Kaixo! On Thu, May 02, 2002 at 01:49:18PM -0400, Henry Spencer wrote: > On Thu, 2 May 2002, Pablo Saratxaga wrote: > > > ...Paper size is basically arbitrary... > > > > The size, yes, but the ratio between the different sizes is not. > > It is a *very* nice feature, I use it all the time to print two pages > > into a single paper sheet, and then saving in paper costs. > > North Americans do that too. It's not quite as convenient, because the > reduction has to be a bit greater and there's wasted space along one long > edge
So, they don't do that :) > although some of that may be desirable for binding -- When putting two pages into one sheet, the normal way is to have the page in landscape, or cut it in two to have single pages (but smaller); that is the side that it could be interesting to have space for binding is the *short* edge, not the long one; and for it to be convenient the wasted space should be equally distributed on the two reduced pages. > but it's perfectly workable. No. It's an ugly hack. Only acceptable when you don't have any other possibility. > With modern printing and copying technology, where > you can do a 64.7% reduction as easily as any other, But the page size doesn't follow magnification factor for both sides. So you have only two choices: either use the scaling factor between the two sheet dimensions, and lose the proportions of the actual content of the pages; or keep the proportions of the document, and end up with bigger white space on the sides. In both cases the visual aspect of the document is altered. If it doesn't matter to you that the visual aspect of a typeset document be altered, then indeed you won't see how the standard paper sizes can be a better choice. Or maybe you have never used standardized paper sheets yet? >>> It might actually be easier to sell a proposal that *everybody* switch to >>> a set of sizes based on PA4. >> >> As PA4 doesn't have the nice property of the geometric relationship >> between paper sizes there is no chance at all any country currently using >> A4 will switch to it. > > That does make a very convenient excuse for insisting that the other guys > incur all the pain of conversion. Unfortunately, this does *not* help in > selling the idea, which was exactly my point. The point is not in selling an idea; the point is not about the dimensions for a single page size either (if it would be for only one format then it could be as arbitrary as you want). The point is having a *whole range* of paper sizes that allows neat magnifications or reductions in a very convenient way. That being said, I'm not forcing you to switch, you can do as you want. Eventually the US will switch too, maybe it will take a loooong time and you won't ever see it in your lifetime; but maybe it will happen faster than expected (sometimes things happen like that, it has been a real surpize for me when the UK switched to km, kg and l a few time ago, I didn't expected such a quick conversion). In any case, when that will happen, old paper format won't be manufactured anymore and the problem will be moot. -- Ki �a vos v�ye b�n, Pablo Saratxaga http://www.srtxg.easynet.be/ PGP Key available, key ID: 0x8F0E4975 -- Linux-UTF8: i18n of Linux on all levels Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-utf8/
