What is Tabloid Paper? Can My Printer Print On It? Should I Use It?

by Chelsea Camper | Last Updated July 19, 2019

Just like people, paper comes in many sizes, colors, shapes, and weights. Tabloid paper is essentially two sheets of letter paper laid side by side, portrait. Another term for “tabloid paper” is “ledger paper”.

But, what is tabloid paper used for? Can your printer use it? When would you ever need a sheet of paper that big?

tabloid ledger thumb image

What is Tabloid Paper Used For?

Tabloid paper is used a lot in the design industry for printing 8.5×11″ documents with a full bleed (color that goes to the edge of the paper). Once printed, the 8.5×11″ document can be cut out of the tabloid sized paper with the color reaching the edge of the paper. It’s also used to print over sized images. For example: Flyers or small posters.

For prints that are larger than 11×17″ you usually will need a special printer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use your own printer to print on 11×17″ paper!

Check out our paper size chart comparing three common paper sizes: Tabloid, Legal, and Letter. (Click to enlarge.)

paper size chart

 

Can My Printer Print On Tabloid Paper?

Some desktop printers can print tabloid sized paper. How do you figure out whether or not you can?

One way to figure out whether or not your printer can print on tabloid sized paper is to check your manual. If you don’t have a physical copy of your manual, usually you can find a PDF version online. Look for the section that talks about what sizes and weights your printer can handle to find to the maximum size your printer will print.

You can also find out by opening a program from which you can print a document, going through the motions of printing the document (no matter the size), and seeing what paper options are available to you. Look for “Tabloid,” “Ledger,” or anything with “11×17″ beside it. If you see it, then your printer can handle 11×17″ paper, if you don’t see it, then your printer probably can’t handle it.

However, if you don’t see an 11×17″ print option it may mean you just need to get a second tray for your printer to handle the larger size. Contact your printer manufacturer to see if your printer can handle 11×17”.

Here’s an example of the printer properties showing the 11×17″ size as “Ledger” (Click to enlarge):

select paper size from printer properties

 

Should I Use Tabloid Paper?

If it will help you, then you most certainly should! It can help speed printing if you’re printing multiple copies of things such as direct mail postcards. These are typically run in high volumes of several thousand so the more postcards you can get per sheet the better! Think about how fast your print job will go when you’re printing eight postcards on a sheet per printer pass!

You can also get tabloid paper with labels built into them for you to peel off. Working in a lab? Print out the static information or the label design to be filled in by the lab technicians so that all of your labels are uniform.

For those in the order fulfillment area you can get 11×17″ with four shipping label sized labels on a single sheet. Printing four shipping labels per sheet will help you get your orders out quicker and easier.

 

Do you use tabloid sized paper? If so, what do you use it for?

 

Check out some 8UP Postcards!

Learn More About 8UP Postcards

 

Or take a look at our 11×17″ label sheets!

Check Out Some 11x17