Guide To Sizes - Binders & Portfolios

Everything we make is based around the contents that you are placing inside your portfolio or box and from those dimensions we work outwards.

We can make binders to any size that you require (within reason) but every item we make is designed to fit around its contents so that they do not over-hang the cover, nor are they dwarfed by an overly large cover. 

Therefore an A4 or 11" x 17" portfolio binder is made to accommodate that piece of work plus a margin around the edge of approximately 8mm. For example, if this is an a A4 screw post binder, we start with a page size of 297mm x 210mm. We then add 8mm to the top, bottom and sides, and this becomes the outer cover size of the portfolio. Notice that the paper (the contents) sit squarely on the inner cover. 

Custom made and bespoke binder with a piece of paper the fits perfectly onto the cover

The point of a bespoke portfolio or binder, is that the contents fit within the cover perfectly and sit squarely on the inner cover when closed - Not over nor under, just square.

Importantly an A4 portfolio, (using A4 as an example but will apply to any size) can have a cover that can be of 3 or 4 different sizes depending upon whether:

  1. An A4 page is being punched and then directly inserted onto the screw posts.
  2. Hinge strips are being used to attach the page to the bindings, which will add 12mm in width, but not height.
  3. Page protectors/sleeves are being used and furthermore, whether these are H&Co sleeves or, for example, Pina Zangaro sleeves, all of which add more height and width to the inner and therefore outer cover size
  4. You are using plastic protectors and tabbed dividers, in which case the cover will be taller and wider again.

This is why you will be asked whether the pages will be inserted directly, or whether you will be using page protectors (pockets), or tabbed dividers or hinge strips during the order process. This is very important otherwise your outer cover may be too big or too small for the contents. 

A binder sized to take plastic page protector pockets (below), is going to be slightly bigger than one sized for just paper as per the picture above.

high quality custom made and bespoke binder with plastic page protector pocket fitting perfectly into the covers of the binder
A binder sized for plastic page protectors and tabbed dividers is going to be bigger still than one sized just plastic page protector pockets.

custom made binder that perfectly fits plastic page protectors and tabbed dividers

If your contents are going to be slightly over the standard ISO or American paper sizes, please let us know. It is never a problem if we have too much information.

US paper sizes are different to UK/EU sizes – below we have made a chart showing the approximate equivalents.

INTERNATIONAL (ISO) PAPER SIZES

 PAPER SIZE METRIC INCHES
A5 148mm x 210mm 5 7/8" x 8 1/4"
A4 210mm x 297mm 8 1/4" x 11 3/4"
A3 297mm x 420mm 11 3/4" x 16/5"
A2 420mm 594mm 16 1/2" x 23 3/8"

 

US PAPER SIZES

PAPER SIZE METRIC INCHES Nearest UK Equivalent
Letter Size          216mm x 279mm 8 1/2" x 11" Similar to A4 (but wider and shorter)
Legal Size            216 x 356mm 8 1/2" x 14" No ISO equivalent (similar to legacy Foolscap)
Tabloid 279 x 432mm 11" x 17" Similar to A3 (but wider and shorter)