DIY Greeting Card Yield from Sheet Calculator
Calculate how many handmade greeting cards you can cut from a sheet of cardstock.
Covers Letter, A4, 12x12, and tabloid sheets with fold options.
Card making waste is mostly geometry. A standard A2 card folded measures 4.25 × 5.5 inches, so flat it is 8.5 × 5.5. From a Letter sheet (8.5 × 11) you cut exactly 2 cards with no waste. From a 12 × 12 scrapbooking sheet you cut 4 cards with 0.5 inch of waste in one direction.
The math. Cards per sheet = floor(sheet width / card flat width) × floor(sheet height / card flat height), then check both orientations and pick the higher number.
Common card sizes (folded):
- A2: 4.25 × 5.5 inches (flat 8.5 × 5.5). Standard US greeting card.
- A6: 4.5 × 6.25 inches (flat 9 × 6.25). Large invitation.
- A7: 5 × 7 inches (flat 10 × 7). Premium invitation, photo card.
- 5 × 7 flat: not folded, often photo cards
- Square 5 × 5 (flat 10 × 5)
- Square 6 × 6 (flat 12 × 6)
Common cardstock sheets:
- US Letter: 8.5 × 11 inches
- A4: 8.27 × 11.69 inches
- 12 × 12: scrapbooking standard
- Tabloid / Ledger: 11 × 17 inches
Yield by combo (flat card from sheet):
- Letter (8.5 × 11) + A2 (8.5 × 5.5): 2 cards per sheet, 0% waste
- Letter (8.5 × 11) + A6 (9 × 6.25): A6 won’t fit, need 12×12 stock
- 12 × 12 + A2 (8.5 × 5.5): 4 cards, ~13% waste
- 12 × 12 + A7 (10 × 7): 2 cards, 14% waste
- 12 × 12 + Square 6×6 (12 × 6): 2 cards, 0% waste
- Tabloid (11 × 17) + A2: 6 cards, 1% waste
- Tabloid (11 × 17) + A7: 4 cards, ~5% waste
Cardstock weight matters for yield economics. 80 lb cover cardstock is typical for cards. A pack of 50 sheets at 8.5 × 11 runs $8 to $15 from craft stores, so each Letter sheet is $0.16 to $0.30. Each A2 card from that sheet costs $0.08 to $0.15 in stock alone. Premium cardstock (linen, hammered, pearl) doubles or triples the cost.
The score-and-fold step. Most cards are scored with a bone folder or scoring board, then folded. The score line should be on the OUTSIDE face for a clean fold (counterintuitive but right). A poorly scored card cracks at the spine within a few openings.
Worked example. 50 A2 cards for a wedding shower from Letter cardstock at $12 per 50-sheet pack.
- 1 sheet = 2 A2 cards
- 50 cards / 2 = 25 sheets needed
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- 5 sheet buffer for mistakes = 30 sheets
- $12 / 50 sheets × 30 = $7.20 in cardstock
Add envelopes ($0.20 each = $10), stamps, and decoration to finish budgeting.
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This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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