Nobody prints one card. We print a sheet of them and cut it apart. The sheet decides how many you get, what the waste looks like, and — more than any other single factor at low quantities — what it costs.
US parent sheets
American paper is sold in parent sheets whose dimensions come from the basis-weight system: each grade has a "basic size" used to define its pound rating. That's why 80 lb text and 80 lb cover are wildly different papers — they're weighed at different sheet sizes.
Fig. 3 — Parent and press sheets to a single scale. The coral 13 × 19 is where most short-run digital work happens.
US parent and press sheet sizes in inches and millimetres
Sheet
Inches
Millimetres
What it's for
Bond / writing basic
17 × 22
432 × 559
Defines lb bond · cuts to four Letter sheets
Cover basic
20 × 26
508 × 660
Defines lb cover — the card-stock rating
Text / book basic
25 × 38
635 × 965
Defines lb text
Bristol basic
22.5 × 28.5
572 × 724
Index and tag family
Digital small
12 × 18
305 × 457
Common toner/inkjet press max
Digital large
13 × 19
330 × 483
Short-run workhorse — 21 cards per side
Offset half
19 × 25
483 × 635
Half of a 25 × 38
Offset full
23 × 35 · 25 × 38
584 × 889 · 635 × 965
Standard offset press sheets
Large offset
26 × 40 · 28 × 40
660 × 1016 · 711 × 1016
Long-run and large-format sheetfed
ISO A, B and C
Three interlocking series. A is paper. C is envelopes, sized so the matching A sheet slides in. B sits between consecutive A sizes and is used for posters and for envelopes that need to hold an already-enveloped A item.
ISO A, B and C series sizes in millimetres and inches
Size
A series (mm)
A (inches)
B series (mm)
C series (mm)
0
841 × 1189
33.1 × 46.8
1000 × 1414
917 × 1297
1
594 × 841
23.4 × 33.1
707 × 1000
648 × 917
2
420 × 594
16.5 × 23.4
500 × 707
458 × 648
3
297 × 420
11.7 × 16.5
353 × 500
324 × 458
4
210 × 297
8.3 × 11.7
250 × 353
229 × 324
5
148 × 210
5.8 × 8.3
176 × 250
162 × 229
6
105 × 148
4.1 × 5.8
125 × 176
114 × 162
7
74 × 105
2.9 × 4.1
88 × 125
81 × 114
8
52 × 74
2.0 × 2.9
62 × 88
57 × 81
DL
99 × 210 (⅓ A4)
3.9 × 8.3
—
110 × 220
SRA and RA are the press-sheet versions of the A series, oversized so the printer has bleed to trim away. RA is "raw format A"; SRA is "supplementary raw format A" and is the one you'll see on European press specs.
SRA and RA press sheet sizes in millimetres
Size
SRA (mm)
RA (mm)
Trims to
0
900 × 1280
860 × 1220
A0 with bleed
1
640 × 900
610 × 860
A1 with bleed
2
450 × 640
430 × 610
A2 · or 4-up A4 full-bleed
3
320 × 450
305 × 430
A3 · the common digital metric sheet
US flat sizes
US flat paper sizes and their nearest ISO equivalents
Name
Inches
Millimetres
Nearest ISO
Letter
8.5 × 11
216 × 279
A4 is 6 mm narrower, 18 mm taller
Legal
8.5 × 14
216 × 356
no equivalent
Tabloid / Ledger
11 × 17
279 × 432
≈ A3
Half letter / Statement
5.5 × 8.5
140 × 216
≈ A5
Executive
7.25 × 10.5
184 × 267
—
Monarch
7.25 × 10.5
184 × 267
personal letterhead
For correspondence, US Letter and A4 are the two standard sheets; see letterhead size.
Why this matters on a quote. A 5 × 7 invitation yields six per side on a 13 × 19 sheet with trim. Push it to 5.5 × 7.5 and you get four. Same paper, same press time, 50% more sheets — and on a 100-piece wedding order the sheet count is most of the cost. If you're close to a standard, we'll tell you what the nudge is worth.