this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
1064 points (99.9% liked)
196
16501 readers
2565 users here now
Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.
Rule: You must post before you leave.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Tbf, I can see the use case for some "non-standard" sizes, like Legal, where having more height to the page without the extra width might be useful for readability of long documents.
...can't think of an excuse for the rest, though.
As a European, I do appreciate Legal as a format.
It just happens slightly too often that an A4 is not long enough and the last bit, including the signature, goes to the next page.
I wish Legal was common here. Or perhaps we could get a Long A4 with a third extra height or so.
The Letter format should just be replaced by A4 though.
As a European, haven't you heard about the existence of the B and C series of paper sizes? It may not be exactly what you have in mind, but B4 paper is 250 x 353 mm (9.8 x 13.9 in) and C4 paper is 229 x 324 mm (9 x 12.8 in). There's also elongated A which is really long.
I hope you appreciate the irony of an American telling you about them.
As your links explain, C series is used for envelopes, while B and elongated A are special case that aren't commonly used.
In any case, none of those series has an equivalent to American Letter.
The only paper that you will commonly find in European offices are A4 and (to a lesser extent) A3.
A big office printer might have 4 trays stocked with A4 and one tray with A3, for example.