RuledPaper

How we measure and draw the paper

Every template is drawn from numbers, not scanned. Here is where the numbers come from and how to make sure your print matches them.

Units and drawing

The generator works in millimetres internally. When you type inches, we convert using the exact definition 1 inch = 25.4 mm. Lines, dots and shapes are placed on the page as vector graphics, then written into the PDF in points (1/72 inch), which is the unit PDF files use. Because nothing is rounded to screen pixels, a line set 7.14 mm apart is 7.14 mm apart on paper when you print at 100%.

Paper sizes

The ISO sizes (A3, A4, A5, B5) follow ISO 216 and the US sizes follow the North American standard sizes. The page sizes used by the generator are:

  • US Letter (8.5 × 11 in): 215.9 × 279.4 mm
  • A4 (210 × 297 mm): 210 × 297 mm
  • A5 (148 × 210 mm): 148 × 210 mm
  • A3 (297 × 420 mm): 297 × 420 mm
  • US Legal (8.5 × 14 in): 215.9 × 355.6 mm
  • Tabloid (11 × 17 in): 279.4 × 431.8 mm
  • B5 (176 × 250 mm): 176 × 250 mm

Standard rulings and grids

Presets such as college ruled (9/32 inch, about 7.1 mm), wide ruled (11/32 inch, about 8.7 mm) and narrow ruled (1/4 inch, 6.35 mm) come from published references that we link on each template page under “Sources”. Where we could not confirm a number from a reliable source, we leave it out of the presets and let you set your own value instead.

Margins and printers

Most home and office printers cannot print to the very edge of the sheet; a margin of about 5 to 6 mm is lost on most models. Templates start with a 10 mm margin so nothing is cut off. You can lower it if your printer supports borderless printing.

How to print at true size

  1. Download the PDF rather than printing the web page.
  2. In the print dialog, choose Actual size, 100% or Scale: 100. Avoid “Fit to page” or “Shrink oversized pages”, which scale the page down by a few percent.
  3. Pick the paper size in the dialog that matches the one you chose in the generator.
  4. Check one line gap with a ruler before printing a whole stack.

Testing

Automated tests draw every template on Letter, A4 and A5 in portrait and landscape and fail if any line, dot or label falls outside the page, if the PDF structure is invalid, or if a shared settings link does not reproduce the same page. We review the rendered previews of all templates before each release.

Corrections

If a measurement looks wrong to you, tell us with the template and the settings link. We check it against the source and fix it, and note significant corrections on the page.