Books Paper Sizes

Books Size in cm, inches

There are a series of common terms to describe the sizes of modern books. These range from folio, which is the largest, to quarto, and octavo, which are respectively smaller. Book sizes are usually measured by the height and width of a leaf, or the height and width of its cover. The size and proportions of a book depends on the size of the original sheet of paper that was used to produce the book. The most common book sizes today are octavo and quarto. However, many books are still produced in larger and smaller sizes. There are some other terms for book sizes. These include elephant folio (up to 23 inches tall), atlas folio (25 inches tall), and a double elephant folio (50 inches tall). The B-format, such as the Penguin Classics, are 129mm by 198mm, which are a common paperback size in the UK.

Books Paper Sizes
Size Millimeters Inches
Folio size 304.8 x 482.6 mm 12 x 19 in
Quarto size 241.3 x 304.8 mm 9.5 x 12 in
Imperial Octavo size 209.6 x 292.1 mm 8.2 x 11.5 in
Super Octavo size 177.8 x 279.4 mm 7 x 11 in
Royal Octavo size 165.1 x 254 mm 6.5 x 10 in
Medium Octavo size 165.1 x 234.9 mm 6.5 x 9.2 in
Octavo size 152.4 x 228.6 mm 6 x 9 in
Crown Octavo size 136.5 x 203.2 mm 5.4 x 8 in
12mo size 127 x 187.3 mm 5 x 7.4 in
16mo size 101.6 x 171.4 mm 4 x 6.7 in
18mo size 101.6 x 165.1 mm 4 x 6.5 in
32mo size 88.9 x 139.7 mm 3.5 x 5.5 in
48mo size 63.5 x 101.6 mm 2.5 x 4 in
64mo size 50.8 x 76.2 mm 2 x 3 in
A Format size 110 x 178 mm 4.3 x 7 in
B Format size 129 x 198 mm 5.1 x 7.8 in
C Format size 135 x 216 mm 5.3 x 8.5 in