The International Paper Sizes
Many paper size standards conventions have existed at different times and in different countries. ISO 216 specifies international standard paper sizes used in most countries in the world today, although not in Canada, United States, Mexico, Columbia, or the Dominican Republic. The most common paper sizes series is type A and B, including A4 which is the most commonly available size throughout the entire world and has become the standard business letter size in English speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand and UK.
The dimensions of the A series paper sizes are given in the table below in both millimetres and inches (cm measurements can be obtained by dividing mm value by 10). The A Series paper size chart below gives a visual representation of how the sizes relate to each other – for example A5 is half of A4 size paper and A2 is half of A1 size paper. Meanwhile, the B Series paper sizes were created in order to provide paper sizes that weren’t covered by the A series. The B Series paper size can also be seen on the chart below.
The paper sizes bigger than A0, 4A0 & 2A0, aren’t formally defined by ISO 216 but are commonly used for oversized paper. These formats originated from German DIN 476 standard, that was the original base document from which ISO 216 was derived. 2A0 is sometimes described as A00, however this naming convention is not used for 4A0. RA & SRA sizes define untrimmed paper for commercial printing. These formats are designed to allow for ink bleed during the printing process so that the paper can then be trimmed to one of the A series sizes. However, for A3 Plus, or Super A3 as it is sometimes known, is not an ISO 216 paper size.