US Letter size in pixels: 8.5 x 11 at 300 dpi

The letter size in pixels is 2550×3300 at 300 dpi, which is the size to design at for anything printed. US Letter paper is 8.5×11 inches, so every other resolution is a simple multiplication: 1275×1650 at 150 dpi and 612×792 at 72 dpi. Because Letter is measured in inches, there is no millimetre conversion and no awkward rounding.

The sum behind 8.5 x 11 in pixels

Multiply each side in inches by the dots per inch: 8.5 × 300 = 2550 and 11 × 300 = 3300. That is the whole method. It is worth knowing because printers sometimes ask for 350 dpi or 400 dpi, and you can work out the new canvas in seconds rather than hunting for a converter.

pixels = inches × dpi

width  = 8.5 × 300 = 2550 px
height = 11  × 300 = 3300 px

with 0.125 in bleed per side:
width  = (8.5 + 0.25) × 300 = 2625 px
height = (11  + 0.25) × 300 = 3375 px

Bleed is the extra colour that runs past the trim so a slightly wandering blade never leaves a white sliver. In the US the default is 0.125 inch per side, about 38 pixels at 300 dpi. Print bleed explains the safe margin that goes with it.

Letter vs A4: why one file rarely fits both

Letter is the standard in the US, Canada and parts of Latin America; almost everywhere else uses A4. They look similar on a desk but they are different shapes. Letter is about 6 mm wider and 18 mm shorter, so a page designed for one either crops or gains empty bands when printed on the other.

If one document must travel, design each version at its own size and let the layout breathe into the extra space rather than stretching it. Keeping a generous margin on all sides helps too: a design with at least 0.5 inch of air around the words survives either paper. The European numbers are in A4 size in pixels.

Other US paper sizes in pixels

Letter has siblings. Legal is the same width but longer, and Tabloid is exactly two Letter pages side by side, which makes it the natural spread for a folded brochure or a small poster.

Letter size on screen and in the browser

Not every Letter page is printed. Reports, invoices and resumes are often made at Letter size and read as a PDF. For those, 150 dpi is plenty for images, and the PDF itself measures the page at 612×792 points whatever the resolution of the pictures inside it.

Browsers work at 96 pixels per inch, so a web page printed to Letter is laid out on an 816×1056 canvas. If you build printable pages in HTML, set the paper size in CSS rather than guessing pixel widths. The @page rule is documented on MDN.

@page {
  size: letter;      /* 8.5in × 11in */
  margin: 0.5in;
}

@media print {
  body { margin: 0; }
}

Designing a Letter page that prints cleanly

The most common Letter designs are flyers, handouts and one page sheets for a business. All of them are read close up, so type can be modest, but they are often pinned to a board or handed across a counter, so the headline has to land from a metre away.

1. 1

   Start at the right canvas

   2550×3300 for print, or 2625×3375 if your tool does not add bleed for you.

2. 2

   Draw a safe margin

   Keep every word at least 0.2 inch, about 60 pixels, inside the trim, the same 5 mm metric printers suggest. Half an inch looks more considered.

3. 3

   Size type for its job

   Body text at 10 to 12 point, headlines at 48 point or more if the page will be pinned up. Flyer design has more on hierarchy.

4. 4

   Check photos at printed size

   A photo filling half the page needs about 2550×1650 pixels. Smaller images print soft. Resolution for printing has the sums.

5. 5

   Export a print PDF

   Hand the printer a PDF with bleed and crop marks, not a PNG. Print ready PDF lists what they check.

Gradiently includes US Letter as a built in print size at 300 dpi. A Mark renders fresh at whatever size you choose, so the background fills the bleed with real detail instead of a stretched edge, and Pro exports the print PDF with crop marks already in place.