College Lined Paper Printable – Sheets, Letter or A4

How it works

This college lined paper printable draws the 9/32 inch ruling at exact size: 35 lines on Letter, 38 on A4. The 20 sheets also cover wide rule, narrow rule, a half-inch rule and metric 8, 7 and 6 mm lines.

Read the full guide

College ruled paper against wide and narrow

Ruled paper is named for the gap between its lines. College rule, also called medium rule, is 9/32 inch (7.1 mm). Wide rule, also called legal rule, is 11/32 inch (8.7 mm), the ruling American grade schools commonly use. Narrow rule is 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) and gives 40 lines on a Letter page.

Check the ruling with a ruler

Lay a ruler down the printed page. Eight college ruled spaces span 2 1/4 inches, 8 wide ruled spaces span 2 3/4 inches, and 4 narrow spaces span 1 inch.

Punched for a binder as filler paper, holes sit about 1/2 inch in, inside the 1 1/4 inch margin.
For a rough draft, print a skip-a-line sheet: a small x marks every second line to leave room for edits.
The 8 mm sheet is a halfway step from wide rule, 8.7 mm, to college rule, 7.1 mm.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between college ruled and wide ruled paper?

The gap between the lines: 9/32 inch on college ruled paper against 11/32 inch on wide ruled. On a Letter sheet that is 35 lines against 29. Both usually carry a margin line about 1 1/4 inch from the left edge.

Which ruling should a child write on?

Let the size of the child's letters decide, not the grade. A fair path is the half-inch rule for the first years of writing, wide rule through the elementary grades, and college rule from about middle school. Narrow rule suits small, neat handwriting.

Can I save the lined paper as a PDF?

Yes. Press Print lined paper, then choose Save as PDF in the print dialog in place of a printer. Leave the scale at 100 percent and set the paper to Letter or A4, whichever you chose here.

All 20 sheets

College ruled, 9/32 inch 5

College ruled lined paper, heading space 32 lines on Letter, 34 on A4, with a red margin. One clear inch above the first rule leaves room for a title, a heading or a grade.
College ruled lined paper, name and date line 33 lines on Letter, 36 on A4, with a red margin. A Name and Date line takes the top half inch, which costs 2 lines and saves the hunt for the owner of a loose page.
College ruled lined paper, no margin 35 lines on Letter, 38 on A4. The same 9/32 inch ruling without the margin line, so each line can be used from end to end for lists and letters.
College ruled lined paper, red margin 35 lines on Letter, 38 on A4. Rules 9/32 inch (7.1 mm) apart, also called medium rule, with a red margin line 1 1/4 inch from the left edge.
College ruled lined paper, skip-a-line draft 35 lines on Letter, 38 on A4, with a red margin and a small x at the start of every second line. Students write on the 18 clear lines (19 on A4) and keep the marked ones free for edits.

Show all 20 sheets (15 more)

Wide ruled, 11/32 inch 5

Wide ruled lined paper, heading space 26 lines on Letter, 28 on A4. A clear inch at the top for the title of a story or report, then wide rule with the red margin.
Wide ruled lined paper, name and date line 27 lines on Letter, 29 on A4, with a red margin. Wide rule under a Name and Date line, ready to hand out as a writing page or a quiz answer sheet.
Wide ruled lined paper, no margin 29 lines on Letter, 31 on A4. Wide rule with nothing but the lines, for stories, spelling practice and handwriting that needs room.
Wide ruled lined paper, red margin 29 lines on Letter, 31 on A4. Rules 11/32 inch (8.7 mm) apart, also called legal rule, the spacing commonly used in American grade schools.
Wide ruled lined paper, skip-a-line draft 29 lines on Letter, 31 on A4, with a red margin. Every second line is marked with a small x. That leaves 15 lines to write on (16 on A4), double spaced for a first draft.

Narrow ruled, 1/4 inch 3

Narrow ruled lined paper, name and date line 38 lines on Letter, 40 on A4, with a red margin. Narrow rule with a Name and Date line on top, for older students who write small and fill a page.
Narrow ruled lined paper, no margin 40 lines on Letter, 42 on A4. Quarter-inch rules and no margin line, a tight page for notes, logs and long lists.
Narrow ruled lined paper, red margin 40 lines on Letter, 42 on A4. Rules 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) apart, for small handwriting or to fit more on a page: 5 more lines per Letter sheet than college rule.

Half-inch and metric rulings 7

6 mm lined paper, no margin 42 lines on Letter, 45 on A4. A metric narrow ruling, slightly tighter than the 6.4 mm U.S. narrow rule.
7 mm lined paper, no margin 36 lines on Letter, 38 on A4. Within 0.2 mm of college rule, which is 7.1 mm, so it suits the same handwriting.
8 mm lined paper, name and date line 30 lines on Letter, 32 on A4. 8 mm rules and a red margin under a Name and Date line, a halfway step between wide rule and college rule.
8 mm lined paper, no margin 31 lines on Letter, 33 on A4. Plain 8 mm lines and no margin line: lined paper for writing letters, lists and notes.
8 mm lined paper, red margin 31 lines on Letter, 33 on A4. A metric ruling of 8 mm with a red margin, a little tighter than U.S. wide rule at 8.7 mm.
Extra wide lined paper, 1/2 inch rule 20 lines on Letter, 21 on A4. Half an inch between rules and no margin line, for early writers, large print and anyone who needs bigger letters.
Extra wide lined paper, 1/2 inch rule with name line 19 lines on Letter, 20 on A4. The half-inch ruling under a Name and Date line, a first writing page for kindergarten and first grade.

How this list was compiled: Own work. Every line count was worked out twice. Rule spacings and paper sizes were checked against Wikipedia in September 2026. Licence: own work

College Lined Paper Printable, With Wide and Narrow Rule Too