Mike, In the UK it is virtually impossible to buy US letter sized paper. Prior to metrication we had our own sizes - quarto (8 in x 10 in) and foolscap (8 in x 12 in) (I think that these measurements are correct). Paper was one of the first comkodities to be metricated - the stationers loved it - they could half the number of product lines that they carried overnight.
You cannot create US letter paper from A4 - A4 is 210 mm wide and US letter is 216 mm wide. A few years ago I had a job of testing some software that had to run in both Germany and the US. I did not have any letter or legal paper to hand, so I had to take some A3 and cut it to size. Guess what - the software could not handle the legal paper! Regards Martin ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Frysinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 1:21 PM Subject: [USMA:37325] Re: A4 versus US Letter format > Mike, > > It would be more accurate to say that A4 is a world standard letter size, > rather than the world standard. I've heard here and elsewhere that US Letter > Size predominates in the Western Hemisphere and that the Japanese have their > own series. > > I use A4 paper in my printers here and at home when printing out documents > that were set to A4 dimensions. The ream I have here in the office happens to > be made by Boise Cascade Corp. Generally I have obtained Hammermill A4 paper, > as Pierre suggests. (At work I'm at the vagaries of the supply process to > some extent.) > > Jim > > On Sunday 01 October 2006 23:27, Mike Millet wrote: > > I don't know if this has been discussed on the list before, but as I was > > cleaning out out printers at work the other day I noticed that all of them > > had a little slider to adjust for paper width and A4 as well as some other > > formats which I don't quite remember were listed on there. I know that A4 > > is the world standard as far as letter paper goes but I was wondering if it > > would be possible for the current US 8.5x11inch letter paper to be > > replaced by A4? I seem to recall one of my professors at college mentioning > > that they use A4 for submitting papers now in international journals or > > other academic works, and it looked like A4 could fit well in most filing > > cabinets and copiers/faxes/scanners. > > > > Is it possible to do ? Do US mills still produce paper in Letter size or do > > they really take an A size sheet and cut it down to some weird length? > > > > Mike > > -- > James R. Frysinger > Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist > Senior Member, IEEE > > http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Office: > Physics Lab Manager, Lecturer > Dept. of Physics and Astronomy > University/College of Charleston > 66 George Street > Charleston, SC 29424 > 843.953.7644 (phone) > 843.953.4824 (FAX) > > Home: > 10 Captiva Row > Charleston, SC 29407 > 843.225.0805 >
