Giant Craft Paper

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A lot of my notes fall into a category where I’m essentially filling out a form. It’s a pretty simple process where I can print out some blank forms that I complete by hand as necessary, and then re-print the completed forms for future reference.

Fine… but either my printer or Libre Office (or both) have quietly had an update such that they no longer handle half-letter size. I can still put the paper in the software and/or printer insist on rescaling what’s printed. (I haven’t tried printing to PDF and then printing that – and I’m not even sure that would work.) While I agree there really is some logic behind the US paper sizes I suggest the gentleman taking umbrage be a little more sensitive to the US approach to ignoring international standards in this and many related areas. As a kid I always thought that the half-sheet was just a letter size sheet of paper physically torn in half. This list of the common American and European paper sizes includes the ISO standards, which are used globally. All dimensions are specified in inches, millimeters as well as PostScript points (1/72 inch, always rounded off). The overview covers:The forms that were not letter size were statement size (exactly half the size of the Letter-Size sheet of paper 🙂 The US even insists on a different system of maritime navigation marks whilst everyone else not dominated by big brother uses a different internationally agreed approach. It should therefore be no surprise if the raison d’etre behind the US approach is less than widely understood outside the US.

At one time I the task of printing out blue prints stored on microfilm embedded in punch cards: I think F is the largest size I remember seeing on a regular basis but I am almost positive that they go larger than that (I mean in the US Standard Letter Sizes). US Standard Fan-Fold (aka green bar): 14-7/8″ by 11″– These are/were for the wide pin-feed (teletype / industrial / factory) printers. There were 6-ring binders with A5 paper but they were part of expensive day planner kits. (There’s also 7-hole punched paper that works with either but it’s hder to find.) That is because in the decades prior to Personal Computer, the US Standard “Letter” Sizes were for designed for the draftsman: the kind-a guy sitting at the angled desk with the only electrical device in sight would be the light bulb (he EVEN had to manually sharpen his own pencils).