Braille Paper: Weight, Sizes and Which One to Use

Braille paper is thick, heavy paper made to hold raised dots. Printer paper is too thin for the job: as the National Library Service for the Blind (NLS) puts it, "standard paper is too thin to withstand the embossing process". In the US, braille paper is sold by basis weight, usually 80 to 100 lb, and the classic sheet is 11.5 × 11 inches.

Below: what weight to use with a Perkins brailler, a slate or an embosser, the standard sizes and how many cells fit on them, punched or plain paper, other surfaces such as label sheets and plastic, whether plain paper will do, and what it costs.

Key points

• Braille paper is heavier than printer paper so the dots keep their shape. Paper that is too thin gets holes instead of dots; paper that is too thick can damage an embosser (NLS).
• Weight: Perkins recommends 90 lb paper for its classic brailler; APH sells 80 lb white paper and 100 lb manila paper for slates and braillers; NLS braille books use paper of at least 80 lb.
• Sizes: the two standard sizes are 8.5 × 11 in and 11 × 11.5 in. A transcribed page on the larger sheet has 25 lines of up to 40 cells.
• Formats: cut sheets for braillers, slates and sheet-fed embossers; continuous fanfold paper with tractor holes for tractor-fed embossers.
• Prices in APH's catalog on October 30, 2026: $7.18 for about 150 sheets of 80 lb white paper, $32.90 for 500 sheets of 100 lb manila paper.

At a glance

Why braille paper is heavier

A brailler or an embosser presses each dot into the sheet (how a Perkins works, how embossers work); with a slate, you push each dot in by hand with a stylus (slate and stylus). Either way, the paper has to stretch into a bump and stay that way under a reader's fingers, page after page.

That is why weight matters in both directions. The NLS warns that if the paper is too thin, an embosser may "punch holes through it instead of making raised dots", and that paper that is too thick "may damage the embosser" (NLS: braille embossers). Its specification for the braille books it distributes asks for paper "neither so thin as to produce dots that are broken at the top" nor so thick that the dots come out low or uneven (NLS Specification 800).

Heavier paper also lasts. APH describes its 100 lb manila paper as durable and says it holds dots well for a long time (APH), which matters for anything that will be read many times.

Weight: pounds and grams

In the US, paper weight is given as basis weight, in pounds. The NLS book specification states it on the 25 × 38 inch basis (NLS Specification 800). Outside the US, paper is sold by grammage, in grams per square meter (g/m²). What the sources say:

Perkins' chart gives the same suggested weight, 32 to 41 kg, for every model, a basis weight that roughly matches the 70 to 90 lb braille paper sold in the US. Its spec page for the classic brailler lists 90 lb, the top of that range. APH's 100 lb manila paper is heavier than that, though APH sells it for braillewriters as well as slates, and says it can also be used to make masters for vacuum-form machines.

For readers outside the US: by our own arithmetic, a basis weight of 80 to 100 lb on the 25 × 38 inch basis (500 sheets) works out to roughly 120 to 150 g/m². That sits well inside the 80 to 250 g/m² range Index lists for its V5 embossers. For any other embosser, check the paper weights in its maker's specifications: the range differs by model.

Sizes, lines and cells

The NLS lists "8.5 by 11 inches and 11 by 11.5 inches" as the standard braille paper sizes (NLS).

• 11.5 × 11 inches, the large sheet. This is the usual size for transcribed braille. BANA's Braille Formats says transcribed materials are usually embossed on 11½ × 11 inch paper with 25 lines and at most 40 cells per line (BANA), and the NLS book specification sets the same limits: up to 40 cells per line, and no more than 25 lines per page in general books, 26 in reference books (NLS Specification 800). APH's white paper in this size fits 38- and 41-cell slates and braillers (APH).
• A Perkins can fit more. The classic model takes sheets up to 29.2 × 35.6 cm (11.5 × 14 in), and a full page holds up to 26 lines of 42 cells (Perkins). The 40-cell, 25-line page is the transcription format; 42 by 26 is what the machine can physically fit.
• 8.5 × 11 inches, letter size. APH's paper in this size fits all 28-cell slates (APH). The SMART Brailler takes paper up to 21.6 × 27.9 cm, which is letter size, with 28 cells per line (Perkins). BANA's early-education guidelines allow letter-size paper for kindergarten and first grade, or paper designed for the student's needs (BANA).
• Pocket size. APH also sells 3.75 × 5.75 inch sheets, punched with six holes, for a pocket notebook (APH).

Cut sheets, fanfold and rolls

The NLS describes three formats (NLS):

• Cut sheets, pre-cut with no holes. This is what goes into a brailler, onto a slate, or into the tray of a sheet-fed embosser such as the Index Everest-D V5.
• Continuous (tractor-fed) paper, also called fanfold: each sheet is joined to the next at the top and bottom, with holes along the edges that pull it through a tractor-fed embosser such as the Index Basic-D V5. APH's fanfold paper is 11.5 × 11 inches with tractor holes you can tear off afterwards (APH).
• Rolls, which the NLS says "are used mainly for high-capacity printing".

Which one an embosser takes depends on the model; braille printers compares the main ones.

Punched or plain

Plain, unpunched paper is what you write on. Punched paper is for keeping pages together afterwards: in a ring binder, or bound as a book.

• 3-hole punched paper goes into ordinary ring binders. APH sells its white braille paper with a 3-hole punch in both letter size and 11.5 × 11 inches (APH), and its flexible plastic binders are 3-ring binders made for 11½ × 11 inch braille sheets (APH).
• 19-hole punched paper is for bound volumes. APH's covers for braille documents bind 11½ × 11 inch pages with a 19-ring comb or a twin loop binding, and take APH's 19-hole papers (APH). APH's fanfold paper for embossers also comes with both a 3-hole and a 19-hole punch (APH).

APH lists its punched manila paper, both 3-hole and 19-hole, as discontinued; the unpunched manila paper is still sold (APH). Why binding matters so much in braille: a book takes many volumes, as braille books explains.

Other surfaces

• Label sheets and tape. APH sells clear, blank, self-adhesive label sheets, 8.5 × 11 inches with one label per sheet, that you braille and can trim to size. The pin-fed version works in a braillewriter, with a slate or in an embosser (APH). The full-size sheets have a thicker backing, and APH warns that rolling a whole sheet into a braillewriter may be hard or impossible (APH). For short labels on cans or files, most people use half-inch clear tape: see braille labels.
• Plastic sheets. Brailon, made by American Thermoform, is a plastic-like thermoform sheet used to copy braille pages and tactile graphics from a master (American Thermoform). A vacuum-form machine heats the sheet and molds it over the master, which is kept for future copies (BANA tactile graphics guidelines).
• Swell paper. Also called microcapsule or capsule paper, it is special paper that swells when heated (APH), used by graphics machines such as the PIAF (NLS). It is made for raised drawings. BANA notes that a standard braille font comes out too large and hard to read on it, so braille on swell paper needs a font made for it, and that the paper's quality may deteriorate over time (BANA). More in tactile graphics.

Can you use printer paper or cardstock?

Plain printer paper will emboss, but the dots soon flatten. For practice it is fine; for anything someone will read many times, use braille paper.

In an embosser, it is a different matter: the NLS says standard paper is too thin for the embossing process and may come out full of holes rather than dots (NLS).

Heavier is not automatically better either. None of the sources we read rates cardstock for braille, but the NLS warns that paper that is too thick may damage an embosser, and Index lists 250 g/m² as the heaviest paper its V5 embossers take (Index). Before using card or craft paper in a brailler or an embosser, check the weights its maker suggests.

Tactile braille art, pictures brailled one cell at a time on a Perkins, needs paper that holds the dots just as much.

What it costs

Prices in the American Printing House for the Blind's catalog on October 30, 2026. APH notes that all sheet counts are approximate.

By our arithmetic, that is roughly 5 cents a sheet for the white paper, 7 cents for the manila and 9 cents for the fanfold. Prices change, so check the catalog before you order.

Where Braillito fits

Braillito, our app, teaches braille. It teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. The English lessons are uncontracted braille (grade 1); they don't teach contracted braille or transcription, and Braillito isn't a braille transcriber.

Braillito doesn't emboss or sell paper: it teaches which dots make each letter, which is what you need to know before you sit down at a brailler or a slate. The translator on braillito.com shows how a word or short phrase looks in UEB, but it only applies the rules a program can apply, so it doesn't replace a transcriber. Without paying, the braille translator works in any browser.

Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

What kind of paper is used for braille?

Heavy paper made for braille, usually 80 to 100 lb basis weight in the US. Perkins recommends 90 lb paper for its classic brailler, and APH sells 80 lb and 100 lb paper for slates and braillers. Embossers take braille paper as cut sheets or continuous fanfold paper. Plastic thermoform sheets and swell paper are used for copies and tactile graphics.

What size is braille paper?

The two standard sizes are 8.5 × 11 inches and 11 × 11.5 inches. On the larger sheet, a transcribed page has 25 lines of up to 40 cells; a Perkins Brailler can fit up to 26 lines of 42 cells. Letter-size paper fits 28-cell slates.

Can you use regular paper in a Perkins Brailler?

For practice, yes: plain printer paper will emboss, but the dots soon flatten. For anything someone will read many times, use braille paper. Perkins recommends 90 lb paper for its classic brailler, in sheets up to 11.5 × 14 inches.

How heavy is braille paper?

In the US, 80 to 100 lb basis weight: NLS braille books use at least 80 lb, and Perkins recommends 90 lb for its brailler. Perkins' chart puts it as 32 to 41 kg. In grams, that is roughly 120 to 150 g/m² by our arithmetic; Index embossers take paper from 80 to 250 g/m².