A common size for the sheets that were used in making scrolls was 23 to 28 cm (9 to 11 in.) long and 15 to 23 cm (6 to 9 in.) wide. A number of these sheets were joined together side by side with paste. However, the sheets of the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah, of the second century B.C.E., were sewn together with linen thread. The scroll was made of 17 parchment strips averaging 26.2 cm (10.3 in.) in height and varying in width from about 25.2 cm (nearly 10 in.) to 62.8 cm (about 25 in.), totaling 7.3 m (24 ft) in length in its present state of preservation. A common length of scroll in the time of Pliny (probably those on sale commercially) was 20 sheets. An Egyptian papyrus roll chronicling the reign of Ramses III, called the Harris Papyrus, is 40.5 m (133 ft) in length. The Gospel of Mark would have required a roll 5.8 m (19 ft) long; Luke, about 9.5 m (31 ft).

For example, a scroll 31.7 m (104 ft) long might be needed to contain the four Gospels, whereas one compact codex could accommodate them all.