ANSI A · North American standard
US Letter size — 8.5 × 11 inches
US Letter is 8.5 × 11 inches — exactly 215.9 × 279.4 mm and 2550 × 3300 pixels at 300 DPI. It is the everyday document size of the United States, Canada and Mexico: the sheet in every office printer tray, school binder and résumé template across North America.
US Letter — instant conversion
| Unit | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Millimetres (mm) | 215.9 mm | 279.4 mm |
| Centimetres (cm) | 21.59 cm | 27.94 cm |
| Inches (in) | 8.5 in | 11 in |
| Pixels @ 300 DPI | 2550 px | 3300 px |
| PostScript points (pt) | 612 pt | 792 pt |
| Picas | 51 | 66 |
Change the DPI selector to see the pixel resolution at 72, 96, 150, 200, 300 or 600 DPI. Physical dimensions (mm, cm, in, pt, picas) do not change with DPI.
Letter in pixels — exact at every DPI
Because Letter is defined in inches and DPI means dots per inch, every common resolution lands on a whole number — no rounding, ever. (A4, defined in millimetres, never gets this luxury.)
| DPI | Width (px) | Height (px) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 612 | 792 | Legacy screens — also the PDF point size |
| 96 | 816 | 1056 | Windows / web display |
| 150 | 1275 | 1650 | Draft print, everyday scans |
| 200 | 1700 | 2200 | Office scanning standard |
| 300 | 2550 | 3300 | Commercial print standard |
| 600 | 5100 | 6600 | Fine text, archival scans |
Metric and typographic values: 215.9 × 279.4 mm (exact), 21.59 × 27.94 cm, 612 × 792 pt, area 93.5 in² (603.2 cm²), aspect ratio 1 : 1.294.
Letter · 8.5 × 11 in
Letter vs A4, Legal and Tabloid
| Size | Inches | Millimetres | vs Letter | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Letter (ANSI A) | 8.5 × 11 | 215.9 × 279.4 | — | (this page) |
| A4 | 8.27 × 11.69 | 210 × 297 | −6 mm W, +18 mm H | A4 vs Letter |
| US Legal | 8.5 × 14 | 215.9 × 355.6 | same width, +3 in tall | Legal page |
| Tabloid (ANSI B) | 11 × 17 | 279.4 × 431.8 | 2 × Letter | Tabloid page |
| Half Letter | 5.5 × 8.5 | 139.7 × 215.9 | ½ × Letter | planner size |
Two Letter sheets side by side make exactly one Tabloid (11 × 17), and half a Letter is exactly 5.5 × 8.5 — the doubling works perfectly because the numbers are defined in inches. What the ANSI ladder does not keep constant is the aspect ratio: it alternates between 1 : 1.294 and 1 : 1.545 at each step, so a Letter layout does not scale onto Tabloid without letterboxing — the key structural difference from the ISO A-series, where every size shares 1 : √2.
Where Letter is used
- Office documents across the US, Canada and Mexico
- Résumés and cover letters for North American applications
- School work, handouts and academic papers
- Court and government filings (with Legal for some contracts)
- Default page size of US-locale Word, Docs and printers
- Church bulletins, flyers and newsletters (folded in half → Half Letter)
Design specs for Letter print
- Standard margins
- 1 in (25.4 mm) all sides · 0.5 in tight
- Bleed (US convention)
- 0.125 in / side → export 8.75 × 11.25 in
- Safe area
- keep content ≥ 0.125 in inside trim
- Print-ready image
- 2550 × 3300 px at 300 DPI
- Cross-format safety
- designs that must also print on A4: keep everything inside 210 × 279.4 mm
Frequently asked questions
What size is US Letter in cm and mm?
US Letter is 21.59 × 27.94 cm — exactly 215.9 × 279.4 mm. The size is defined in inches (8.5 × 11), so the metric values are exact conversions at 25.4 mm per inch, with no rounding.
What is US Letter in pixels?
Because Letter is defined in inches, every common DPI gives a whole-number result: 2550 × 3300 px at 300 DPI, 1275 × 1650 at 150 DPI, 816 × 1056 at 96 DPI and 612 × 792 at 72 DPI. This is unlike A4, whose millimetre definition produces rounded pixel counts.
Is US Letter the same as A4?
No. A4 is 210 × 297 mm; Letter is 215.9 × 279.4 mm. Letter is about 6 mm wider and 18 mm shorter, and A4 has roughly 3.4 % more area. Documents laid out for one will print on the other, but only with scaling or generous margins — see our full A4 vs US Letter comparison.
Why does the US use 8.5 × 11 instead of A4?
The 8.5 × 11 sheet was standardised by US committee work in the early 20th century and became the single federal standard in the 1980s, replacing the older 8 × 10.5 in "Government Letter". The often-told origin story — that 11 inches comes from quartering a traditional vatman's mould sheet — is plausible but thinly documented; what is certain is that the size predates ISO 216 and was too entrenched to change once the metric A-series spread elsewhere.
What is US Letter in PostScript points?
Exactly 612 × 792 points (1 point = 1/72 inch, and 8.5 × 72 = 612, 11 × 72 = 792). These are the numbers you see as the default page box in PDF tools — and, coincidentally, the same figures as the 72 DPI pixel size.
What are standard margins for a Letter document?
1 inch (25.4 mm) on all four sides is the office and academic default — Word and Google Docs ship with it. Tight business layouts go to 0.75 in or 0.5 in; most home printers cannot print inside roughly the outer 5 mm (0.2 in) regardless of the margin setting.
What bleed does US Letter need for full-bleed printing?
The North American convention is 0.125 in (3.175 mm) per side, making the export size 8.75 × 11.25 in (222.25 × 285.75 mm). Keep critical content at least 0.125–0.25 in inside the trim.
What is Half Letter?
Half Letter is 5.5 × 8.5 in (139.7 × 215.9 mm) — a Letter sheet cut in half across its width. It is the standard US personal-planner and booklet size, and the closest US cousin to A5 (148 × 210 mm).
Which countries use Letter instead of A4?
The United States, Canada and Mexico use Letter as the everyday office size, along with several countries in Central and South America and the Philippines. Practically everywhere else standardised on ISO 216 A4.
What is ANSI A?
ANSI A is the formal designation of the Letter sheet inside the American ANSI/ASME Y14.1 series: A = 8.5 × 11, B = 11 × 17 (Tabloid), C = 17 × 22, D = 22 × 34, E = 34 × 44 in. Each step doubles the area like the ISO series, but because the base sheet is not 1:√2, the aspect ratio alternates between 1:1.294 and 1:1.545 instead of staying constant.