Envelopes / DL envelope
DL envelope PDF size and window position
DL is 220 by 110 millimetres, the standard business envelope in Europe, and it takes an A4 sheet folded in three.
The dimensions
One measurement in four units. Millimetres and inches are what a printer works in; points are what the PDF itself stores; pixels are only useful for checking a screen mock-up against the real thing.
- Millimetres: 220 x 110 mm
- Inches: 8.66 x 4.33 in
- Points: 624 x 312 pt
- CSS pixels: 831 x 416 px at 96 dpi
Where the size comes from
DL stands for Dimension Lengthwise and the size is derived from A4: fold a 297mm sheet into three 99mm panels and the folded height is 99mm, which slides into a 110mm envelope. The width is 210mm plus clearance. It is the reason a standard letter has exactly two horizontal folds.
What gets printed at this size
- business letters, invoices and statements posted in volume
- printed envelopes with a sender address and a franking area
- window envelopes where the recipient address shows through the fold
Margins that survive a real printer
10mm all round on the envelope itself, with the top right 60 by 30mm left completely clear for the stamp or franking impression. The window on a standard DL sits 20mm from the left edge and 45mm from the top, and measures 90 by 45mm. Postal sorting equipment reads the address block, so nothing else may appear inside that rectangle.
The CSS
DL envelope is not one of the six named formats the API accepts, so the size has to come from the document. Declare it in the page box and set prefer_css_page_size in the request.
@page {
size: 220mm 110mm;
margin: 10mm;
}
/* Where the address must land on the A4 letter so it shows through a
standard DL window after a three-fold. Measured from the top left of
the unfolded sheet. */
.letter .address-block {
position: absolute;
left: 20mm;
top: 45mm;
width: 85mm;
height: 40mm;
}The render request
With a custom size the options carry no format at all: the one flag tells the renderer to use the page box the document declares.
{
"html": "<!doctype html>...",
"options": {
// No named format. The page box in the document's own CSS is the
// size, and this flag is what tells the renderer to use it.
"prefer_css_page_size": true
}
}The mistake people make
Positioning the address on the letter by eye and checking it on screen. The only test that means anything is to print the sheet, fold it in three and hold it against a real envelope, because the fold position is where the error accumulates.
Frequently asked
What is DL envelope in pixels?
831 x 416 px at 96 dpi, at the 96 pixels to the inch that CSS assumes. That number is useful for comparing a screen mock-up against the page, and useless for laying out the document: use 220 x 110 mm instead, because a page laid out in pixels shifts whenever the render scale changes.
Can I pass DL envelope as a format?
No. The API accepts six named formats: A4, A3, A5, Letter, Legal and Tabloid. DL envelope is reached through the document's page box with prefer_css_page_size set, which is a supported path and not a workaround.
Does landscape need a different page size?
No. Landscape is the same rectangle turned, so it is set as an orientation rather than as swapped dimensions. Writing the width and height the other way round produces the same page and makes the intent harder to read later.
Other page sizes
Sizes that come up in the same conversation, and one from each of the other families.
C5 envelope PDF size
C5 is 229 by 162 millimetres and it holds an A4 sheet folded once, or an A5 document flat.
No. 10 envelope PDF size and window position
The #10 envelope is 9.5 by 4.125 inches and it is the standard business envelope in the United States, taking a Letter sheet folded in three.
A4 page size for PDF generation
A4 is the default page for business documents everywhere except North America, and the default this API uses when no format is given.
US Letter page size for PDF generation
Letter is 8.5 by 11 inches and it is the default page in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile and the Philippines.
4x6 shipping label PDF size
The 4 by 6 inch label is the standard thermal shipping label accepted by every major carrier, and the most common non-paper page size an API renders.
80mm thermal receipt PDF size
The 80mm roll is the standard point-of-sale receipt: 80 millimetres of paper, a printable width of about 72mm, and a length that depends on the order.
Business card PDF size and bleed
85.6 by 53.98 millimetres is the ID-1 rectangle: the size of a bank card, and the business card standard across most of the world.
Every page size, with dimensions
The full list, grouped by what the size is for.
Paste the CSS below into the playground and see the page box it produces.