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Gift Wrap Paper Calculator

Find out exactly how much wrapping paper you need to wrap a box of any size.

How it is calculated

The sheet is described by two sizes, both in centimetres. Paper length around the box: 2 × (W + H) + 2, the girth plus 2 cm of overlap. Paper width along the box: L + 1.5 × min(W, H), so each end gets 0.75 times the shorter side of the end face for the flaps to fold in. The area is length × width / 10,000 in square metres. Sizes are rounded to whole centimetres and the area to two decimals. Which side you call the length matters: the box is wrapped lengthwise, so the L value is the dimension that runs along the paper's width. All three dimensions must be above zero. There is no extra allowance for patterns that must line up or for ribbons.

Worked example

A box measures 30 cm long, 20 cm wide and 10 cm high. Paper length: 2 × (20 + 10) + 2 = 62 cm. Paper width: the shorter end side is 10 cm, so 30 + 1.5 × 10 = 45 cm. Area: 62 × 45 = 2,790 cm², which is 0.28 m². A sheet of 62 × 45 cm is therefore enough; the box surface itself is only 2 × (30 × 20 + 30 × 10 + 20 × 10) = 2,200 cm², so about 590 cm² goes into the overlap and the folded ends.

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Common mistakes

  • Choosing the wrong side as the length. The paper wraps around W and H and runs along L, so the longest side is usually the best choice for L, which gave the smallest sheet in the tests (2,790 cm² against 2,870 and 4,080 cm² for the other two choices).
  • Measuring in inches. The formula adds fixed centimetre allowances (2 cm overlap), so enter centimetres or convert first.
  • Cutting the sheet exactly to the printed size when the paper has a pattern or the box has soft or bulging sides. The result is a minimum, so add a margin.
  • Comparing the paper area with the box surface area and assuming they should match. The paper is larger because of the overlap and end folds.

About this calculator

This calculator finds the wrapping paper dimensions needed to fully cover a rectangular box: the sheet's length wraps around the box's girth (twice the width plus twice the height) with 2 cm added for the overlap, and its width covers the box's length plus about three-quarters of the shorter end-face side (width or height) at each end, enough for the end flaps to fold over and meet. It also reports the sheet's area, which is deliberately larger than the box's bare surface area 2(lw + lh + wh), because the folds and the overlap use paper too.

Retail gift-wrapping counters and warehouse packaging teams use this kind of sizing to cut paper to standard box dimensions with minimal waste, and it's just as useful at home for figuring out whether a roll of wrapping paper will stretch around an oddly sized present before you start cutting and end up short.

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  • Editorial team

    When you buy a roll, compare its width with the second figure and cut the first figure off its length. The first number is the strip that goes around the box, the second runs along the box's length, so a roll narrower than that second figure will not cover the box in one piece. Tell us the roll width you usually have at home and the box you tried it on.

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