Choosing column widths for handwritten ledgers
Measuring your passbook and pen stroke before ordering a custom balance book.
Standard bank passbooks in Korea print amount columns roughly 22 millimetres wide. Fountain-pen writers often need 28 millimetres to avoid crowding hanja numerals.
Measure before you bind
Lay a ruler across your widest typical entry — include the won symbol and comma separators. Add four millimetres for margin comfort. Repeat for the description column using your longest usual label, such as “NPS transfer — March.”
Six columns versus five
Most clients need date, description, deposit, withdrawal, balance, and notes. Shopkeepers who record daily cash reserves sometimes drop the notes column in favour of a wider description field. Teachers tracking quarterly pension deposits prefer a narrow date column and wider balance field.
Paper weight
80 gsm cream paper handles gel pens without bleed-through. Clients who press hard with ballpoints should request 100 gsm for double-sided entries.
Bring sample entries to your binding consultation. Seung-ho tapes them to a proof sheet so you can test column fit before thread is cut.