Pat Naughtin wrote in USMA 21674: >.... >To conserve paper, card, and therefore trees we could decide to use an >International Organization for Standardization (ISO) paper sizes, such as: > > ISO A8 paper or card is 52 mm x 74 mm. > ISO B8 paper or card is 62 mm x 88 mm > >The B8 size seems closest to the business cards that are in current use.
Business cards are not printed on paper that is their final size. They are printed on larger sheets then sheared to their final size. To know which is the most "efficient" size in terms of paper used or wasted, you would have to know the requirements of the job and of the equipment being used: what is the grip margin required (for the printer machine to grip the paper), and what is the minimum gutter between cards that will allow for accurate shearing, how much margin is needed for proof marks, does the card require bleed (ink running off the edge), etc. Since these things vary from job to job and from machine to machine, I doubt that any particular card size could claim to be least wasteful of paper. My company has standardized all cards to 50 x 90 mm. It is hard metric, easy to remember, and is close enough to the USA standard size that it works fine with card scanners, wallets, etc. Jim Elwell, CAMS Electrical Engineer Industrial manufacturing manager Salt Lake City, Utah, USA www.qsicorp.com
