Below we have listed details (including sizes in mm) of the most common paper sizes used for printing and a brief explanation of what you might use each size for:
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm):
This is the most common paper size in New Zealand, widely used for everyday printing, stationery, letters, and documents.
A3 (297 mm × 420 mm):
A3 is used for larger documents like posters, architectural drawings, and some forms of printing. It’s twice the size of A4.
A5 (148 mm × 210 mm):
A5 is often used for smaller documents such as booklets, notepads, and flyers. It’s half the size of A4.
A6 (105 mm × 148 mm):
A6 is commonly used for postcards, invitations, and small flyers. It’s half the size of A5.
DL (99 mm × 148 mm):
DL is commonly used for leaflets and flyers. It’s a third the size of A4. It can also be the size created when an A4 is folded into thirds as opposed to being cut to size, this is common for the three-fold leaflets you would find at a tourist destination or for stuffing into envelopes for posting.
A2 (420 mm × 594 mm):
A2 is used for large prints like posters and drawings. It’s twice the size of A3.
A1 (594 mm × 841 mm):
A1 is even larger, used for technical drawings, architectural plans, and large posters.
A0 (841 mm × 1189 mm):
A0 is the largest standard size, used for very large posters and architectural plans.
In everyday life, A4 is by far the most widely used paper size, both for office and home printing.
Also, don’t forget to add crops and bleeds to any of the designs you were wanting to print full bleed. You can learn further about crops and bleeds by reading our blog post ‘What are crops and bleeds?’.
If you are looking to design something and don’t have readily available software to do so, we recommend checking out Canva – the easiest thing to do is decide on your paper size (take note of the measurements) choose ‘create a design’ and select the option ‘custom size’ then put the dimensions you want into that custom size in mm. This way you’ll know you have designed it to the correct proportions for printing your design.