Traditional Inch-based Paper Sizes
Traditionally, a number of different sizes were defined for large sheets of paper, and paper sizes were defined by the sheet name and the number of times it had been folded. Thus a full sheet of "royal" paper was 25 × 20 inches, and "royal octavo" was this size folded three times, so as to make eight sheets, and was thus 10 by 6¼ inches.
Imperial sizes were used in the United Kingdom and its territories. Some of the base sizes were as follows:
| Name | in × in | mm × mm | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor | 48 × 72 | 1219 × 1829 | 1.5 |
| Antiquarian | 31 × 53 | 787 × 1346 | 1.7097 |
| Grand eagle | 28.75 × 42 | 730 × 1067 | 1.4609 |
| Double elephant | 26.75 × 40 | 678 × 1016 | 1.4984 |
| Atlas* | 26 × 34 | 660 × 864 | 1.3077 |
| Colombier | 23.5 × 34.5 | 597 × 876 | 1.4681 |
| Double demy | 22.5 × 35.5 | 572 × 902 | 1.5(7) |
| Imperial* | 22 × 30 | 559 × 762 | 1.3636 |
| Double large post | 21 × 33 | 533 × 838 | 1.5713 |
| Elephant* | 23 × 28 | 584 × 711 | 1.2174 |
| Princess | 21.5 × 28 | 546 × 711 | 1.3023 |
| Cartridge | 21 × 26 | 533 × 660 | 1.2381 |
| Royal* | 20 × 25 | 508 × 635 | 1.25 |
| Sheet, half post | 19.5 × 23.5 | 495 × 597 | 1.2051 |
| Double post | 19 × 30.5 | 483 × 762 | 1.6052 |
| Super royal | 19 × 27 | 483 × 686 | 1.4203 |
| Medium* | 17.5 × 23 | 470 × 584 | 1.2425 |
| Demy* | 17.5 × 22.5 | 445 × 572 | 1.2857 |
| Large post | 16.5 × 21 | 419 × 533 | 1.(27) |
| Copy draught | 16 × 20 | 406 × 508 | 1.25 |
| Large post | 15.5 × 20 | 394 × 508 | 1.2903 |
| Post* | 15.5 × 19.25 | 394 × 489 | 1.2419 |
| Crown* | 15 × 20 | 381 × 508 | 1.(3) |
| Pinched post | 14.75 × 18.5 | 375 × 470 | 1.2533 |
| Foolscap* | 13.5 × 17 | 343 × 432 | 1.2593 |
| Small foolscap | 13.25 × 16.5 | 337 × 419 | 1.2453 |
| Brief | 13.5 × 16 | 343 × 406 | 1.1852 |
| Pott | 12.5 × 15 | 318 × 381 | 1.2 |
* The sizes marked with an asterisk are still in use in the United States.
Traditional sizes for writing paper in the United Kingdom. These sizes are no longer commonly used since the UK switched to ISO sizes:
| Name | in × in |
|---|---|
| Quarto | 11 × 9 |
| Foolscap | 13 × 8 |
| Imperial | 9 × 7 |
| Kings | 8 × 6.5 |
| Dukes | 7 × 5.5 |
The common divisions and their abbreviations include:
| Name | Abbr. | Folds | Leaves | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folio | fo, f | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Quarto | 4to | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Sexto, sixmo | 6to, 6mo | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Octavo | 8vo | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| Duodecimo, twelvemo | 12mo | 4 | 12 | 24 |
| Sextodecimo, sixteenmo | 16mo | 4 | 16 | 32 |
Foolscap folio is often referred to simply as "folio" or "foolscap". Similarly, "quarto" is more correctly "copy draught quarto".
Many of these sizes were only used for making books (see bookbinding), and would never have been offered for ordinary stationery purposes.
Read more about this topic: Paper Size
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