THE PLANNER PRINT PREP GUIDE
A5 vs Half Letter: planner sizes and PDF resizing
A5 and Half Letter look similar, but their widths and heights differ. Choose the size your binder uses, then fit the PDF you already have.
| Insert size | Width × height |
|---|---|
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm |
| Half Letter | 139.7 × 215.9 mm (5.5 × 8.5 in) |
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm |
Resize an A5 PDF to Half Letter
- Open the planner PDF resizer and choose your existing single-insert-per-page PDF.
- Choose the full sheet in your printer: A4 or Letter.
- Set Trim size to Half Letter and Scale design to Fit whole design.
- Inspect the text, margins and every front/back pair, then export and print one test sheet at 100% / Actual size.
With no extra binding space, an A5 design scales by 139.7 ÷ 148 ≈ 0.9439189189, or about 94.39%. Its content becomes 139.7 × 198.223 mm inside a 139.7 × 215.9 mm trim. Centring leaves about 8.339 mm above and below. Different binding space or source dimensions change that result.
Why Actual size may be blocked
An A5 source is 148 mm wide, while Half Letter is only 139.7 mm wide. Actual size cannot fit the whole source into that narrower frame. The tool blocks the layout and asks you to choose Fit or another trim; it does not silently crop, stretch or switch scale. Fit keeps the original aspect ratio, so it can leave blank space instead of filling every edge.
Keep a favourite design in a custom insert size
Choose Custom and enter your finished insert measurements. The supported portrait trim range is 60–210 mm wide and 100–260 mm high, and the result must still fit your selected paper, safe area and binding space. Measure your actual pages: names such as Personal and brand-specific labels are not universal measurements.
Fitting an existing design scales the whole page. It does not rearrange lines, enlarge tiny writing areas, change the dates or restore detail in a scan. Check readability before printing a stack. For supported PDFs, text and vectors remain embedded PDF content; a scanned page remains an image.
Finished insert size and printer paper are separate
Trim size is what you want after cutting. Paper size is the full A4 or Letter sheet fed into the printer. This version places one insert on each side of standard paper, then you cut it down. It does not export directly to pre-cut A5 paper or create two-up spreads.
See how to print planner inserts on standard paper. If the size is right but the back is shifted, use the double-sided alignment checks.