A4 vs A5 vs Letter: which size to print your calendar
Print A4 if you live outside North America, Letter if you live in the US or Canada, and A5 if the calendar goes on a desk instead of a wall. That's the whole answer. The rest is why, and one setting that quietly ruins prints.
The actual dimensions
| Size | Millimeters | Inches | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 | 8.3 × 11.7 | ISO 216, used almost everywhere |
| A5 | 148 × 210 | 5.8 × 8.3 | ISO 216, exactly half of A4 |
| Letter | 215.9 × 279.4 | 8.5 × 11 | US & Canada |
Letter is slightly wider and noticeably shorter than A4. They look interchangeable. They are not — and your printer knows it.
Match the file to the paper in your tray
The most common way a printable comes out wrong: an A4 file printed on Letter paper (or the reverse) with "Fit to page" switched on. The printer scales the whole layout, the margins drift, and a grid that was drawn to be even is suddenly not. A calendar is mostly grid, so it shows immediately.
The fix is boring: download the file that matches your paper, then print at 100% scale ("Actual size"). Never let the printer decide. We export every calendar separately for A4, A5, and Letter for exactly this reason — scaling one master file into three sizes produces three mediocre prints.
Where each size belongs
A4 and Letter are wall sizes. Landscape gives wider day cells for writing; portrait fits narrow spots — the side of a fridge, a hallway, beside a monitor. One month per page at this size leaves real room to write in the cells, which is the point of printing a calendar instead of staring at one.
A5 is a desk size. Half a sheet of A4 — it sits under a monitor or inside a planner without owning the desk. The cells are small, so it suits people who mark days rather than write plans into them. A5 planner inserts are standard, so a hole punch turns it into a binder page.
If you're unsure: A4 (or Letter) landscape on the wall is the configuration most people keep.
One file size doesn't exist, so pick honestly
Paper size is set by what your printer holds, not by preference. Check the tray, pick the matching file, print at 100%. If you want to see how the same month looks across all three, every calendar we make comes in all formats and both orientations — A4, A5, and Letter, portrait and landscape, $19 once for all of them.