Gregory Peterson asked in USMA 13934 >Hi Louis, et al., > >"P4" was the label given to the metric equivalent of the "letter" size >(8-1/2 inches x 11 inches; 21.6 cm x 27.9 cm). A Canadian Metric >Commission approved typing text book quoted P4 paper as 21.5 cm x 28 cm >and could be divided into P5, P6, P7, and P8 sizes. > >On the same line of thought "legal" size paper (8-1/2 inches x 14 inches; >21.6 cm x 35.5 cm) was given the label "Q4" for it's metric equivalent of >21.5 x 35.5 cm and could be subdivided in the same manner as the P4. > >I believe it was an attempt at a transition between North American paper >format and international A-series formats by familiarizing the North >American paper consumers with new paper size names. Joe may be able to >provide more information on this. That agrees with my memory of events. However, I think Gregory is too charitable in his opinion of why the Canadian paper manufacturers introduced the P- series. They had simply no desire to switch to ISO paper sizes. They wanted to create the impression that although the Europeans had their ISO sizes, we could match them with our P- series. Metric Commission Canada did not press the issue because there were many similar issues involved in metric conversion. L'Universit� du Qu�bec and the City of Montreal adopted A4 paper, but I believe that both have regressed to 8-1/2 by 11. Joseph B. Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
