Reference
DIN 5008 values
The measurements of the din5008 theme for Form A and Form B, in millimetres, with the source of each value.
On this page
The din5008 theme prints business letters to DIN 5008. This page lists its
measurements and where each value comes from. The text rules of the standard
are in DIN5008.
Sources
| Name | What it is | Authority |
|---|---|---|
site-text |
Text pages of din-5008-richtlinien.de ("ohne Gewähr") | Secondary. No clause numbers. |
model-letter |
The model letter PDF of the same site | Secondary. No clause numbers. |
derived |
Calculated from other values in this table | Same as its inputs. |
chosen |
A value that the product owner decided, or that no source gave | The decision. |
memory |
Remembered from the standard. In no source above. The product owner decided to keep it. | None. |
The standard costs money to read. On 2026-10-15 the product owner decided that the values come from din-5008-richtlinien.de. That site gives no clause number for any value, so the table has no clause column. A printed copy of DIN 5008:2020-03 can replace the source later: clause 19 for the letter forms, clause 20.4 and Annex B for the line positions, according to the free preview.
Values
All distances are in mm. A distance "from the top" or "from the left" is measured from the edge of the A4 sheet. A row with the same value for both forms is a value that the source gives once.
| Key | Element | Form A | Form B | Status A | Status B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
margin_left |
Left margin | 25 | 25 | model-letter | model-letter |
margin_right |
Right margin | 20 | 20 | model-letter | model-letter |
address_field_width |
Address field, width | 80 | 80 | chosen | chosen |
address_field_height |
Address field, height | 45 | 45 | site-text | site-text |
addon_zone_top |
Addon and return-address zone, top | 27.0 | 45.0 | site-text | site-text |
addon_zone_height |
Addon and return-address zone, height (5 lines) | 17.7 | 17.7 | site-text | site-text |
zone_line_top |
Line between the two zones, from the top | 44.7 | 62.7 | site-text | site-text |
address_zone_height |
Address zone, height (6 lines) | 27.3 | 27.3 | site-text | site-text |
first_address_line_top |
First address line | 46.6 | 63.5 | site-text | site-text |
info_top |
Information block, top | 32 | 50 | site-text | site-text |
info_left |
Information block, from the left | 125 | 125 | site-text | site-text |
info_width_max |
Information block, maximum width | 75 | 75 | site-text | site-text |
first_text_line_top |
First text line (2 lines below the address zone) | 80.46 | 98.46 | derived | derived |
text_line_height |
One text line (12 pt) | 4.23 | 4.23 | derived | derived |
fold_mark_1_top |
First fold mark, from the top | 87 | 105 | memory | model-letter |
fold_mark_2_top |
Second fold mark, from the top | 192 | 210 | memory | model-letter |
fold_mark_length |
Fold mark, length | 5 | 5 | model-letter | model-letter |
hole_mark_top |
Hole mark, from the top | 148.5 | 148.5 | model-letter | model-letter |
hole_mark_length |
Hole mark, length | 8 | 8 | model-letter | model-letter |
following_page_margin_top |
Top margin of page 2 and later | 30 | 30 | chosen | chosen |
Rules without a distance
| Rule | Source |
|---|---|
| The address field has no blank line. The address zone is written top down. The addon zone is written bottom up. | site-text |
| Font in the upper zone: 8 pt recommended, 6 pt minimum. In the address zone: at least 8 pt. | site-text |
| Body text is at least 10 pt. Below 10 pt a sans-serif font is used. | site-text |
| The information block is at least 8 pt. | site-text |
| The subject starts 2 lines below the address field. The salutation is 2 lines below the subject. | site-text |
Page 2 and later show – 2 – centred in the header, with at least one blank line above the text. |
site-text |
| The reference line (Bezugszeichenzeile) is not in the current standard. The theme has none. | site-text |
Decisions of the product owner
| Point | Decision |
|---|---|
| The site says the address field is 85 mm wide. | The theme uses 80 mm. A window envelope shows 90 × 45 mm, so a line of 80 mm fits. |
| The Form A fold marks (87 mm, 192 mm) are from memory. | Kept. They have the status memory. |
| The following-page margins are in no source. | The theme chooses 30 mm at the top. |
Form A, Form B or both
The theme ships both forms, with Form B as the default.
- Form B is the form for window envelopes (
site-text: "geeignet für Fensterbriefumschläge"). - Form A differs from Form B in the values of the table above. The CSS is the same, so a second form costs a few variables, not a second theme. The templates
geschaeftsbrief-form-aandgeschaeftsbrief-form-bwork this way. - The Form A fold marks have the status
memoryand are kept.