Damn, that Mercator projection making A4 look almost as big as Greenland...
this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026
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I propose a new standard for printing.
Laser-etchable circular paper with 2 holes in middle which helps rotate it on a spindle, and hang it without unvanted rotation.
The printer will have a spindle with 2 prongs, and single axis movable laser assembly used to etch the paper as it spins.
So like a vinyl record but made from paper?
They’ve described optical media, so like a vinyl record but it’s a cd instead.
Only used A sizes through my academic career. I know that was a long time ago but even going to stores they list a4/5 as sizes.
I'm American and have worked in corporate offices all my life and grew up around the printing industry.
A4/SI is super common here too. "Letter" is just something used by home users. But very often A4 is sold as "Letter A4" right next to the other paper.
Now "legal" print format is a true abomination and unfortunately is much less likely to be easily replaced.
Oh, let's also remember that A4 is a member of beautiful variant of an "SI system for paper". Want a paper the size of an A4 folded double? We have A8. Want something that folds perfectly to A4? A3. One more fold? A2.
- Statement: "I want a piece of paper that I can fold twice to get exactly a US letter size."
- Response: "You must be crazy."
A4 folded is A5
What on earth are you on about with those numbers? 😅
A0 is the base size, with an area of one square meter. Fold that in half and you get A1. Fold that in half and you get A2, and so on. Regular printer paper is A4. You’ll rarely, if ever, see sizes smaller than A6.
I was hoping that there was a metric baseline for this paper size, but it still bugs me that the dimensions aren't "even". 297mm? That's no better than 8 1/2 inches.
I see what you’re saying, but the «weird» dimensions are what makes the whole thing with folding in half to get the next size work:
The aspect ratio has to be 1 to the root of 2 for it to work, and that’s going to make some dimensions «uneven». The utility of that system is worth it many times over!
There is, but A4 isn't the baseline, A0 is.
A0 is 1m² with a ratio of 1:√2. Cut that in half along the larger side and you have A1, half it again and you have A2, etc. on down the line.
The entire series maintains the same exact ratio down to A13 at 9mmx13mm.
So ridiculously dedicated to metric that they didn't think to make A0 an exponent of 2, and then designed an entire system around dividing it by 2.
A0 should've been 1.024 meters.
You’d still get «weird» lengths in the other dimension, though. Remember, the aspect ratio has to be 1 to the root of 2 for the folding in half to work.
Also, I don’t think 1024 would have been such an obvious number back in the late 1700’s, when this system was first thought up 😅
There is a system of sizes where the shortest side of the base size is exactly 1 meter, though: the B system. The aspect ratio is the same as for the A sizes.
There is 11"×17", it's called Ledger paper.
This doesn't make the american system okay.
And that's how you choose a system over another,because it gets things easier
Not a meme; I am an American and I think this would be the exact right kind of petty bullshit to respond with, please push for this, Canadians. It is exactly this kind of petty, stupid bullshit that Trump participates in and responds most to.
There is truth in meming
I'm honestly shocked by anyone south of the US not using the SI system considering they use metric otherwise.
I’d argue 8.5" isn’t even used. Half an inch is 12.7mm, 8.5" ≈ 215.9mm. Most machines are calibrated using SI, so they’ll do ~216mm instead, and then what’s the point, just discard US Letter
Please 🙏
Why is it ledger or tabloid? Why do I have to remember the orientation?
Orientation of paper? Woke gone mad smh my head
Typical Siberia and Greenland doing a lot of work here
On the other hand Nunavut is hidden behind the A4.
I want to use uninhabitable wasteland to decide my stationary shape as much as the next guy, but this is pure deceit.
(US standard is horrendous btw)
It's pure deceit because the map is accurate? What should they do instead? Hide Siberia and Greenland? Use Gall-Peters projection and let Africa do a lot of work instead? What difference does it make which yellow part is bigger when it's pretty much all yellow?
Yes, yes, Dymaxion, colour