this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026
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[–] Bluewing@lemmy.world 2 points 22 minutes ago* (last edited 18 minutes ago)

The A standard is not as perfect as you might think. Because the paper manufacturers round that perfect root 2 down to a whole integer in size every time, there is accumulated error in every size.

You might not notice a millimeter or two on an A1, but as the size of the paper gets smaller, the error gets bigger because of the rounding.

[–] straussbelial@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

I never understood why we use ISO guidelines for everything in Chile, metric system and so on... except for paper sizes πŸ€¦β€β™‚οΈ

[–] Atomic@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

And before you ask, of course there's an easy system for various sizes that all relate to each other.

What did you think? That we hadn't thought this through?

[–] craftrabbit@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 minutes ago

Where the aspect ratio is the only one where this pattern is possible (1:sqrt(2)) and A0 has an area of exactly one square metre :3

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

Let's decide on a global standard before everyone realizes it's cheaper to do business the old way, with pens, papers and filing cabinets.

[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 11 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

Fun fact: ISO paper sizes are a transposition of German DIN (Deutsches Institut fΓΌr Normung) sizes.

The German's obsession for standards is their main usefulness to humanity.

[–] Atomic@sh.itjust.works 1 points 58 minutes ago

I dunno... I feel like I've dealt with enough German machinery and bureaucracy for 3 lifetimes.

Their "obsession" for standards is only for the standard of making everything 10 times more complicated than it needs to be.

[–] Kennystillalive@feddit.org 4 points 3 hours ago

Fun fact, there is a standard butt & a standard shit accoding to the DIN.

[–] abbadon420@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 hours ago

Their greatest usefullness, not "main". Some people would much rather have bratwurst than a4 paper.

[–] sleeperdouge@lemmy.ml 13 points 10 hours ago

I think this is a little bit outdated at least for the Philippines. Goverment documents now primarily use A4 to comply with ISO standards. Some places such as schools may sometimes use the letter size (commonly referred to as short size here) but A4 is now much more common.

[–] heartSagan5@lemmy.zip 8 points 10 hours ago (5 children)

Why does A4 have an odd number of millimeters? Why not 290, flat?

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

A0 is a square meter. Its sides are self similar, such that the ratio of long to short edge stays the same when you cut one in the middle, and thus create a new long and short edge.

Each cut produces two sheets of the next Ax number, so A4 is four times halved compared to A0, or a sixteenth of a square meter.

That property of being able to halve is achieved with a ratio of the square root of 2, so unfortunately the measurements in absolute numbers get pretty odd.

[–] Bluewing@lemmy.world 1 points 13 minutes ago

Add in the fact that paper manufacturers round the numbers down, that "perfect" half size goes out the window immediately on the first division. And gets worse as the paper size gets smaller.

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 13 points 7 hours ago

Definitions and math:

  • A series paper has a height/width ratio of √2
  • Each paper in the series is half the area of the last
  • A0 has an area of exactly 1mΒ²
[–] markko@lemmy.world 14 points 9 hours ago

The answer is actually fairly interesting

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size#A_series

Since A series sizes share the same aspect ratio, they can be scaled to other A series sizes without being distorted, and two sheets can be reduced to fit on exactly one sheet without any cutoff or margins.

[–] Matty_r@programming.dev 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)
[–] yistdaj@pawb.social 2 points 8 hours ago

You'll like B series paper then

[–] FluidBeef@quokk.au 17 points 15 hours ago (7 children)

Canada should drive on the left to really stick it to the yanks.

[–] abbadon420@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 hours ago

Ho ho, let's not overreact

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 2 points 9 hours ago

How would that even work? Do you expect the passenger to operate a shotgun with their left hand/eye? Just shove their entire body out the window?

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[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 158 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

Damn, that Mercator projection making A4 look almost as big as Greenland...

[–] tempest@lemmy.ca 35 points 20 hours ago (5 children)

Remember Africa is about three times larger than Canada

[–] TheBloodFarts@lemmy.ca 11 points 14 hours ago

Pretty insane to consider that sort of scale, this projection really distorts reality

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[–] Chick0nPlayz@lemmy.world 31 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Surprised that many countries use the US version

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Same, I figured 8 1/2 x 11 was yet another example of our uniquely pig-headed obstinance.

[–] tquid@sh.itjust.works 12 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Canada almost switched in the 1970s, but lost its nerve

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[–] fosho@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago

Is that the Philippines out there all alone?

[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 73 points 1 day ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (36 children)

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 A~~8~~5. 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."

Edit: Did a fat-fingering

[–] Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

What's the next step up after A0?

[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

2A0, and next 4A0, but there are rarely used. From A0 you mostly print from rolls, so you define the width. Large offset printing presses use formats that allow multiple A sized pages, either single or double for binding, and the needed trims.j

[–] Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 hours ago

I'm going to open the world's first 256A0 print shop

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