Print a protractor for crafts and layout
A protractor measures angles in degrees. A full turn is 360 degrees, so a half circle covers 180. Choose a 180° half-circle protractor, a 360° full-circle protractor, or both. Each has a mark at every degree, longer marks every 5 degrees and the longest marks, with numbers, every 10 degrees.
The 180° protractor has two rows of numbers. The outer black numbers count up from 0 at the left; the inner blue numbers count up from 0 at the right. Use whichever row starts at 0 on the line you measure from. The 360° protractor counts counterclockwise from 0 at the right.
Sizes are given as the radius: the distance from the center mark to the outer edge of the degree marks. Choose 2, 3 or 3 1/2 inches, or 5, 7.5 or 9 cm. All of them fit Letter and A4. A larger protractor spaces the marks further apart and is easier to read.
How to use it
- Choose the paper, size and type, then download the PDF.
- Print at 100% / Actual size, with Fit to page turned off. Measure the scale line at the bottom of the page.
- Cut along the dashed line if you want a separate protractor. Card stock holds its shape better than copy paper.
- Place the center mark on the corner (vertex) of the angle and line up the baseline, the straight line through the center, with one side of the angle.
- Read the angle where the other side crosses the degree marks. Paper is not see-through, so draw the sides of the angle long enough to reach past the edge.
To draw an angle, line up the baseline, make a dot at the degree you need, then join the dot to the center mark with a ruler. To divide a circle into equal parts, such as six 60° segments for a quilt block or a round garden bed, use the 360° protractor and mark every segment.
Accuracy
A paper protractor is for crafts and layout, not precision work. The drawing is exact: every mark sits at its exact angle, and 1° is π/180 of a radian. Printing, cutting and paper stretch all add small errors, and a mark is hard to read to better than about half a degree. Use a rigid protractor or a digital angle gauge for woodworking joints, engineering or anything that has to be exact.
The on-screen preview is reduced and is not actual size. Printing this web page gives a short note, not the protractor; download the PDF to print it. Downloading is open without an account.