royal

Royal is a cut size of printing paper measuring 20 inches by 25 inches (508 × 635 mm). In the imperial sizing system that still governs much of the Anglo-American printing trade, it sits between Demy (15.5 × 20 inches) and Super Royal (20.5 × 27.5 inches). The term names a finished sheet size, not a parent roll or ream quantity, making it a standard reference point for specifying paper stocks and calculating quantities for jobs.

The historical basis for these names, Royal, Demy, Crown, Post, traces to the watermarks and purposes of hand-made papers, where a sheet marked with a crown or royal insignia commanded different pricing and expectations. Modern Royal is now cut from larger parent sheets on guillotines, and its proportions suit both traditional book work and commercial printing. Many older presses and collating equipment were built around these imperial sizes, which is why they persist in specification sheets and vendor catalogs despite metrication elsewhere.

Practical use and variants

Royal appears most often in book printing, where it yields four pages of 10 × 12.5 inch trim when folded once. When specified by weight (for example, 80 gsm Royal), the buyer knows the yield and bulk: a ream of 80 gsm Royal will weigh approximately 13 kg. Screen printers and lithographers also buy Royal stock for posters and display work. Some mills supply Royal with a slight mechanical finish (calendered) to improve ink acceptance, while others leave it uncoated for offset lithography.

The term can cause confusion because it refers strictly to the cut size, not the basis weight or finish. A 100 gsm glossy Royal is a different product from 100 gsm matte Royal, yet both are called Royal. Warehouses organize inventory by Imperial size first, then by gsm and finish. When a job specification calls for Royal without further detail, the printer must ask for the weight and surface, or risk mis-ordering stock that will not run properly on the assigned press.

In digital printing and on-demand work, Royal has become less common as digital presses accommodate A-series (ISO 216) sizes more readily. However, it remains standard in traditional offset shops and in trade printing where legacy equipment and established workflows are economically entrenched. Understanding Royal and its cousins (Demy, Crown, Super Royal) remains essential for anyone reading old job tickets, converting specifications between imperial and metric, or working with inherited printing infrastructure.