Letter (officially ANSI A) is a paper size standard defined in ANSI/ASME Y14.1 by the American National Standards Institute, commonly used as home or office stationery primarily in the United States, Canada, and the Philippines, and variably across Latin America. [1] It measures 8.5 by 11 inches (215.9 by 279.4 mm) and is similar in use to the A4 paper standard at 210 mm × 297 mm (8.27 in × 11.7 in) used by most other countries, defined in ISO 216 by the International Organization for Standardization.
The Reagan administration made Letter-size paper the norm for US federal forms in the early 1980s; previously, the smaller "official" Government Letter size, 8 by 10.5 inches (203.2 by 266.7 mm) (aspect ratio: 1.3125), was used in government, while 8.5-by-11-inch (215.9 by 279.4 mm) paper was standard in most other offices. [2] The aspect ratio is 22/17 ≈ 1.294 and the diagonal is √8.52 + 112 ≈ 13.901 inches (353.1 mm) in length.
In the US, paper density is usually measured in "pound per reams" (of 500 sheets). Typical Letter paper has a basis weight of paper of 20 or 24 pounds (9.1 or 10.9 kg) – the weight of 500 sheets (a ream) of 17-by-22-inch (431.8 by 558.8 mm) paper at 70 °F (21 °C) and at 50% humidity. [3] One ream of 20-pound Letter-sized paper weighs 5 pounds (2.3 kg), and a single Letter-sized sheet of 20-pound paper weighs 0.16 ounces (4.536 g), which is equivalent to 75.19 g/m2. Some metric information is typically included on American ream packaging. For example, 20-pound paper is also labeled as 75 g/m2. The most common density of A4 paper is 80 g/m2.
The related paper size known as Invoice (colloquially Half Letter) is exactly one half of the US Letter size: 8.5 by 5.5 inches (215.9 by 139.7 mm).
The precise origins of the dimensions of US letter-size paper (8.5 × 11 in) are not known. The American Forest & Paper Association says that the standard US dimensions have their origin in the days of manual papermaking, the 11-inch length of the standard paper being about a quarter of "the average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms". [2] The letter size falls within the range of the historical quarto size, which since pre-modern times refers to page sizes of 8 to 9 inches (200 to 230 mm) wide and 10 to 11 inches (250 to 280 mm) high, and it is indeed almost exactly one quarter of the old Imperial (British) paper size known as demy quarto – 17+1⁄2 by 22+1⁄2 inches (440 by 570 mm) – allowing a 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) for trimming. [4]
ISO 216 is an international standard for paper sizes, used around the world except in North America and parts of Latin America. The standard defines the "A", "B" and "C" series of paper sizes, which includes the A4, the most commonly available paper size worldwide. Two supplementary standards, ISO 217 and ISO 269, define related paper sizes; the ISO 269 "C" series is commonly listed alongside the A and B sizes.
Paper size standards govern the size of sheets of paper used as writing paper, stationery, cards, and for some printed documents.
An engineering drawing is a type of technical drawing that is used to convey information about an object. A common use is to specify the geometry necessary for the construction of a component and is called a detail drawing. Usually, a number of drawings are necessary to completely specify even a simple component. These drawings are linked together by a "master drawing." This "master drawing" is more commonly known as an assembly drawing. The assembly drawing gives the drawing numbers of the subsequent detailed components, quantities required, construction materials and possibly 3D images that can be used to locate individual items. Although mostly consisting of pictographic representations, abbreviations and symbols are used for brevity and additional textual explanations may also be provided to convey the necessary information.
Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) is a system for defining and communicating engineering tolerances via a symbolic language on engineering drawings and computer-generated 3D models that describes a physical object's nominal geometry and the permissible variation thereof. GD&T is used to define the nominal geometry of parts and assemblies, the allowable variation in size, form, orientation, and location of individual features, and how features may vary in relation to one another such that a component is considered satisfactory for its intended use. Dimensional specifications define the nominal, as-modeled or as-intended geometry, while tolerance specifications define the allowable physical variation of individual features of a part or assembly.
Foolscap folio, commonly contracted to foolscap or cap or folio and in short FC, is paper cut to the size of 8.5 × 13.5 in for printing or to 8 × 13 in for "normal" writing paper (foolscap). This was a traditional paper size used in some parts of Europe, and the British Commonwealth, before the adoption of the international standard A4 paper.
A hole punch, also known as hole puncher, or paper puncher, is an office tool that is used to create holes in sheets of paper, often for the purpose of collecting the sheets in a binder or folder. A hole punch can also refer to similar tools for other materials, such as leather, cloth, or sheets of plastic or metal.
A filing cabinet is an item of office furniture for storing paper documents in file folders. In the most simple context, it is an enclosure for drawers in which articles are stored. The two most common forms of filing cabinets are vertical files and lateral files. A vertical file cabinet has drawers that extend from the short side of the cabinet. A lateral file cabinet has drawers that extend from the long side of the cabinet. These are also called side filers in Great Britain. There are also shelf files which go on shelves. In the United States, file cabinets are usually built to accommodate 8.5 × 11 paper, and in other countries, filing cabinets are often designed to hold other sizes of paper, such as A4 paper.
Ring binders are large folders that contain file folders or hole punched papers. These binders come in various sizes and can accommodate an array of paper sizes. These are held in the binder by circular or D-shaped retainers, onto which the contents are threaded. In North America, the rings themselves come in a variety of sizes, including 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 inches, though other sizes are also available. The rings may be secured by lever arch mechanisms or other securing systems. The binders themselves are typically made from plastic with metal rings. Early designs were patented during the late 19th century.
A loose leaf is a piece of paper of any kind that is not bound in place, or available on a continuous roll, and may be punched and organized as ring-bound or disc-bound. Loose leaf paper may be sold as free sheets, or made up into notepads, where perforations or glue allow them to be removed easily. "Leaf" in many languages refers to a sheet or page of paper, as in Folio, as in feuille de papier (French), hoja de papel (Spanish), foglio di carta (Italian), and ルーズリーフ.
CAD standards are a set of guidelines for the appearance of computer-aided design (CAD) drawings should appear, to improve productivity and interchange of CAD documents between different offices and CAD programs, especially in architecture and engineering.
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from folio, to quarto (smaller) and octavo. Historically, these terms referred to the format of the book, a technical term used by printers and bibliographers to indicate the size of a leaf in terms of the size of the original sheet. For example, a quarto historically was a book printed on sheets of paper folded in half twice, with the first fold at right angles to the second, to produce 4 leaves, each leaf one fourth the size of the original sheet printed – note that a leaf refers to the single piece of paper, whereas a page is one side of a leaf. Because the actual format of many modern books cannot be determined from examination of the books, bibliographers may not use these terms in scholarly descriptions.
An exercise book or composition book is a notebook that is used in schools to copy down schoolwork and notes. A student will usually have different exercise books for each separate lesson or subject.
Grammage and basis weight, in the pulp and paper industry, are the area density of a paper product, that is, its mass per unit of area. Two ways of expressing grammage are commonly used:
Card stock, also called cover stock and pasteboard, is paper that is thicker and more durable than normal writing and printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard.
The ISO 217:2013 standard defines the RA and SRA paper formats.
Various measures of paper quantity have been and are in use. Although there are no S.I. units such as quires or bales, there are ISO and DIN standards for the ream. Expressions used here include U.S. Customary Units.
Standard photographic print sizes are used in photographic printing. Cut sheets of paper meant for printing photographs are commonly sold in these sizes.
In 1992, the American National Standards Institute adopted ANSI/ASME Y14.1Decimal Inch Drawing Sheet Size and Format, which defined a regular series of paper sizes based upon the de facto standard 8+1⁄2 in × 11 in "letter" size to which it assigned the designation "ANSI A". This series also includes "ledger"/"tabloid" as "ANSI B". This series is somewhat similar to the ISO 216 standard in that cutting a sheet in half would produce two sheets of the next smaller size. Unlike the ISO standard, however, the arbitrary aspect ratio forces this series to have two alternating aspect ratios. ANSI/ASME Y14.1 has been revised or updated in 1995, 2005, 2012 and 2022. It had an accompanying standard, ANSI/ASME Y14.1M, that defined metric drawing paper sizes based upon ISO 216 and ISO 5457. ASME Y14.1 and ASME Y14.1M have now been revised and consolidated into one document, ASME Y14.1-2020, Drawing Sheet Size and Format, published on 18 December 2020.
Width across flats is the distance between two parallel surfaces on the head of a screw, bolt or nut. The width across flats will define the size of the spanner or wrench needed.
Despite fire hose and hydrant coupler standardization efforts that are at least 144 years old, there remain significant areas in Canada, the United States, and Mexico that use fire hose and hydrant threads and other couplings that are incompatible with those used by neighboring fire departments. This is notable because the first fire hydrant was invented by Manhattan fire fighter George Smith in 1817, making these devices 200 years old.