US Legal measures 215.9 × 355.6 mm. Its pixel dimensions change with PPI; the physical trim size does not.
US Legal measures exactly 8.5 × 14 inches, or 215.9 × 355.6 mm (21.59 × 35.56 cm). At 300 PPI, portrait Legal is exactly 2550 × 4200 pixels.
300 PPI: 2550 × 4200 px · 8.5 × 14 in trimPortrait values are rounded to the nearest whole pixel after converting the native physical dimensions.
| PPI | Width | Height | Use context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 612 px | 1008 px | Layout or screen reference |
| 96 | 816 px | 1344 px | Layout or screen reference |
| 150 | 1275 px | 2100 px | Print / distance dependent |
| 240 | 2040 px | 3360 px | Print / distance dependent |
| 300 | 2550 px | 4200 px | Detailed print target |
| 600 | 5100 px | 8400 px | Detailed print target |
US Legal and US Letter are both 8.5 inches wide. Legal is 3 inches (76.2 mm) taller, so full-page Letter layouts do not simply scale to Legal.
Compare US LetterUS Legal is 1275 × 2100 px at 150 PPI, 2040 × 3360 px at 240 PPI and 2550 × 4200 px at 300 PPI.
Change the PPIAdding 0.125 inch on every edge creates an 8.75 × 14.25 inch canvas, or 2625 × 4275 pixels at 300 PPI.
Calculate printer marginsUS Legal is used for contracts, legal filings, real-estate documents, menus and long forms that benefit from three extra vertical inches without becoming wider than Letter. It fits workflows built around 8.5-inch paper trays but needs a printer that actually supports the 14-inch length.
Legal and Letter share the same width, so a Letter design can keep its horizontal grid while gaining vertical space. That does not make automatic scaling desirable: extending the layout, reflowing text or adding content uses the format more effectively than stretching an 11-inch page.
Before delivery, confirm whether the recipient truly requires Legal or the similar but different 8.5 × 13 inch format sometimes called Folio. The names are often mixed in everyday use, while their physical lengths and required pixels are not the same.
For this Legal example, the printer requests 3 mm bleed on every edge and a 5 mm safe margin inside trim. The artwork canvas becomes 221.9 × 361.6 mm, or 2621 × 4271 pixels at 300 PPI. The protected region is 205.9 × 345.6 mm. These are example production requirements, not part of the paper standard.
Set the trim before placing the layout, extend the real background into bleed, and keep faces, lettering and other essential content inside the provider’s safe margin. A raster canvas and a PDF with page boxes describe the same physical job differently; do not scale all artwork simply to include an export border.
Recalculate with your printer’s exact marginsLegal identifies the final physical format. Bleed expands the artwork beyond that edge; a safe margin moves important content inward. Those extra values depend on the print provider.
Calculate bleed and safe areaUse the source pixels, final orientation and intended crop for contracts, legal documents and long forms; then confirm the required PPI with the provider.