Graph Paper
Created for free at puzzleandprint.com
Graph Paper Maker
Squares, dots, lines, isometric, coordinate planes, hexagons or primary writing lines, at the spacing you actually need.
Last updated
5 mm squares
Paper that is already ruled
Open one for that paper in several spacings, every one a single-page PDF.
What you get
The PDF is one sheet of US Letter paper ruled the way you chose, with no heading, no site credit and no watermark, and no name line except on primary writing paper, which has a Name and Date line across the top unless you leave it off. The grid is drawn inside a box 182 mm wide between side margins of about 17 mm, and centered so that no edge ends in a sliver of a square.
The spacing is printed in small gray type at the foot of the downloaded sheet, so a reprint months later can be matched to the one already in the folder. Isometric sheets state both the gap between lines and the side of the triangles, and hexagon sheets state both the side and the width across, because either figure may be the one quoted.
Rules print gray rather than black, at one of three weights: faint, light enough to write over; normal; and strong, dark enough for photocopying. Even the strong rule is a medium gray, because a grid at full black competes with the pencil on top of it and uses far more ink.
Getting the spacing right
Metric sizes here are exactly 5 mm and 1 cm. Imperial ones are exact too: an eighth of an inch is 3.175 mm, a fifth 5.08 mm, a quarter 6.35 mm and a half 12.7 mm, and the three line rulings are drawn from thirty-seconds of an inch rather than rounded to a tidy metric figure.
If you are matching a notebook, measure ten squares rather than one and divide, a single square is too short to measure accurately, and being off by one part in twenty is enough to make a graph look wrong.
Print at 100%, not "fit to page". Fitting a Letter sheet to A4 shrinks it by about 3 percent, which turns 5 mm squares into about 4.86 mm, and across the 36 squares of the 5 mm grid that loses almost a whole square. It is the single most common reason printed graph paper does not match.
Which ruling to use
Squares are the default for math, graphs and anything measured. Dots do the same job while disappearing behind the drawing once it is done, which is why bullet journals use them.
Lines are sold by trade name rather than measurement: wide ruled is 8.73 mm, college ruled is 7.14 mm, narrow ruled is 6.35 mm. Each lined sheet here carries the left margin rule, an inch and a quarter in from the start of the lines.
Isometric paper is vertical lines crossed by two sets of diagonals at thirty degrees, making a field of equilateral triangles. Each triangle’s side is about 15 percent longer than the gap between the vertical lines, so the 5 mm sheet has 5.77 mm triangles and the 1 cm sheet 11.55 mm ones.
The sheet is drawn where you are
Ruled paper is the most disposable thing on this site and the most annoying to be without, so it is worth knowing that this page does not need us. The grid is drawn by code in your own browser, at whatever spacing and weight you set, and nothing about the sheet is sent anywhere.
Once the page has loaded, printing straight from it works with the network down, at any ruling and spacing. The PDF code is the one piece fetched later, on the first download, so download one sheet while connected and the same open tab will go on building PDFs offline, which is worth knowing in a classroom with unreliable wifi.
Every printable paper
Each grid and spacing has its own page, ready to print at true scale on US Letter.
Common questions
Is this really free?
Yes. Print as many sheets as you like, for yourself, a class or a workplace. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit.
Why does my printed graph paper not match my notebook?
Almost always because the printer scaled it, so choose 100% or "actual size" rather than "fit to page" in the print dialog. To check a print, measure twenty squares of the 5 mm sheet: they should span exactly 10 cm, and about 97 mm means the sheet was shrunk. If the print measures true and still differs, the book is ruled at another spacing, so try the next size along.
What size is quarter inch graph paper in millimeters?
Exactly 6.35 mm, since an inch is defined as 25.4 mm. Paper sold as 6 mm is a different thing: the 28 quarter-inch squares across this sheet span 177.8 mm, while 28 squares of 6 mm would span 168 mm, almost a centimeter short.
What is the difference between wide, college and narrow ruled?
The gap between lines: wide ruled is 11/32 inch, the one younger children usually start on, college ruled is 9/32 inch and narrow ruled is a quarter inch. All three are here, and on the standard Letter sheets they give 28, 35 and 39 lines down the page, while the full page college ruled sheet gives 37.
Can I print it on A4?
Yes, every sheet but five: the full page squares, lined, dot grid and isometric sheets, and the 1 cm coordinate plane numbered −10 to 10. They are drawn on US Letter, but every other upright grid fits inside A4’s 210 mm width at 100% with nothing cut off: most are at most 182 mm wide, and the full page hex grid, 190.5 mm wide and centered, keeps about 10 mm at each side when the printer centers the page. A4 is about 18 mm taller, which only adds blank paper, and the spacing stays exactly as labeled. The full page squares and lined sheets are 203.2 mm wide, which on A4 leaves about 3.4 mm at each side at best, closer than many printers reach. The full page isometric and dot grid sheets and the −10 to 10 plane are 200 mm wide, which leaves 5 mm at each side, and the numbers at the two ends of the plane’s x axis reach a millimeter or so closer still. Primary writing paper turned sideways has lines about 245 mm long, and A4 turned the same way has room for those too.
What is isometric paper for?
Drawing three-dimensional objects without constructing perspective. It suits technical sketching, product design and any math topic involving volume or nets, because every edge of a cube follows a line already on the page.
Want to know when new printables go up?
New printables when they go up, mostly seasonal, a few times a year.