On 2003 Sep 01 Monday 01:12, Terry Simpson wrote:
> John S. Ward wrote:
> >How common is metric paper usage (A4, A3, etc.) in recently
> >metricated countries?
>
> I am not entirely sure whether Britain would class as 'recently
> metricated'. But I will answer the questions from my experience living here
> in Britain.
>
> Britain only uses the A4, A3 series now. I remember the old British sizes
> ('quarto' and 'foolscap') being used back in the 1970's.I went to university in 1973 and by that time A4 was already the standard size for student notebooks, loos-leaf blocks etc. Foolscap was still there, but by the timne I graduated (76) it had all but disappeared. > My experience is that corporate photocopiers in Britain often have A4 in > one tray and A3 in the other. This allows for exact enlargement or > reduction of images A4<->A3 and there is usually an option specifically for > that. > > It is still fairly common to find British office furniture (filing > cabinets) and folders in the old 'foolscap' size. Foolscap is slightly > larger than A4 so this is an example of backwards compatibility. However, > if you buy new office furniture now, you will often be offered cabinets > designed > specifically for A4. Again, I can confirm Terry's experience. Our copiers (and printers) use nothing but A3 and A4. Foolscap box files are still easier to find than A4 versions, because I suppose it's easier to get bulky documents in them (where any binding is likely to be bigger than the A4). > >Do engineers in recently metricated countries draw on metric sheet sizes, > >or inches sizes? > > I am not an engineer, but I am sure that British engineers use A4, A3 etc. > I would be very surprised if you found anything but A4, A3 etc in a British > office (engineering or otherwise). I've seen nothing but A series sheets for many years. A0 is the common size here. A0 is also the standard size for flip-chart pads, and for year planners. -- Chris KEENAN UK Metric Association www.metric.org.uk
