3 ms·

> A4 proportions are objectively not great for reading (too elongated). I spent the first 30 years of my life in the UK and US letter paper always looked too s

> A4 proportions are objectively not great for reading (too elongated). I spent the first 30 years of my life in the UK and US letter paper always looked too squat when I encountered it at work. I've spent the past 11 years living in the US. I recently dug out some old papers on A4 and they looked weirdly elongated. It's surprising how strong the perceived weirdness of paper dimensions could be and and how easily it was changed. Seems like it's totally subjective and we could probably be comfortable reading in many proportions.

WillAdams 3y ago
My favorite proportion, enforced by various bits of TeX documentation set up to be printed on either side of the pond, is 210mm wide (A4 width), but 11" high (letter-sized height). It's a workable compromise which ensures that all versions of a document have the same pagination/index.
- swores 3y ago
  I'm curious if there's a reason, or just accidental quirk of your comment, that you gave one dimension in mm and the other in inches?
  - TylerE 3y ago
    Because that’s what the standards are specified as?
    - swores 3y ago
      Ah thanks, hadn't stopped and thought about "letter-sized" being an American standard. I still think it's odd to not translate one or the other if describing a 2D size, though.
      - WillAdams 3y ago
        I wasn't using my Mac where I have a Service which will do dimension calculations/unit conversions on the fly. Type: 11*25.4 select it and choose Safari | Services | Calculate and Replace (or hit command #) 279.4
- barryparr 3y ago
  You could also store paper with those proportions in American file cabinets without folding.
  - WillAdams 3y ago
    And they can be stored in A4-sized cabinets w/o difficulty as well.
solarkraft 3y ago
I don't work with paper much, so the squares I stare into most are either wide or narrow and high. To me A4 looks weirdly fat/short/square-ish on first look. On a longer look I think it looks very nice (especially so knowing why the ratio was chosen). In general though, I prefer narrower columns for reading (closer to A5), so I don't know why it should be even wider/shorter.
- jebarker 3y ago
  > especially so knowing why the ratio was chosen My understanding was that the advantages of A4 are more practical than aesthetic. Is that not true?
  - chimeracoder 3y ago
    > My understanding was that the advantages of A4 are more practical than aesthetic The oft-cited reason is that you can fold A4 in half, etc. to form other standardized paper sizes. Which sounds nice, but in practice just doesn't come up all that often.
    - vanderZwan 3y ago
      For you, and even then for you directly. Papermakers definitely benefit from this standard, which indirectly benefits you. And from personal experience, being able to turn any stack of A4 papers into an A5 'zine is great.
    - Symbiote 3y ago
      It is a very common occurrence, since you can print/photocopy two pages side-by-side on one sheet without any loss. Photocopiers and printers outside America include buttons for this.
      - chimeracoder 3y ago
        > It is a very common occurrence, since you can print/photocopy two pages side-by-side on one sheet without any loss. > > Photocopiers and printers outside America include buttons for this. It's a standard feature of photocopiers in the US too.

WillAdams 3y ago

My favorite proportion, enforced by various bits of TeX documentation set up to be printed on either side of the pond, is 210mm wide (A4 width), but 11" high (letter-sized height). It's a workable compromise which ensures that all versions of a document have the same pagination/index.

swores 3y ago
I'm curious if there's a reason, or just accidental quirk of your comment, that you gave one dimension in mm and the other in inches?
- TylerE 3y ago
  Because that’s what the standards are specified as?
  - swores 3y ago
    Ah thanks, hadn't stopped and thought about "letter-sized" being an American standard. I still think it's odd to not translate one or the other if describing a 2D size, though.
    - WillAdams 3y ago
      I wasn't using my Mac where I have a Service which will do dimension calculations/unit conversions on the fly. Type: 11*25.4 select it and choose Safari | Services | Calculate and Replace (or hit command #) 279.4
barryparr 3y ago
You could also store paper with those proportions in American file cabinets without folding.
- WillAdams 3y ago
  And they can be stored in A4-sized cabinets w/o difficulty as well.

solarkraft 3y ago

I don't work with paper much, so the squares I stare into most are either wide or narrow and high. To me A4 looks weirdly fat/short/square-ish on first look. On a longer look I think it looks very nice (especially so knowing why the ratio was chosen). In general though, I prefer narrower columns for reading (closer to A5), so I don't know why it should be even wider/shorter.

jebarker 3y ago
> especially so knowing why the ratio was chosen My understanding was that the advantages of A4 are more practical than aesthetic. Is that not true?
- chimeracoder 3y ago
  > My understanding was that the advantages of A4 are more practical than aesthetic The oft-cited reason is that you can fold A4 in half, etc. to form other standardized paper sizes. Which sounds nice, but in practice just doesn't come up all that often.
  - vanderZwan 3y ago
    For you, and even then for you directly. Papermakers definitely benefit from this standard, which indirectly benefits you. And from personal experience, being able to turn any stack of A4 papers into an A5 'zine is great.
  - Symbiote 3y ago
    It is a very common occurrence, since you can print/photocopy two pages side-by-side on one sheet without any loss. Photocopiers and printers outside America include buttons for this.
    - chimeracoder 3y ago
      > It is a very common occurrence, since you can print/photocopy two pages side-by-side on one sheet without any loss. > > Photocopiers and printers outside America include buttons for this. It's a standard feature of photocopiers in the US too.