Letter paper size
215.9 × 279.4 mm
8.5 × 11 inches · 21.59 × 27.94 cm · aspect ratio 1:1.29
Letter size is 215.9 × 279.4 mm. Those are the Letter dimensions a printer works to; the same sheet in centimetres, inches, points and pixels is below.
What Letter is for
Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches, is the North American default and the reason cross-border documents misbehave. It is 6 mm wider and 18 mm shorter than A4, a difference small enough that a page looks fine either way and large enough that anything positioned near an edge moves. The size has no geometric derivation — unlike A4 it is not half of anything and its 1:1.29 ratio does not survive folding — so a Letter sheet folded in half gives 8.5 × 5.5, which is a different shape rather than a smaller Letter.
Letter dimensions in every unit
| Unit | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Millimetres | 215.9 mm | 279.4 mm |
| Centimetres | 21.59 cm | 27.94 cm |
| Inches | 8.5 in | 11 in |
| Points (PostScript) | 612 pt | 792 pt |
Letter in pixels
Pixel dimensions depend entirely on the resolution you are working at — there is no single "pixel size" for a sheet of paper. Letter size in pixels has every resolution, with file sizes and canvas setup.
| Resolution | Pixels | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 72 DPI | 612 × 792 | Screen preview only — far too coarse to print |
| 150 DPI | 1275 × 1650 | Draft printing, internal documents |
| 300 DPI | 2550 × 3300 | The standard for commercial print |
| 600 DPI | 5100 × 6600 | 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 Letter relates to the rest of the series
This sheet is about the area of a single Letter sheet, at 215.9 × 279.4 mm.
Its aspect ratio is 1:1.294. 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 Letter
The North American default: 8.5 × 11 inches. Slightly wider and shorter than A4, which is why documents laid out for one never quite fit the other.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | 215.9 × 355.6 mm | 8.5 × 14 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 Letter in mm?
215.9 × 279.4 mm.
What size is Letter in inches?
8.5 × 11 inches.
What size is Letter in pixels?
There is no single answer — it depends on resolution. At the print standard of 300 DPI it is 2550 × 3300 pixels; at 72 DPI it is only 612 × 792.