We saw a huge variance in notebook sizes that ranged from animal skins to writing on paper. Due to technology, we have a variety of notebooks that serves its own unique purpose.
In this era, when you go out to buy textbooks, you may witness them in a lot of different sizes. This might have made you wonder exactly how many sizes of textbooks are available globally and how notebook paper sizes are determined.
Let’s get into various sizes of textbooks and help you understand each of their usage and standard ISO sizes followed globally.
Notebook Sizes: Brief
We majorly have two metric systems that define the dimensions of notebooks, that is, A-series and B-series. The B-size books are considered to be larger in size and fill the gap size of the A-series, and the smallest notebook of all is considered to be a cardbook.
The following is the dimension table of notebooks:
These are the commonly used notebook size charts around the globe. But it’s worth noting that the dimensions vary in some countries; for example, in Japan, the sizes of books are smaller than the US variant sizes around 127 × 187 mm. In Japan, it’s around 128 × 182 mm, although the sizes are the same around the world.
The first and smallest notebook to begin with in this list is a cardbook notepad or notebook.
Also Read: How to Get Paid to Read Books? – Audiobook Narrator and Paid Book Review Jobs
CardBook Notebook Dimensions
As the name suggests, the cardbook textbook is roughly around the size of a card which is 2.2 × 3 inch/ 55 × 90 mm, and is known for easy pocket storage and portability. You can take them around you anywhere and even store them in your purse without worrying about getting folded and wrinkled.
- Dimensions: 2.2 × 3 inch/ 55 × 90 mm.
- Usage: Suitable for travelers or grocery shopping as it’s quite easy to carry.
Passport Notebook
Another portable textbook is a passport notebook that is around the size of 3.5 × 5 inch/88.9 ×127 mm just like a passport, maybe a little bigger. This notebook is a preferred choice among keen observers of their day-to-day lives.
- Dimensions: 3.5 × 5 inch/88.9 ×127 mm.
- Usage: Journal writing, budget making, keeping track of goals, and diary entries.
Pocket Notepad Size Dimension
The dimensions are almost equivalent to a passport notebook that is 4.1 × 4.5 inch/105 × 114 mm, but generally, pocket notepads have more pages, making them suitable for taking notes and listing things.
- Dimensions: 4.1 × 4.5 inch/105 × 114 mm.
- Usage: Quick sketching, budget monitoring, preparing lists, and diary entries.
A6 Notebook Size
The A6 books come under medium-sized textbooks with dimensions of 4.1 × 5.8 inch/105 × 148 mm and have more utility compared to smaller ones. This type of notepad is a perfect hybrid of usability and compactness.
- Dimensions: 4.1 × 5.8 inch/105 × 148 mm.
- Usage: Suitable for phone entries, taking notes, scheduling tasks, journaling, sketching, and diary entries. The majority of the fiction and non-fiction books are of the same size as A6.
B6 Notebook Size
You can also find a few novels and stories in B6 paper size with dimension of 4.9 × 6.9 inch/125 × 175 mm. This type of textbook is optimal for students and personal usage, as it’s quite easy to carry in backpacks and store in drawers without covering much space. The B6-size notebooks are also used in the best manga comics.
- Dimensions: 4.9 × 6.9 inch/125 × 175 mm.
- Usage: In academics, taking notes, professional and personal usage, and drawing.
A5 Size Notebook Dimension
A5 notebooks are best for daily usage, sizes around 5.8 × 8.3 inch/148 × 210 mm. Making it suitable for academics, especially graduate and undergraduate degrees; it’s the optimal size for doing math equations, taking class notes, and writing projects. You can also use A5 books to pen down your ideas or stories, making it a versatile book.
- Dimensions: 5.8 × 8.3 inch/148 × 210 mm.
- Usage: Commonly used for academics but can also be used for personal and professional life due to its perfect dimensions.
B5 Notebook Size
B5 notebooks come under large-size books with the dimension of 7.3 × 9.8 inch/185 × 250 mm and are considered as composition notebook sizes. By the above image, you can easily distinguish between A5 and B5. Due to such a large space, this book is perfect for penning down creative ideas and illustrative designs.
- Dimensions: 7.3 × 9.8 inch/185 × 250 mm.
- Usage: Majorly used as sketchbooks and making designs.
A4 Notebook Size
The major use of an A4-sized sheet is for drawing and crafting, but it is also regarded as the official size for government paperwork. The A4 notebook size is around 8.3 × 11.7 inch/210 × 297 mm, which is sometimes used in omnibus series for manhwa or manga, making it easier for publishers to cover the entire story in one book.
- Dimensions: 8.3 × 11.7 inch/210 × 297 mm.
- Usage: Official stamp paper, documents, sketching, presentations, and academics.
Vex Notebook Dimensions
The vex notebooks are commonly used by robotics engineers for documenting and illustrating their designs and work. The notebook consists of grid lines, making it easy for engineers to map down diagrams and citations. Additionally, there are several variants of a vex notebook; one is where the left side is blank white and the other side is lined.
The size of a vex notebook is similar to an A6 notebook or maybe a bit bigger; its dimensions are around 140 × 203 mm.
- Dimensions: 5.5 × 8 inch/140 × 203 mm.
- Usage: Mainly considered as an engineer notebook but can also be used for drawing diagrams, designs, and illustrations.
Letter and Legal Textbook Sizes
As we have mentioned above, there are a few countries that have their own dimensions of paper. Letter- and legal-size notebooks are commonly used in North America (USA, Mexico, and Canada), where the letter-size pages are replacements for A4 size sheets. Whereas, the legal size notebooks are used for legal documents and menu cards.
- Dimensions: 11 × 8.5 inches for letter and 14 × 8.5 inches for legal.
- Usage: Letter-size notebooks are considered A4 in North America, and legal size is used in official documents and menu cards.
So these were the different sizes of notebooks that are available globally and used commonly. As we are coming towards the end of the topic, you must be wondering how and who decided these dimensions and what’s the story behind it.
Also Read: 29 Best Audiobooks for Family Road Trips (2024)
How is the Size of Notebooks Determined?
If we take a look back at writing history, we humans have since the Paleolithic age learned to write and draw on rocks, bones, and animal skins. The eventual evolution of books could be traced back to Roman and Egyptian civilizations, where scrolls made of textile fiber were being used.
During the 8th century, with the invention of paper, many monks, and scholars began translating religious texts, and this spread across the Middle East and Europe. In the 18th century, when Europe began transcending into industrialization, the first-ever notebooks were introduced and the sizes were introduced by Germany in the 1920s.
These size metrics began widely used during World War II and were A sizing system. Later in 1992, the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) introduced the B-size metric, which was an extended size of the A metric system. These dimensions then commonly began being used in popular high school textbooks.
The A series and B series textbooks are derived from A0 and B0 paper that is cut down to smaller dimensions.
The A0 paper measures 841 × 1189 mm. The size of paper is the ratio of 1:root 2, to understand it simply an A3 size sheet, when folded in half, becomes the size of an A4 sheet.
The same math is applied to B-series paper that is just bigger than A series. The other sizes mentioned in the above table are rarely used for textbooks; mostly A4, A5, B5, and B6 size papers are considered optimal for printing textbooks.
Also Read: Chegg Books: Your Ultimate Guide to Buying, Renting, and Selling Textbooks
Final Verdict
There are a variety of notebooks each size has its own purpose and caters to the distinctive needs of a person and organization. Of course, the size of notebooks does vary in few countries and it’ll be appropriate to check the back of books to know the actual dimensions.
Moreover, in few cases you’ll find variance in the number of sheets in each of the textbook sizes that would also be mentioned behind or in the front cover.
Read Next: 13 Best Free Textbooks Online Websites (2024): Read Books for Free
FAQs
Ans:
A5 and A4 are the common textbook sizes used for many purposes, whether it’s for writing, magazines, reports, and so on.
Ans: B series notebooks are generally bigger compared to A series, the B5 notebook is used in school textbooks.
Ans: The sizes are followed everywhere except the USA, North, and South America.
Ans: The smallest textbook size is 7×10 inch, but there are also trade paperbacks that sizes at 5.5x 8.5 inch.
Sources:
