Legal paper size
215.9 × 355.6 mm
8.5 × 14 inches · 21.59 × 35.56 cm · aspect ratio 1:1.65
Legal size is 215.9 × 355.6 mm. Those are the Legal dimensions a printer works to; the same sheet in centimetres, inches, points and pixels is below.
What Legal is for
Legal is Letter width with three extra inches of height: 8.5 × 14 inches. It is used for contracts, deeds and court filings in the US and Canada, and almost nowhere else — which means a Legal PDF opened outside North America will usually be scaled or clipped by the default printer settings. The extra length exists to fit more clauses on a page without a continuation sheet.
Legal dimensions in every unit
| Unit | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Millimetres | 215.9 mm | 355.6 mm |
| Centimetres | 21.59 cm | 35.56 cm |
| Inches | 8.5 in | 14 in |
| Points (PostScript) | 612 pt | 1008 pt |
Legal in pixels
Pixel dimensions depend entirely on the resolution you are working at — there is no single "pixel size" for a sheet of paper. Legal size in pixels has every resolution, with file sizes and canvas setup.
| Resolution | Pixels | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 72 DPI | 612 × 1008 | Screen preview only — far too coarse to print |
| 150 DPI | 1275 × 2100 | Draft printing, internal documents |
| 300 DPI | 2550 × 4200 | The standard for commercial print |
| 600 DPI | 5100 × 8400 | Fine detail, line art, archival scanning |
Setting up a print document? Use 300 DPI and add 3 mm of bleed on every edge unless your printer specifies otherwise.
How Legal relates to the rest of the series
This sheet is about the area of a single Letter sheet, at 215.9 × 355.6 mm.
Its aspect ratio is 1:1.647. This is where the US system differs from A sizes in a way that matters: the A series keeps a constant 1:1.414 through every fold, while doubling a Letter-based sheet alternates between roughly 1:1.29 and 1:1.55. A drawing scaled from one ANSI size to the next therefore does not fill the sheet the way an A-series drawing does, and something always has to be cropped or padded.
That single difference is why documents laid out for one system never move cleanly to the other, and why a "fit to page" print from Letter to A4 leaves uneven margins rather than simply shrinking.
About Legal
Letter width, three inches taller: 8.5 × 14 inches. Used for contracts and legal filings in the US and Canada.
Letter vs A4
Letter is 6 mm wider and 18 mm shorter than A4. That small difference is why a PDF laid out for A4 prints with clipped edges or unexpected margins on US paper, and why "Fit to page" exists in every print dialog. There is no scaling factor that makes them match — the aspect ratios genuinely differ (1:1.294 for Letter, 1:1.414 for A4).
Other North American sizes
| Size | Millimetres | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| Letter | 215.9 × 279.4 mm | 8.5 × 11 in |
| Tabloid | 279.4 × 431.8 mm | 11 × 17 in |
| Executive | 184.15 × 266.7 mm | 7.25 × 10.5 in |
| Half Letter | 139.7 × 215.9 mm | 5.5 × 8.5 in |
| Junior Legal | 127 × 203.2 mm | 5 × 8 in |
| ANSI C | 431.8 × 558.8 mm | 17 × 22 in |
| ANSI D | 558.8 × 863.6 mm | 22 × 34 in |
| ANSI E | 863.6 × 1117.6 mm | 34 × 44 in |
Frequently asked questions
What size is Legal in mm?
215.9 × 355.6 mm.
What size is Legal in inches?
8.5 × 14 inches.
What size is Legal in pixels?
There is no single answer — it depends on resolution. At the print standard of 300 DPI it is 2550 × 4200 pixels; at 72 DPI it is only 612 × 1008.