Convert inches to points

Content last reviewed:

1 in is 72 pt in Word, InDesign and PDF files, 72.27 pt in TeX and 67.54 Didot points. Type a length in inches, as a decimal or a fraction such as 3/4, and the converter shows it in points as you type. Choose the kind of point with the Point type selector under the fields.

in
pt
Point type

PostScript: 1/72 inch, or 0.3528 mm, the point Word, InDesign, Illustrator and CSS use. Printer’s: 1/72.27 inch, or 0.3515 mm, the point TeX and LaTeX compute with. Didot: 0.3761 mm, the point of traditional continental European typesetting; twelve of them make a cicero.

to

Why does an inch have exactly 72 points?

The point used by Word, desktop publishing programs and CSS was defined as 1/72 of an inch, which makes it 0.3528 mm[1]. The inch itself is 25.4 mm, and the inches to mm converter takes it into metric. The PDF format uses the same grid: its default unit for positions and page sizes is 1/72 inch[2].

The number 72 divides evenly into halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, eighths and twelfths, so a quarter inch is 18 pt, a third 24 pt and an eighth 9 pt. The finer marks on an inch ruler give fractions of a point: 1/16 in is 4.5 pt and 1/32 in is 2.25 pt.

Twelve points make a pica, so an inch is also 6 picas, and the pica to px converter takes that unit on to the screen. For pixels at any DPI use the inches to px converter.

How do you convert inches to points? Formula and example

Multiply the inches by 72: pt = in × 72. A margin of 0.75 in is 0.75 × 72 = 54 pt, and a Letter page 8.5 in wide is 612 pt.

Word does the same multiplication internally. Its documentation shows paragraph spacing set with InchesToPoints(0.25), which gives 18 pt, and states 1 inch = 72 points[3].

With a TeX point in the selector the factor is 72.27, and with a Didot point it is 67.54, because the Didot point is longer. For the reverse direction, from a font size in points to inches, use the pt to inches converter.

Steel ruler with an inch scale divided into twentieths along one edge and thirty-seconds along the other
The ruler shows the inch in twentieths on one edge and in thirty-seconds on the other. Each twentieth is 3.6 pt and each thirty-second 2.25 pt, so a measurement read from either scale converts to points without guesswork. Photo: Michael Myers, Unsplash.

How many points are in a given number of inches?

The table covers the fractions found on a ruler and the lengths of common page sizes, in all three kinds of point the selector offers.
InchesDecimalPostScript (DTP)Printer's (TeX)Didot
1/32 in0.0313 in2.25 pt2.26 pt2.11 pt
1/16 in0.0625 in4.5 pt4.52 pt4.22 pt
1/10 in0.1 in7.2 pt7.23 pt6.75 pt
1/8 in0.125 in9 pt9.03 pt8.44 pt
1/4 in0.25 in18 pt18.07 pt16.89 pt
1/3 in0.3333 in24 pt24.09 pt22.51 pt
3/8 in0.375 in27 pt27.1 pt25.33 pt
1/2 in0.5 in36 pt36.14 pt33.77 pt
5/8 in0.625 in45 pt45.17 pt42.21 pt
3/4 in0.75 in54 pt54.2 pt50.66 pt
1 in1 in72 pt72.27 pt67.54 pt
1 1/4 in1.25 in90 pt90.34 pt84.43 pt
1 1/2 in1.5 in108 pt108.41 pt101.31 pt
2 in2 in144 pt144.54 pt135.08 pt
2 1/2 in2.5 in180 pt180.68 pt168.85 pt
3 in3 in216 pt216.81 pt202.62 pt
4 in4 in288 pt289.08 pt270.17 pt
5 in5 in360 pt361.35 pt337.71 pt
6 in6 in432 pt433.62 pt405.25 pt
8 in8 in576 pt578.16 pt540.33 pt
8 1/2 in8.5 in612 pt614.3 pt574.1 pt
9 in9 in648 pt650.43 pt607.87 pt
10 in10 in720 pt722.7 pt675.42 pt
11 in11 in792 pt794.97 pt742.96 pt
12 in12 in864 pt867.24 pt810.5 pt
17 in17 in1,224 pt1,228.59 pt1,148.21 pt
The converter calculated every value. The PostScript column gives whole points down to 1/8 in, while the TeX and Didot columns need decimals almost everywhere, because 72.27 and 67.54 do not divide as neatly as 72.

How many points are a book's trim size, margins and bleed?

Kindle Direct Publishing gives its paperback sizes and minimum margins in inches[4]. Layout programs often ask for the same values in points, so the table converts the ones a self-published paperback needs most.
Value from KDPInchesPoints
Trim size 5 × 85 × 8 in360 × 576 pt
Trim size 5.5 × 8.55.5 × 8.5 in396 × 612 pt
Trim size 6 × 96 × 9 in432 × 648 pt
6 × 9 page with bleed6.125 × 9.25 in441 × 666 pt
Bleed0.125 in9 pt
Outside margin without bleed0.25 in18 pt
Outside margin with bleed0.375 in27 pt
Inside margin, 151 to 300 pages0.5 in36 pt
Inside margin, 301 to 500 pages0.625 in45 pt
Inside margin, 501 to 700 pages0.75 in54 pt
The page size with bleed adds 0.125 in to the width and 0.25 in to the height, because the printer trims 0.125 in from the top, bottom and outside edge. The inside margin grows with the page count, from 0.375 in for 24 to 150 pages to 0.875 in for 701 to 828 pages.

Which entries does this converter accept?

The field accepts each of these entries and converts it, so a measurement copied from a template, a ruler or a spec sheet works as it is. The table shows what the converter does with each one, and the converter calculated the results itself.
What you typeWhat the converter showsNote
172 ptA plain number is read as inches, the unit of the field.
0.536 ptA decimal point marks the fraction of an inch.
0,536 ptA comma before a single digit is read as a decimal comma, the way European files write it.
1"72 ptThe inch mark is dropped, because the field already counts in inches.
1 in72 ptThe abbreviation is dropped in the same way.
1/89 ptA fraction from a ruler is calculated as a division.
3/454 ptAny fraction works, not only eighths and sixteenths.
8 1/2612 ptA whole number followed by a fraction is read as a mixed number, here the width of a Letter page.
8-1/2612 ptThe hyphen between the whole number and the fraction, the way page sizes are often written in the US, reads like a space, so this is 8.5 inches.
8½"612 ptThe ½ character and the inch mark together give the same 8.5 inches.
6.125441 ptThree decimal places stay as they are, which matters for page sizes with bleed. A note under the field shows the other possible reading, 6125.
25.4 mm72 ptMillimetres become inches first, so 25.4 mm turns into 1 in, and a note under the field tells you so.
2.54 cm72 ptCentimetres are converted in the same way.
96px72 ptPixels become inches at the CSS ratio of 96 px to the inch.
6 pc72 ptPicas become inches at 6 picas to the inch.

Which point should you choose in the selector?

The Point type selector under the fields decides which point the result is in. PostScript (DTP) is the default and matches Word, InDesign, PDF files and CSS.

Printer's (TeX) gives 72.27 pt to the inch, the value TeX and LaTeX use for their unit pt[1]. Choose it when you set a length such as \textwidth in a LaTeX document: 6.5 in is 469.76 pt there, against 468 pt in the default setting.

Didot is the traditional continental European point of 0.376065 mm, which gives 67.54 points to the inch[1]. You need it only when a European printer or an old specification quotes sizes in Didot points or ciceros.

Convert other units to Points

px to ptquarts to pintscm to ptmm to pt

Convert Inches to other units

inches to cminches to mminches to metersinches to feetinches to yardsinches to px

Sources

  1. Point (typography) — Wikipedia
  2. Document management – Portable document format – Part 1: PDF 1.7 (ISO 32000-1:2008) — Adobe
  3. Application.InchesToPoints method (Word) — Microsoft Learn
  4. Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins — Kindle Direct Publishing
  5. CONVERT function — Microsoft Support

Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.

Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team

Frequently asked questions about inches and points

How do I convert inches to points in Excel?

Multiply by 72 with =A2*72, or use =CONVERT(A2,"in","Picapt"). In the CONVERT function the point is "Picapt" or "Pica", while "pt" stands for a U.S. pint[5], so "pt" returns a wrong result without an error.

What does 1p6 mean in a layout program?

It is one pica and six points, a notation desktop programs use for lengths in picas[1]. A pica has 12 points, so 1p6 is 18 pt, which is a quarter of an inch.

Is a 1-inch margin the same in Word and in a PDF?

Yes. Both count 72 points to the inch, so a 1 in margin is 72 pt in the document and in the PDF made from it. Differences appear only when a file passes through TeX, where 1 in is 72.27 of its own points.

Arteon free tool screenshot: Convert inches to points

Help us improve our tools

Write to us if a page size, margin or fraction you need is missing from the tables, or if the field should accept another way of writing inches. We read every message.