A8

A8 is a paper size that is typically used for bank cards and driver licenses. It can also be a practical size for various types of tickets, since you can print 16 of them on an A4 sheet.

Dimensions

A8 measures 52 × 74 millimeters or 2.05 × 2.91 inches.

Part of the ISO 216 standard

A8 is part of a set or range of page sizes, called the ISO A or ISO 216 standard. This international standard is based on the German DIN 476 standard from 1922. A8 is actually often referred to as DIN A8. The Japanese have adopted the same range of paper sizes in their JIS P 0138-61 standard.

A0, A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7 and A8
The ISO 216 rage of page sizes

By folding an A8 in two along its shortest side, you create an A9 document. Two A8 pages next to each other in a spread equals the A7 paper size. This way a range of paper sizes are created from A0 (which has a surface of one square meter) to A10. The height/width ratio remains constant (1:1.41 or the square root of 2) for all sizes. The dimensions always get rounded to the nearest millimeter.

Resolution needed to print an A8 size picture

To output an image properly it needs to have a certain minimum resolution. The number of pixels depends on the required output quality.

  • At 300 ppi (pixels per inch) the image needs to be 614 x 874 pixels. This is the required resolution for quality offset printing that will be viewed from a short distance (such as books, brochures, magazines, calendars,…). For photo books, it is also the optimum resolution but a somewhat lower pixel count (250 dpi) is acceptable for great-looking photographs.
  • At 150 ppi the image needs to be 307 x 437 pixels. This is the minimum resolution for newspapers or posters viewed from a fairly short distance.

A digital camera with decent image quality and a resolution of 1 megapixel or more can be used to print high-quality A8 size pictures.

Alternatives

None added yet.

Other sources of information

An elaborate yet easy to read page on the ISO 216 standard can be found here.

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