A5 Paper Size: Small but Versatile in Print Design

A5 measures 148 x 210 mm (5.83 x 8.27 inches). It sits in the ISO 216 A series as A4 folded once, and it’s about the right size to hold in one hand.

Notebooks, planners, flyers and booklets are where you’ll run into it, mostly in countries that use ISO paper.

“Half” is a loose word here. Halving A4’s 297 mm side gives 148.5 mm, and ISO 216 rounds that down to a whole 148 mm, according to Markus Kuhn’s 2025 summary of the standard at the University of Cambridge.

That rounding is why guides can’t agree on the 300 DPI pixel width for A5. You’ll see anything from 1748 to 1754 pixels.

What Is the A5 Paper Size in mm, cm, and Inches?

Width comes first and height second, so the ISO 216 figure reads 148 x 210 mm. Turn the sheet sideways and it becomes 210 x 148 mm for landscape.

The same sheet in other units:

• 148 x 210 mm
• 14.8 x 21 cm
• 5.83 x 8.27 inches
• 420 x 595 points (72 points per inch)

Millimetre values come from ISO 216 as summarised by Markus Kuhn at the University of Cambridge. The centimetre, inch and point conversions follow papersizes.io.

Inches are a conversion and not part of the standard. Dividing by 25.4 gives 5.83 x 8.27. Pages that round to one decimal print 5.8 x 8.3 (Adobe’s A5 guide does), and pages that truncate instead of rounding print 5.82 x 8.26.

The same Cambridge summary allows a tolerance of plus or minus 1.5 mm for dimensions up to 150 mm, and plus or minus 2 mm from 150 to 600 mm. So a sheet that trims to 147 x 209 mm still counts as A5.

A5 Size in Pixels and Points at Each DPI

At 300 DPI you get 1748 x 2480 pixels. Drop to 72 DPI and it’s 420 x 595.

The formula is inches times DPI, so every resolution is one multiplication away from the 5.83 x 8.27 inch size. Resolution, measured in dots per inch, sets how many pixels land on each inch of the sheet. A pixel count means nothing until you know the DPI behind it.

Moda and Polotno publish identical figures at 96 and 300 DPI.

Online, the 300 DPI width turns up in a few versions, and each one has a traceable cause.

• 1748 x 2480 converts 148 x 210 mm directly. Use this one.
• 1749 x 2481 comes from rounding to 5.83 x 8.27 inches first and multiplying after.
• 1754 x 2480 matches a 148.5 mm width, which is half of A4’s 297 mm before ISO rounds it down (Kuhn). Adobe’s A5 page lists this figure.

Points follow a separate rule. One point is 1/72 inch, so A5 is 420 x 595 pt in PostScript and PDF whatever the DPI, per papersizes.io.

A few reference pages attach a DPI to the point figure anyway. Nothing about it changes with resolution.

Artwork that runs to the edge needs bleed, an extra 3 mm of image past the trim line on every side. The A5 canvas at 300 DPI then grows to 1819 x 2551 pixels, according to Polotno’s size reference.

How A5 Fits Into the ISO 216 A Series

Cut A4 in half across its long side and you get two A5 sheets with the same proportions as the original.

ISO 216 builds the whole series from one rule. A0 has an area of 1 square metre, and each next size is the previous sheet halved parallel to its shorter side. Five halvings from A0 land on A5.

Height divided by width stays at the square root of 2 (1.4142) through every step. That’s why ISO-sized copiers carry a 71% key to take A4 down to A5 and a 141% key to bring it back, per Kuhn’s ISO 216 summary.

The halving has a few practical side effects.

• Two A5 pages fit on A4, four on A3 and eight on A2, and the 210 mm long side matches the short side of A4.
• The nominal area is 1/32 square metre (31,250 sq mm), against 31,080 sq mm for the real 148 x 210 mm sheet.

On real paper the ratio drifts slightly. 210 divided by 148 gives 1.419, because ISO rounds each halved size down to a whole millimetre.

Rounding down also means two A5 pages never outgrow an A4 sheet. An aspect ratio calculator reproduces the 1.419 figure in one step.

Walter Porstmann’s system became German standard DIN 476 in 1922, and Georg Christoph Lichtenberg had described the same ratio in a letter dated 25 October 1786 (Kuhn).

ISO lists the 2007 edition of ISO 216 as current, last confirmed in 2021, though the standard was under systematic review as of July 2026. Nearly every country outside North America now works from these international paper sizes.

A5 vs A4, A6, B5, and Half Letter: Which One Fits the Job?

A5 is the safe small format for anyone printing on A4 paper. People working in US stationery are better off with Half Letter, which is close but not the same.

Kuhn’s ISO 216 summary assigns A4 to letters, magazines, forms and catalogues, and A5 to note pads. For dense text, forms and anything printed two-up, the A4 sheet stays the default.

At the small end, A6 sheets halve A5 to 105 x 148 mm and double as the standard postcard size.

B5 is the tricky one. ISO B5 is 176 x 250 mm, while Japanese JIS B5 is 182 x 257 mm (Kuhn), so name the standard before ordering books or notebooks.

Half Letter (5.5 x 8.5 inches) has a different shape altogether. A5 is roughly 8 mm wider and 6 mm shorter, and 2.8% larger by area, according to papersizes.io.

Brother’s printer documentation lists the two as separate paper types, each with its own setting.

Binder holes expose the mismatch fast. US three-hole systems at 108 mm spacing and the ISO two-hole system at 80 mm do not line up (Kuhn), so punched A5 pages and a US three-hole binder will never match.

What Is A5 Paper Used For, and Which Envelopes Fit It?

Flyers, notebooks, planners and booklets cover most of what A5 gets used for. Envelopes are easy to match, since a C5 takes it flat and a C6 takes it folded once.

Common uses of A5

• Flyers and leaflets
• Booklets and brochures
• Notebooks and diaries
• Planner refills
• Invitations

Printers treat A5 as the default handout. Helloprint calls it the standard flyer size for promotional campaigns, and Adobe’s A5 guide ranks it with A6 among the most common flyer sizes.

Stationery brands use the format too. Filofax A5 refills are cut at 148 x 210 mm and punched with six round holes, and Leuchtturm1917 sells its Medium notebooks under the A5 label.

Envelopes for flat and folded A5

ISO 269 pairs each A size with the C envelope of the same number, so the match is predictable.

• C5 (162 x 229 mm) holds A5 flat.
• C6 (114 x 162 mm) holds A5 once it’s folded into A6.

Both pairings come from Kuhn’s ISO 269 table. C5 leaves 14 mm of slack across the width and 19 mm along the height, while C6 leaves 9 mm and 14 mm around a folded A5 (105 x 148 mm).

How to Set Up and Print A5 Documents

Build the file at A5 with bleed and a safe margin, export a print PDF, and print at 100% scale. Skip any of those and the job goes wrong at the printer.

Set up the file

This order works for most print-ready A5 files.

1. Set the page to 148 x 210 mm before adding any content.
2. Add bleed outside the trim, at the size the printer specifies.
3. Keep text and logos 5 mm inside the trim edge.
4. Switch colour to CMYK if the printer asks for it.
5. Export a print PDF with crop marks and the document’s bleed settings.
6. Open the exported PDF and confirm its page size matches A5 plus bleed.

Adobe’s InDesign help defines page size as the final trimmed size, with bleed and slug extending outward from it. Every tool should be set up the same way for a print-ready file.

Printers disagree on the safe margin. Helloprint asks for 5 mm, while Copyprint’s A5 flyer example uses 3 mm, which leaves a 142 x 204 mm safe area.

• In InDesign, set the bleed under Bleed and Slug when creating the document, then export Adobe PDF (Print) with Crop Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings ticked.
• In Canva, Show print bleed adds 0.125 inches (3.175 mm) per side, according to Canva’s help center. That’s a hair over the 3 mm that Helloprint and Copyprint ask for.
• In Word, go to Layout, Size, A5, or choose More Paper Sizes and enter 14.8 x 21 cm. A June 2025 Microsoft Learn thread reports A5 missing from the Size list after an update, and the custom size is the workaround.

Print two A5 pages on one A4 sheet

Two A5 pages fit side by side on an A4 landscape sheet, but only without bleed.

1. Set the sheet to A4 landscape and place one A5 page on each half.
2. Print at Actual Size, never Fit.
3. Cut down the centre line with a guillotine.

Bleed breaks the layout. Two A5 pages with 3 mm bleed measure 308 mm across, 11 mm more than the 297 mm long side of A4.

SRA3 (320 x 450 mm in ISO 217, per Kuhn) has room for both.

Build an A5 booklet

SAIC’s service bureau recommends 8 to 60 pages for saddle stitch, with 100 as the ceiling on the thinnest paper, where the spine rounds heavily.

The total has to be a multiple of 4 and includes the covers, because each folded sheet makes four pages (SAIC, 4over4). Each folded A4 sheet gives four A5 pages, so a 24-page booklet uses 6 sheets and a 26-page file has to grow to 28.

Perfect binding only needs a multiple of 2, per Jukebox Print, which helps when the content won’t stretch to 4. The saddle stitch versus perfect bound choice also changes cost and lifespan.

• Inner pages usually run 100 to 130 gsm.
• Covers go heavier, at 200 to 250 gsm.

Those ranges come from DoxDirect’s paper guide, which puts flyers at 130 to 170 gsm. Online Printers lists classic flyer card at 135 to 300 gsm, so the two guides overlap at 135 to 170 gsm.

When A5 Is the Wrong Choice or Prints Wrong

Most A5 problems show up in the print dialog, in Word-built files, around missing bleed, or in copy that was too dense for the page to begin with.

Acrobat’s Fit option scales small pages up and large pages down to the paper, according to Adobe’s Acrobat help. One user in an April 2024 Adobe Community thread reported a 148 x 210 mm PDF printing at 162 x 229 mm, and a reply suggested the Actual Size option.

Word adds its own trap. Changing the page size leaves text size, line spacing and margins untouched, per a Microsoft Learn answer. Helloprint refuses Word files outright because the layout tends to shift when they’re converted to PDF.

Desktop printers can’t reach the paper edge either. Their imageable area leaves white margins (Adobe Community expert), so edge-to-edge A5 is a print-shop job unless the printer offers borderless output.

Supply is the constraint outside ISO markets. Kuhn’s ISO 216 guide, last modified in December 2025, says A4 stock in US shops is easier to find than it was but still counts as a specialty item, so expect fewer A5 options there.

Copy that only fits after you shrink the type belongs on A4. If A5 is non-negotiable, pick typefaces built for small text instead of squeezing a display face.

A5 Paper Size FAQ

Is A5 landscape a different size?

No. Landscape is the same 148 x 210 mm sheet turned sideways, so only the order flips to 210 mm wide by 148 mm tall.

Change the orientation setting in your software instead of typing new dimensions.

How much does an A5 sheet weigh?

An A5 sheet of 80 g/m2 paper weighs about 2.5 g, half the 5 g that Markus Kuhn’s ISO 216 summary (University of Cambridge) gives for A4.

Heavier stock scales in proportion, so 170 gsm A5 comes to roughly 5.3 g.

Does an A5 notebook measure exactly 148 x 210 mm?

Not always. Leuchtturm1917 lists its Medium (A5) notebook at 145 x 210 mm, 3 mm narrower than the ISO width, while Filofax A5 refill pages are cut at the full 148 x 210 mm.

Check the stated size before buying inserts or covers.

Can an A5 sheet fit a 5 x 7 inch frame or envelope?

No. A5 is about 21 mm wider and 32 mm taller than 5 x 7 inches (127 x 178 mm), even though Adobe’s A5 guide calls it only marginally bigger.

Choose an A5 frame or a C5 envelope instead.

What to Confirm Before Ordering a Full A5 Print Run

Before an A5 job goes to press, settle the exact bleed and safe margin with the printer, since changing either one rebuilds every page. Next comes the final page count, so the booklet sheets add up. Last, ask for a proof printed at 100% scale to catch scaling problems before the full run.

The 5 mm and 3 mm safe margins quoted by two printers differ by 4 mm in live text width and height, so ask which one applies before setting any type.

Verified in October 2026: ISO 216:2007 still defines the 148 x 210 mm sheet, so only software updates, such as Word’s size list or Canva’s bleed value, can change this checklist.

With those settings locked, the next job is the artwork itself, such as making an A5 flyer in Canva.

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Bogdan Sandu

Bogdan Sandu is a seasoned designer who has been designing websites since 2008.

Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.

His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.

He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.

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