- Format intro
- ISO sizes
- North American sizes
- Newspaper sizes
- Envelope formats
- SA & RSA Sizes
- Traditional sizes
- Glossary / Key terms
Format Intro
Format is the paper size conventions for paper. It's very important to know when designing for print. Before studying this area and researching it's easy to make the assumption that everything is A5 of A4 or A3 size, in todays technological society we're all comfortable with word processing and we're all familiar with A sizes but there's much more paper formats than just A sizes. It's very important to know the size conventions when designing a certain product. T
here's hundreds of formats out there, probably the most well known sizing convention out there are ISO formats, most common of which are the A series (ISO 216). Some of the paper formats we will go through in this book is ISO sizes, A+SRA sizes, envelope formats, tabloid formats and other various international formats.
ISO Sizes
ISO sizes are the most common paper sizes used throughout the world today, with the US and Canada the most notable exceptions. All ISO 216 and 269 have the same aspect ratio of square root of 2. The system is developed from the principle of having an original paper size and successive paper sizes are formed by halving the preceding paper along the longer side. Probably the most frequently used paper size in the world, especially in the office environment is obviously the A4 size - 210mm x 297mm. So in simple terms each ISO paper size is half the area of the next size up.
A Series (ISO 216)
The A series are probably the most common paper formats in the world with everyone pretty much used to interacting with A5, A4 and A3 sizes in everyday life. The basis of the A series is a base size of A0 which has an area of 1 metre squared. This is then halved lengthways for successive paper sizes which go as low as A10. The beauty of the system is it allows scaling without any proportional compromise, for example blowing A4 up to A3 won't be a problem, the aspect ratio is exactly the same.
The main disadvantage of the system is type does not scale proportionately. For example, when a page is resized, the type set on it loses legibility as the proportions between the type's x-height, page margins and leading are distorted. When trim is involved, IS0 216 sizes are generally regarded as too long and narrow for bookmaking.
B Series
The B series is the geometric mean between the A series sheet sizes. So for example, B1 is between A0 and A1 in size. B series are less common in office use and a more common choice for books, envelopes and passports.
C Series (ISO 269)
C Series is pretty much only uses for envelopes and is defined in ISO 269. C Serie paper sizes are the geometric mean of A and B series. So for example a C4 sheet is the geometric mean, or average of an A4 and B4 sheet. This means that C4 is slightly larger than A4 and B4 is slightly larger than C4. So for example if you needed an envelope for an A4 sheet of paper, just put it in a C4 envelope and it will be nice and snug.
German extension (DIN 476)
The German standard DIN 476 was published in 1922 and is an actual originator of the ISO format size which really gained popularity. It differs in a few ways from its international successor. DIN 476 actually provides extensions to its formats. So for example 4A0 is a format which is 4 times the area of A0 and 2A0 is is twice the area of A0.
Japanese variants
In Japan, the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) defines two main paper sizes. The JIS A-series is pretty much identical to the ISO A series. Both JIS A and JIS B series are widely available in Japan, Taiwan and China. There are also still a few traditional paper sizes used mainly only by printers in Japan - the most common of these paper sizes are Shiroku-ban and the Kiku paper sizes.
North American Sizes
The current standard paper sizes used in the US, Mexico and Canada are based on the traditional inch based 'loose' paper sizes listed below. These are by far the most commonly used in everyday use in North America. Letter is the most common paper size for office use in many countries such as United States, Mexico, Bolivia, Philippines and Chile.
Unlike the A4 (210 × 297 mm) international standard (ISO) paper sizes which are used in most countries in the world today, the origin of the dimensions of letter size paper are lost in tradition. The American Forest and Paper Association argues that the dimension originates from the days of manual paper making, and that the 11-inch length of the page is about a quarter of "the average maximum stretch of an experienced vatman's arms".
Newspaper sizes
A tabloid is a newpaper size format slightly smaller than a broadsheet, there is no standard size requirement to be a tabloid format but tabloids are usually about 280 x 430mm. In the UK, tabloid is the format used by nearly all local newspapers and in the US, tabloid is the size used mostly by alternative newspapers.
Newspapers called broadsheets are larger than the tabloid format and tend to be associated with higher-quality journalism and the more expensive newspapers. Sometimes when a high class newspaper reduces size, it's still referred to as a broadsheet, so in a way a tabloid and broadsheet are maybe more telling of a newspapers market position than it's actual physical size.
There's also another popular format called the Berliner which is used throughout Europe extensively. The Berliner is sized between the tabloid and the broadsheet and is designed to be big and spacious but also small enough to read in tight areas. With a size of 315 mm × 470 mm, the Berliner is slightly taller and marginally wider than tabloid/compact format and is narrower and shorter than the broadsheet format.
The Sun. A tabloid.
The Daily Telegraph. A broadsheet.
The Guardian. One of the first in the UK to be a Berliner format.
Envelope Formats
Traditional envelopes are made from one sheet of paper cut to one of three shapes, a rhombus, a short-arm cross or a kite. Once these shapes are formed it's simple to fold and create the envelope structure by folding the sheet sides around a central rectangular area.
Window envelopes have a hole cut in the front side allowing you to see through into the contents of the envelope. These are widely used to show the address of the recipient through the hole
Security envelopes have a patterned tint printed on the inside of the envelope making it difficult to see through the envelope even when holding against the light.
ISO 269 defines several standard envelope sizes. The methodology behind them is that certain A, B and C sizes can fit in them perfectly either directly or by folding.
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RA & SRA Sizes
RA & SRA sizes are most prominently used in professional printing. The basis behind the sizes is to have sizes that are just slightly larger than conventional A series sizes allowing full bleed printing with minimum cut-away.
RA stands for "raw format A" and is conceptually defined as being 105% of the A series size, thus as A0 has an area of 1 square metre RA0 has an area of 1.05 square metres.
SRA stands for "supplementary raw format A" and is conceptually defined as being 115% of the A series size, so a sheet of SRA0 paper has an area of 1.15 square metres. In reality the sizes f are rounded to the nearest centimetre or nearest half centimetre.
Traditional sizes
Imperial sizes were used in the United Kingdom before the metric ISO standardised system came into place. Some of these sizes such as Atlas and Elephant are still in use in the United States today.
Glossary
ISO - The international paper size standard. ISO 216 and ISO 269 are most common - the A, B and C series of paper.
JIS - The Japanese Industrial Standard paper sizes. JIS also follows the A and B sizes pretty much and have their own prominent sizes such as Shiroku ban and Kiku
DIN - German standardisation system, predates the ISO system which was more widely accepted, has a few extensions such as 2A0 and 4A0, multiples of A0 size.
Broadsheet - The biggest newspaper format used for high-qualtity newspapers
Tabloid - The most common newspaper format, used for daily, local and gossip column newspapers.
Berliner - European newspaper format, which is more contemporary than tabloid and broadsheet and a in between the two.
RA & SRA - formats used mainly by professional printers, sizes designed to be 105% or 115% bigger than their A series counterparts to allow full bleed printing
DL - Most common envelope, based on the principle of A5 being folded 3 times to fit in nicely.
Traditional envelopes are made from one sheet of paper cut to one of three shapes, a rhombus, a short-arm cross or a kite. Once these shapes are formed it's simple to fold and create the envelope structure by folding the sheet sides around a central rectangular area.
Window envelopes have a hole cut in the front side allowing you to see through into the contents of the envelope. These are widely used to show the address of the recipient through the hole
Security envelopes have a patterned tint printed on the inside of the envelope making it difficult to see through the envelope even when holding against the light.
ISO 269 defines several standard envelope sizes. The methodology behind them is that certain A, B and C sizes can fit in them perfectly either directly or by folding.
C4 envelope
C5 envelope
C6 envelope
DL Envelope
The DL Format is probably the most popular envelope format, especially in the UK. The folding principle behind it is an A4 sheet folded 3 times will fit into it nicely. The DL size doesn't fall under the A,B or C sizes at has a different aspect ratio.
In North America not all envelope sizes are used for posting mail, they may be used for pay packets. US and Canadian differ from the rest of the world, although delivering worldwide isn't a problem, the Universal Postal Union sorting machines won't accept international sizes.
RA & SRA sizes are most prominently used in professional printing. The basis behind the sizes is to have sizes that are just slightly larger than conventional A series sizes allowing full bleed printing with minimum cut-away.
RA stands for "raw format A" and is conceptually defined as being 105% of the A series size, thus as A0 has an area of 1 square metre RA0 has an area of 1.05 square metres.
SRA stands for "supplementary raw format A" and is conceptually defined as being 115% of the A series size, so a sheet of SRA0 paper has an area of 1.15 square metres. In reality the sizes f are rounded to the nearest centimetre or nearest half centimetre.
Traditional sizes
Imperial sizes were used in the United Kingdom before the metric ISO standardised system came into place. Some of these sizes such as Atlas and Elephant are still in use in the United States today.
Glossary
ISO - The international paper size standard. ISO 216 and ISO 269 are most common - the A, B and C series of paper.
JIS - The Japanese Industrial Standard paper sizes. JIS also follows the A and B sizes pretty much and have their own prominent sizes such as Shiroku ban and Kiku
DIN - German standardisation system, predates the ISO system which was more widely accepted, has a few extensions such as 2A0 and 4A0, multiples of A0 size.
Broadsheet - The biggest newspaper format used for high-qualtity newspapers
Tabloid - The most common newspaper format, used for daily, local and gossip column newspapers.
Berliner - European newspaper format, which is more contemporary than tabloid and broadsheet and a in between the two.
RA & SRA - formats used mainly by professional printers, sizes designed to be 105% or 115% bigger than their A series counterparts to allow full bleed printing
DL - Most common envelope, based on the principle of A5 being folded 3 times to fit in nicely.
Sources:
http://www.druckeselbst.de/briefbogen/papierformate.php
http://www.edsebooks.com/paper/jpaper.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envelope
http://www.dpandi.com/paper/index.html
http://www.dpandi.com/paper/index.html
http://www.papersizes.org/c-envelope-sizes.htm
http://www.papersizes.org/ra-sra-untrimmed.htm
http://www.papersizes.org/ra-sra-untrimmed.htm
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