Ruled paper

[3] On 15 June 1770, English inventor John Tetlow patented a "machine for ruling paper for music and other purposes.

The ruling layout is not determined by the paper size but by the purpose, style of handwriting or the language used.

Many different line layouts support handwriting, calligraphy, plotting data on graphs, musical notation or help teach students to write in a particular language or script.

The following are common examples: Regional standards exist for ruling layouts, particularly for academic or government clerical purposes.

Elementary students use (田字格) Tianzige ruled paper, featuring boxes for individual characters.

Sometimes each box is subdivided (vertically, horizontally, diagonally) as reference to aid the writer with the relative proportion and placement of character components.

In Taiwan, the Japanese genkō yōshi is the main form of rule used by students writing in Mandarin, where it is called 原稿紙 (pinyin: yuángǎo zhǐ).

DIN 16552:1977-04 ("Lines for handwriting") specifies the types of ruled paper to be used by school pupils.