Paper Sizes

Hello, Crafty Peeps,

Today we are going to talk about paper sizes.   Here is a chart that will help new paper crafters understand some of the references you will see in various challenges.

The most difficult part of any undertaking is learning the "lingo."  Even crafting has it's own language that can be confusing to the uninitiated.  As you begin to participate in challenges, you may be baffled by unfamiliar terminology.  Or, if you are following a tutorial that was made in the UK, the metric system may be your stumbling block.  We will try to de-mystify the paper speak and help you get started crafting instead of cruising the net looking for answers.

American paper sizes

The US and Canada do not use the international standards but instead rely on the paper sizes below. The ANSI standard was added in 1995 to create a set of sizes that are based on shared dimensions. It lacks however the consistent aspect ratio of the ISO A-series.

	Millimeters		Inches		Points
	Width	Height	Width	Height	Width	Height
Letter (ANSI A)	215.9	279.4	8.5	11	612	792
Legal	215.9	355.6	8.5	14	612	1008
Ledger (ANSI B)	279.4	431.8	11	17	792	1224
Tabloid (ANSI B)	431.8	279.4	17	11	1224	792
Executive	184.1	266.7	7.25	10.55	522	756
ANSI C	559	432	22	17	1584	1224
ANSI D	864	559	34	22	2448	1584
ANSI E	1118	864	44	34	3168	2448

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Half Fold

The easiest card in the world to make is the Half Fold.  You simply fold an 8 1/2" sheet of paper in half either vertically or horizontally.  Your finished card will measure 4 1/4" x 5 1/2.

Quarter Fold

The quarter fold is merely a half fold that is then folded in half vertically.

In card making, rather than folding on the dotted lines, the paper is cut either vertically or horizontally and then folded.  You can make two cards using one sheet of paper.  If you want to use the French Quarter Fold, it is possible to print sentiments on all panels.  But we will discuss that when we get into actual card making.

Basic Card Folds

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A5

A5 is a paper size that is often used for notepads or pocket books.

Dimensions

A5 measures 148 × 210 millimeters or 5.83 × 8.27 inches. In PostScript, its dimensions are rounded off to 420 × 595 points.

Part of the ISO 216 standard

A5 is part of a set or range of page sizes, called the ISO A or ISO 216 standard. This international standard is based on the German DIN 476 standard from 1922. A5 is actually often referred to as DIN A5. The Japanese have adopted the same range of paper sizes in their JIS P 0138-61 standard.
By folding an A5 in two along its shortest side, you create an A6 document. Two A5 pages next to each other in a spread equals the A4 paper size. This way a range of paper sizes are created from A0 (which has a surface of one square meter) to A10. The height/width ratio remains constant (1:1.41 or the square root of 2) for all sizes. The dimensions always get rounded to the nearest millimeter.