Lined paper
US Letter college ruled paper at 9/32 inch (7.1 mm), 33 lines and a margin
Lined paperstringmash.com/lined-paper
Printing it the right size
Pick a ruling and your paper, then print with your browser. The lines are drawn in millimetres, so college ruled lines come out 9/32 of an inch apart on the page, the same as a shop-bought pad.
In the print dialog, set the scale to 100% or Actual size rather than Fit to page. Choosing Letter or A4 here tells the dialog which paper to expect.
The red margin line sits 1 1/4 inches from the left edge of the paper. Name and date adds a line for each at the top. Punch marks put a short tick at the edge where each hole of a US three-hole punch or a two-hole ISO punch goes, so you can line the sheet up before you punch it. Download SVG saves the same sheet as a vector file that keeps its size.
Line spacing for each ruling
| Ruling | Line spacing | Lines on a sheet | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide ruled | 11/32 inch (8.7 mm) | 27 on Letter, 28 on A4 | Younger students and anyone with large handwriting. Also called legal ruled. |
| College ruled | 9/32 inch (7.1 mm) | 33 on Letter, 34 on A4 | The everyday US notebook and filler paper. Also called medium ruled. |
| Narrow ruled | 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) | 37 on Letter, 39 on A4 | Small handwriting, and fitting more on a page. |
| UK feint and margin | 8 mm | 29 on Letter, 31 on A4 | The usual UK exercise book and A4 refill pad. |
| Handwriting, 1 1/8 inch | 1 1/8 inch rows, 9/16 inch apart | 5 on Letter, 5 on A4 | Pre-K and kindergarten on the Zaner-Bloser scheme. |
| Handwriting, 5/8 inch | 5/8 inch rows, 5/16 inch apart | 9 on Letter, 10 on A4 | Zaner-Bloser first grade, D'Nealian kindergarten. |
| Handwriting, 1/2 inch | 1/2 inch rows, 1/4 inch apart | 12 on Letter, 13 on A4 | Zaner-Bloser second grade, D'Nealian first grade. |
Where the spacings come from
In the US, wide ruled paper has 11/32 inch between lines and college ruled has 9/32 inch, both with a vertical margin about 1 1/4 inches from the left edge. Narrow ruled is 1/4 inch. These are the figures Wikipedia gives for US ruled paper, and they're exact fractions of an inch, so the sheet here uses them exactly.
UK paper is ruled in millimetres. Wikipedia says adult ruled paper there is most commonly 8 mm, with 6 mm for narrow ruled, and school suppliers sell A4 exercise books described as 8 mm feint lines with margin. Feint just means the lines are printed light. There's no published standard for where a UK margin goes, so the margin here is drawn at the US position on every ruling.
Handwriting paper has rows of three lines. The letters sit on the baseline, tall letters reach the top line, and small letters like a and e stop at the dashed midline. The sizes here match multi-program handwriting paper sold as conforming to the Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian grade levels. The rows get smaller as children's writing does.
Other paper
For revision and lecture notes, the Cornell notes template splits the page into a cue column, a notes area and a summary box at the foot. For maths, graph paper has square, dot and isometric grids printed true in the same way. To practise letters on handwriting rows, name tracing and letter tracing worksheets put dotted letters to trace on the same three sizes.
Questions
What's the difference between wide ruled and college ruled?
Line spacing. Wide ruled lines are 11/32 inch (8.7 mm) apart and college ruled lines are 9/32 inch (7.1 mm), so college ruled fits about six more lines on a Letter page.
Which ruling is the same as a UK exercise book?
UK feint and margin, at 8 mm. It sits between US wide and college ruled.
Why are my lines the wrong distance apart?
The print was scaled. Open the print dialog again, set the scale to 100% or Actual size, and make sure the paper size matches the one chosen here.
Why don't the lines go to the edge of the paper?
Most home printers can't print right to the edge, so the sheet stops 14 mm in, with a little more room at the foot for the page address.
Is the paper free to use in class?
Yes. Print as many sheets as you like for home or school.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Ruled paper
- ESPO: 8mm Exercise Books A4, Feint Lines with Margin
- Pacon Multi-Program Handwriting Tablet, 1/2" x 1/4" x 1/4" (Zaner-Bloser Grade 2, D'Nealian Grade 1)
- Pacon Multi-Program Handwriting Paper, 5/8" Ruled (Zaner-Bloser Grade 1, D'Nealian Grade K)
- Wikipedia: Hole punch
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