrugated plastic yard signs, foam board and PVC boards, and retractable banner stands are printed on the media each one wants and go on the order through Start a project, sized and quoted with the job. For sizing, a yard sign is 24 x 18 or 18 x 24 in on an H-stake, a banner runs 2 x 4 to 4 x 8 ft, written tall by wide as the sign trade does, with grommets every 2 ft or so, and a retractable stand is 33 x 80 in.
If a poster will be framed, buy the frame first and tell us its size. Frames come in 11 x 17, 16 x 20, 18 x 24 and 24 x 36 in, and a poster half an inch off does not fit any of them. A print from the roll is trimmed to whatever size you name, so an odd frame is no trouble. Type on a poster wants about 1 in of letter height for every 10 ft the reader stands away.
What the post office decides.
Three size classes, and a surcharge for anything the sorting machines cannot handle. This is where a size choice becomes a postage choice.
4.25 x 6 in
Postcard
A rectangular card between 3.5 x 5 and 4.25 x 6 in, and between 0.007 and 0.016 in thick. Inside those lines it mails at the postcard rate, the lowest postage class. A 4 x 6 qualifies; a 5 x 7 does not, and neither does a card on our thickest uncoated cover.
6.125 x 11.5
Letter
Anything up to 6.125 x 11.5 in, 0.25 in thick and 3.5 oz. That covers every envelope on this page through the A10 and the 6 x 9, and every bare card from 5 x 7 up to 6 x 11. Weight is the thing that sneaks up: a full invitation suite on cotton can need more postage than the envelope suggests.
12 x 15 in
Flat
Larger than a letter, up to 12 x 15 in and 0.75 in thick: the 9 x 12 and 10 x 13 envelopes, a legal sheet in a 10 x 15, a catalog. More to mail than a letter, less than a parcel. If a piece can fold to letter size without harm, folding it keeps it at the letter rate.
1.3 to 2.5
Square and other shapes
A machine sorts a letter by its long side, so it wants a piece between 1.3 and 2.5 times as long as it is tall. A 4 x 6 is 1.5 and a 5 x 7 is 1.4. A 5.5 x 5.5 square is 1.0 and pays a nonmachinable surcharge on every piece, and so does a piece addressed the tall way, with the address lines running along its short side.
0.25 in
Rigid and lumpy
A letter has to bend a little on its way through. A piece that will not, or that has a lump in it (a magnet, a pen, a clasp, a button, a cardboard stiffener), is nonmachinable, and anything over 0.25 in thick is a flat whatever its footprint. A card on any of our cover stocks bends enough; what goes in with it is the question.
1 or 2 tabs
Self-mailers
A folded piece mailed without an envelope (a brochure, a newsletter) is a letter if it folds down inside the letter limits, and its open edge has to be sealed with tabs so it does not catch in the machine. The final fold goes at the bottom, the tabs on the top edge, and the address panel faces out. Tabbing is a line on the quote; leave room for the tabs in the design.
These are the USPS rules as commonly published, stated here to explain the sizes. They change, and the prices with them, so check the current USPS rules, or ask us, before you commit a mailing to a size.
Every size, on one page.
Inches, width by height, unless marked in feet; envelopes short side first, as the trade writes them. What each one is for, and what it goes in.
| Piece | Size | Used for | Envelope, or how it mails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business card | 3.5 x 2 | Wallets, card holders, the card on our shop page | Under the postal minimum of 3.5 x 5 in, so never mailed bare; tucked in a #10, or boxed |
| Business card, vertical | 2 x 3.5 | The same card turned on end | Not mailed on its own; tucked in a #10, or boxed |
| Business card, square | 2.5 x 2.5 | A card that stands out, and does not fit a card slot; a quote | Not mailed on its own; boxed |
| Postcard | 4 x 6 | Postcards, photo prints, mailers | Postcard rate bare; in an A6 envelope, letter rate |
| Postcard | 5 x 7 | Postcards, photo cards, invitations mailed bare | Letter rate, bare or in an A7 envelope |
| Postcard | 6 x 9 | Mailers, one-sheets, menus | Letter rate bare |
| Postcard | 6 x 11 | The biggest mailer that is still a letter | Letter rate bare |
| Rack card | 4 x 9 | Brochure holders, menus, price lists; a #10 insert | #10 flat; letter rate |
| Half letter | 5.5 x 8.5 | Programs, menus, notepads, flyers, booklet pages | A9 or 6 x 9 flat; letter rate |
| Letter | 8.5 x 11 | Letterhead, flyers, one-sheets, booklet pages | #10 folded in thirds; 9 x 12 flat, as a flat |
| Legal | 8.5 x 14 | Contracts, forms, menus | #10 folded in four along its length; 10 x 15 flat, as a flat |
| Tabloid | 11 x 17 | Small posters, newsletters, menus that fold to letter | Folded to letter, a 9 x 12; unfolded, it ships as a parcel |
| Booklet, small | 5.5 x 8.5 | Programs, catalogs, zines: 8 to 64 pages on the shop page | 6 x 9 or A9; letter rate up to 0.25 in thick |
| Booklet, large | 8.5 x 11 | Magazines, reports, lookbooks: 8 to 64 pages on the shop page | 9 x 12, as a flat |
| A1 card (4 bar) | 3.5 x 4.875 | RSVP cards | A1, 3.625 x 5.125; the card alone is under the postal minimum, so it always goes in its envelope |
| A2 card | 4.25 x 5.5 | Notes, thank-yous, enclosure cards | A2, 4.375 x 5.75 |
| A6 card | 4.5 x 6.25 | Save-the-dates, photo cards | A6, 4.75 x 6.5 |
| A7 card | 5 x 7 | Invitations, postcards | A7, 5.25 x 7.25; letter rate bare or in it |
| A9 card | 5.5 x 8.5 | Large invitations, programs | A9, 5.75 x 8.75 |
| A10 card | 5.75 x 9.25 | Announcements | A10, 6 x 9.5; the last that mails as a letter |
| Square card | 5.5 x 5.5 | Invitations | 5.75 x 5.75 square; nonmachinable surcharge |
| #10 envelope | 4.125 x 9.5 | Business mail: a letter folded in thirds | Letter rate |
| #9 envelope | 3.875 x 8.875 | Reply envelope; fits inside a #10 | Letter rate |
| #6 3/4 envelope | 3.625 x 6.5 | Personal mail: a letter folded in half, then in thirds | Letter rate |
| 6 x 9 envelope | 6 x 9 | Half letter flat, a letter folded once, a small booklet | Letter rate up to 0.25 in thick |
| 9 x 12 envelope | 9 x 12 | A letter sheet flat, folders, proposals | A flat |
| 10 x 13 envelope | 10 x 13 | Thicker sets, a folder with full pockets | A flat |
| 10 x 15 envelope | 10 x 15 | A legal sheet flat | A flat |
| Poster | 11 x 17 | Bulletin boards, windows, frames; from the sheet press | Flat in a box; a parcel |
| Poster or print | 16 x 20 | Frames, photographs | Rolled in a tube; a parcel |
| Poster | 18 x 24 | Easels, frames, event posters | Rolled in a tube; a parcel |
| Poster | 24 x 36 | Trade shows, windows, directional posters | Rolled in a tube; a parcel |
| Poster | 36 x 48 | Easels, conference posters | Rolled in a tube; a parcel |
| Print from the roll | Up to 44 wide, as long as the roll; wider by arrangement | Photographs, art prints, displays, in one piece; indoors, or outdoors on the right media | Rolled in a tube; a parcel |
| Yard sign | 24 x 18 or 18 x 24 | Corrugated plastic on an H-stake; on the order through Start a project | Ships flat; a parcel |
| Rigid board | 18 x 24 to 36 x 48 | Foam board or PVC on an easel or a wall; on the order through Start a project | Ships flat; a parcel |
| Banner | 2 x 4 to 4 x 8 ft, tall by wide | Vinyl with grommets, for tables, fences, railings; on the order through Start a project | Folded or rolled; a parcel |
| Retractable stand | 33 x 80 | Events, lobbies, trade shows; on the order through Start a project | Travels in its own bag |
Any size can be cut. Cards, sheets and posters are cut to size on our own finishing equipment, so a size that is not on this list is simply a quote. It comes from the same parent sheets or the same roll, and whatever is trimmed away is on the quote. Standard or not, build the file at the finished size with 0.25 in of bleed on every side and nothing important within 0.125 in of the trim (0.25 in for booklets).
Not sure which size? Tell us what it has to do.
Say where the piece ends up (a wallet, an envelope, a mailbox, an easel) and we will name the size and the envelope before you design a thing. Size is the one decision that is easiest to get right at the start and hardest to change after.