Half Letter Size VS A5 – Which is Better?
Hello, planner friends! Today we’re going to chat about Half Letter Size VS A5 when it comes to planning in your A5 planner. These are just my thoughts on the size difference, and why I only offer half letter size over in my printed insert shop. I don’t print A5 size inserts myself, I know some shop owners have figured out a way, but for me, it’s not economical at this point in my shop to offer both. I know a lot of people are wondering what the difference is, so, let’s get into it.
Half Letter VS A5 Dimensions
While Half Letter size inserts are sold for A5 size planners, the size is slightly different than traditional A5 size. You can see above, the A5 size is 5.8 x 8.3 inches, while half letter is 5.5 x 8.5 inches. The half letter are slightly thinner and slightly taller than the A5.
In my opinion, you can use both of these sizes interchangeably in an A5 planner, but there are some people who do not like it, because you can tell that the pages are different sizes. It all will depend on how particular you are with your planner.
Is A5 the same as Half Letter?
No, the sizes are not the same. However, when you order half letter inserts on Etsy, they are hole punched the same as A5 inserts, and are designed to be used in A5 size planners. If you would be bothered by your inserts and dividers not matching up on the edges, you won’t want to mix and match the sizes. Though, for reference I always just order A5 dividers for my planner, and use half letter inserts with them. It is all totally a personal preference.
Why I Don’t Offer True A5 Inserts
While I am beginning to add true A5 sizes to my printables (two per A4 size page), I do not offer A5 size in my printed inserts, and here’s why you might see that from me and a lot of other US sellers.
First of all, half letter is simple because it is half of a letter size piece of paper. This paper is standard in the US. For A5 size, it is half of an A4 piece of paper. These paper sizes are standard in other countries outside of the US.
Easy enough, right? Just order A4 paper online. Well, it has been a struggle for me just to find the paper, and when I do, shipping costs are high. I would hate to offer something in my shop and then not be able to fulfill the orders if there was ever an issue with getting the paper, and I would have to sell them for more because of the price difference. I could print one A5 page per letter size page and trim them, but that would use twice the amount of paper that half letter uses, so they would in turn need to be more expensive.
Then, there’s the issue of paper quality. When I looked at A4 paper and even the alternative of using US Legal size paper, I could not find the same paper quality that I currently have for my half letter inserts, and that’s really something I would not want to sacrifice on, because you guys love the quality of the paper I use for my inserts.
To Sum It Up…
To sum up half letter size vs A5, that’s basically it. It is pretty difficult to find A4 size pages in the US, then there are the issues with paper quality, and either way I tried to configure it, true A5 size would have to be more expensive, but honestly I think that the half letter size is great.
I just love my paper supplier that I have right now and if A4 paper ever became more accessible in the US and I could print two A5 pages to an A4 sheet of paper, I’d be happy to offer it. For now, I hope you continue to enjoy my half letter inserts.
If you’d like to try half letter, I’ve got lots of free printables when you sign up for my email list, like this 2021 monthly insert set that you can print and check the size out for yourself. You can sign up for my email list below.
You might also like these other A5 planner tips and tricks-
The Best Planners You Can Add Pages To.
Interested in my physical inserts?
Be sure to check my shop to see all of the printed half letter size inserts I have available!
Also, I do want to note that I’ve seen some blank A5 size papers for sale on Amazon and other places, but you’ll still have the question of the quality, and then in my personal experience, my printers have never done well with printing a large quantity of smaller size pages like that, and I always end up with alignment issues, paper jams, and things like that. So, just something to keep in mind.
