Standard 5mm square grid: the most popular spacing for math, engineering and general use.

Free 5mm square graph paper. Download or print A4 and Letter PDFs of classic 5mm grid paper for math, engineering and notes.

5mm Graph Paper | Free Printable PDF (Letter & A4)

5mm Graph Paper

Two cells equal 1 cm. Need a 74 mm line? Count fourteen cells plus four-fifths of the fifteenth. No ruler needed, no measurement error from a slipping straightedge.

Count, don't measure

It's tempting to squash an axis to make a curve 'fit nicely', but it destroys the visual intuition the grid exists to provide. Decide that one cell = one unit (or 0.1, or 10) before you put pen down, and stick to it even if the data only uses a corner of the page.

Pick the scale before you plot

On long axes, marking 0, 5, 10, 15 reads instantly. Marking 0, 1, 2, 3, …, 25 looks fussy and forces the reader to count anyway. The eye treats every fifth gridline as a natural anchor.

Label every fifth tick, not every one

If the grid is meant to be guidance, not part of the final drawing, switch the line colour to Faint. Pencil and pen sit cleanly on top and the grid drops out when you photograph or scan with mild contrast adjustment.