NCR Form Sizes Explained: A6, A5, A4 and Bespoke
Size is the decision that quietly shapes everything else about an NCR form. Too small and people write in the margins or leave boxes blank. Too big and the pad becomes awkward to carry, costs more than it needed to, and half the page stays empty.
Here is how the sizes compare, and what each one is genuinely good for.
The two we stock as standard
A5 — 148 x 210mm. The size most businesses settle on, and comfortably our biggest seller. It holds a proper form — job details, items used, a signature box, terms on the reverse — while staying quick to handle at a reception desk, a service counter or out on site. One hand can hold it steady while the other writes.
A4 — 210 x 297mm. Twice the page area, and that changes what is possible rather than just giving you more room. Multi-column tables, itemised parts and materials lists, batch and serial numbers, full terms and conditions on the reverse, and a signature block that doesn't feel squeezed.
Both are available in 2 part and 3 part, as glued pads or perforated books, from 2 pads upwards.
How to choose between them
Three questions usually settle it.
How much has to be written down? Count the fields your form needs. If it is more than about a dozen, or if any of them is a table with more than three or four rows, A4 will be easier to complete and far easier to read afterwards.
Where does it get filled in? A5 wins anywhere the form is completed standing up, in a doorway, at a counter or beside a vehicle. A4 wins at a desk, a bench or a goods-in station.
What happens to it afterwards? This is the one people forget. If the copy is filed, scanned or produced in an audit, A4 keeps it in step with every other document in the cabinet — no folded corners, no odd-sized sheet sticking out of a lever arch file, no scanner tray adjustment.
Typical jobs by size
A5 suits: receipt pads, order pads, job cards, delivery notes, service records, repair and valuation receipts, consent and aftercare forms, vehicle inspection sheets.
A4 suits: goods received and despatch notes, purchase orders, full service schedules, quality control and inspection records, waste transfer and hazardous waste notes, contractor sign-off sheets, anything with terms and conditions that need to be legible rather than technically present.
The sizes we print to order
A6 — 105 x 148mm. Genuinely pocket-sized. Suits simple receipts, cloakroom and collection tickets, and anything where the form has only a handful of fields. Too small for most business paperwork, but perfect when it fits.
DL — 99 x 210mm. The long, narrow format. Popular for compliment slips with a carbon copy, appointment cards with a retained stub, and anything designed to sit in a standard DL envelope without folding.
A3 — 297 x 420mm. Used where a form is effectively a chart: production schedules, large inspection matrices, site plans annotated by hand. It is a specialist item rather than a catalogue one, and priced on request.
Bespoke trims. We cut to any size you need. The usual reasons are matching an existing form somebody has been using for twenty years, fitting a clipboard or a wallet, or making the most of a sheet when a standard size wastes half of it.
None of these are on the dropdowns — call or email and we will quote.
A note on cost
A4 uses twice the paper of A5 and twice the clicks, so it costs meaningfully more — but not double, because the setup, collating and finishing work is much the same. If your form genuinely fits on A5, that is the more economical answer. If it doesn't, cramming it onto A5 to save money produces a form nobody fills in properly, which costs more in the end.
Design for the size
Whichever size you choose, keep critical content at least 5mm inside the trim, leave clear space for numbering if you are having sets numbered, and remember the binding edge — the glued or stapled head takes up a few millimetres that your layout should not rely on. Full detail in our NCR artwork and design guide.
Browse the range
A5 in 2 part and 3 part; A4 in 2 part and 3 part. For everything else, call 0141 237 1924 or email sales@printstudioscotland.com. The wider picture is in our complete NCR buying guide.