When creating a document in Microsoft Word, you have the option to change the size of the page or document to suit your printing requirements. You can set your document’s size to long, legal, A4, or letter, which is also called the short bond paper.
There is a lot of confusion regarding the various paper sizes in the Philippines. If you didn’t know, the Philippines is one of the few countries that have not yet adhered to ISO 216, the international standard for paper sizes. The ISO 216 classifies paper sizes into A, B and C series, with A4 as the most commonly used standard worldwide. In the Philippines, however, short and long paper are still preferred over A4.
Some people are also confused by the differences between long and legal paper. Legal is actually not the same as the long bond paper. The dimensions of the US legal size is 8.5″ x 14″ whereas it’s 8.5″ x 13″ for the long bond paper. This confusion has often resulted in errors during printing in which portions of the document are omitted.
To avoid such errors, make sure that you selected the correct size for your Word document. Your document must have the same dimensions as the paper it will be printed on. Otherwise, it will result in missing text and weird formatting. For example, printing a legal document on a short bond paper will cut off the lower portion of the page.
The default paper size in Microsoft Word is letter, which is the same as short bond paper. Every new blank document that you create in Word will be in these proportions, unless you previously changed the default setting.
In the vast majority of cases, you don’t have to change the measurements of the Word document because it’s already set to letter by default.
What is the Size of the Short Bond Paper?
These are the exact dimensions of the short bond paper:
- The short bond paper size in inches is 8.5″ x 11″.
- The short bond paper size in cm or centimeters is 21.59 cm x 27.94 cm.
- The short bond paper size in mm or millimeters is 215.9 mm x 279.4 mm.
Paper Size Converter Tool
Use our free converter tool to display the dimensions of your preferred paper or document.
First, select the size and then choose the measurement type in inches, centimeters or pixels. If you select “pixels,” enter the screen resolution (72 is the standard web resolution). Click the “Calculate” button to show the exact dimensions.
How to Select Short Bond Paper Size in Microsoft Word
As previously mentioned, letter is the default size in Microsoft Word. If, for some reason, the dimensions are different, you can easily set it to letter with just a few clicks.
To do it, click the Layout menu tab and then select Size. A dropdown box will appear showing the available options. Click Letter (215.9 x 279.4 mm) which is the width and height of short bond paper.
There’s no need to set the document size by entering the width and height, since letter is already included in the list of preset options. The only time you’ll need to enter the width and height is to create a custom size.
How to Make Letter Size the Default in Word
Perhaps you want to set letter as the default size in Microsoft Word. By setting it as the default, new blank documents will automatically be created in that size.
Since letter is the default setting, only follow these steps if you have previously changed it to A4, legal or something else.
First, click the Layout menu tab and then click Size. At the bottom of the dropdown box, click More Paper Sizes.
On the Page Setup Dialog, select Letter (215.9 x 279.4 mm). If you have trouble finding it, you can enter the following into the width and height fields:
- Width: 21.59 cm
- Height: 27.94 cm
Click the Set As Default button. A popup dialog will appear with the message: “Do you want to change the default settings for page setup? This change will affect all new documents based on the NORMAL template.” Click Yes to apply.
Finally, click OK to apply the new page settings.
How to Set Letter Size in Google Docs
Just like in MS Word, letter is the default document size in Google Docs. You can easily change the dimensions of the document by following these steps.
On a new or existing Google Docs document, click File and then select Page setup.
The Page Setup dialog will appear. On the Paper Size field, select Letter (8.5″ x 11″).
You may also click Set as Default to make it the default option for new Google Docs documents.
Click OK to apply your changes. The document is now set to letter.
What is the Short Bond Paper Size in Pixels?
Let’s say that you want to create or edit an image in Adobe Photoshop and you want to print it on a short bond paper. How do you convert the short bond paper or letter size to pixels?
To convert inches to pixels, you will have to multiply the dimensions in inches by the resolution. The formula for converting inches to pixels goes like this:
Inches x Resolution = Pixels
For example, if the resolution is 72 PPI (which is the standard web resolution), then the size in pixels is 612 x 792 pixels.
If the resolution is 300 PPI which is the ideal resolution for photography and printing, the letter size in pixels is 2550 x 3300 pixels.
In Adobe Photoshop 2020, you can create a new document by selecting Letter under Print in the New Document dialog. As you may notice, letter size has a width of 2,550 pixels and a height of 3,300 pixels, based on a resolution of 300 PPI.
If you want to change the resolution of the document, you can use an inches to pixels converter to verify the correct pixel size of your document.
Final Thoughts
You’ve just learned what is the size of short bond paper in cm, mm and inches, and you’ve also learned how to convert inches to pixels. Working with your documents will now be much easier.
If you want to know the size of the long bond paper and how to set it in Word, you can check out this article. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
