Format Research

The international standard: ISO 216

The international paper size standard, ISO 216, is based on the German DIN 476 standard for paper sizes. ISO paper sizes are all based on a single aspect ratio of square root of 2, or approximately 1:1.4142. The base A0 size of paper is defined to have an area of 1 m². With this definition and the given aspect ratio of square root of two, one can calculate the sides of an A0 sheet as follows: The long side is 1 metre multiplied by the square root of the square root (that is, the fourth root) of 2 and the short side is 1 metre divided by the same. Rounded to millimetres, the A0 paper size is 841 by 1,189 millimetres (33.1 in × 46.8 in).

Series A

Successive paper sizes in the series A1, A2, A3, and so forth, are defined by halving the preceding paper size along the larger dimension. The most frequently used paper size is A4 210 by 297 millimetres (8.3 in × 11.7 in).

The significant advantage of this system is its scaling: if a sheet with an aspect ratio of  is divided into two equal halves parallel to its shortest sides, then the halves will again have an aspect ratio of . Folded brochures of any size can be made by using sheets of the next larger size, e.g. A4 sheets are folded to make A5 brochures. The system allows scaling without compromising the aspect ratio from one size to another—as provided by office photocopiers, e.g. enlarging A4 to A3 or reducing A3 to A4. Similarly, two sheets of A4 can be scaled down and fit exactly 1 sheet without any cutoff or margins. Weights are easy to calculate as well: a standard A4 sheet made from 80 gram/m² paper weighs 5 grams (as it is one 16th of an A0 page, measuring 1 m²), allowing one to easily compute the weight—and associated postage rate—by counting the number of sheets used.

B series

In addition to the A series, there is a less common B series. The area of B series sheets is the geometric mean of successive A series sheets. So, B1 is between A0 and A1 in size, with an area of 0.707 m² ( m²). As a result, B0 is 1 metre wide, and other sizes in the B series are a half, a quarter or further fractions of a metre wide. While less common in office use, it is used for a variety of special situations. Many posters use B-series paper or a close approximation, such as 50 cm × 70 cm; B5 is a relatively common choice for books. The B series is also used for envelopes and passports. The B-series is widely used in the printing industry to describe both paper sizes and printing press sizes, including digital presses. B3 paper is used to print two US letter or A4 pages side by side using imposition; four pages would be printed on B2, eight on B1, etc

C series

The C series is used only for envelopes and is defined in ISO 269. The area of C series sheets is the geometric mean of the areas of the A and B series sheets of the same number; for instance, the area of a C4 sheet is the geometric mean of the areas of an A4 sheet and a B4 sheet. This means that C4 is slightly larger than A4, and B4 slightly larger than C4. The practical usage of this is that a letter written on A4 paper fits inside a C4 envelope, and a C4 envelope fits inside a B4 envelope.

ISO paper sizes (plus rounded inch values)

Format	A series		B series		C series
Size	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in	mm × mm	in × in
0	841 × 1189	33.11 × 46.81	1000 × 1414	39.37 × 55.67	917 × 1297	36.10 × 51.06
1	594 x 841	23.39 × 33.11	707 × 1000	27.83 × 39.37	648 × 917	25.51 × 36.10
2	420 × 594	16.54 × 23.39	500 × 707	19.69 × 27.83	458 × 648	18.03 × 25.51
3	297 × 420	11.69 × 16.54	353 × 500	13.90 × 19.69	324 × 458	12.76 × 18.03
4	210 × 297	8.27 × 11.69	250 × 353	9.84 × 13.90	229 × 324	9.02 × 12.76
5	148 × 210	5.83 × 8.27	176 × 250	6.93 × 9.84	162 × 229	6.38 × 9.02
6	105 × 148	4.13 × 5.83	125 × 176	4.92 × 6.93	114 × 162	4.49 × 6.38
7	74 × 105	2.91 × 4.13	88 × 125	3.46 × 4.92	81 × 114	3.19 × 4.49
8	52 × 74	2.05 × 2.91	62 × 88	2.44 × 3.46	57 × 81	2.24 × 3.19
9	37 × 52	1.46 × 2.05	44 × 62	1.73 × 2.44	40 × 57	1.57 × 2.24
10	26 × 37	1.02 × 1.46	31 × 44	1.22 × 1.73	28 × 40	1.10 × 1.57

A Tabloid 

 A tabloid is a newspaper with compact page size smaller than broadsheet, although there is no standard for the precise dimensions of the tabloid newspaper format. The term "tabloid journalism", which tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, celebrity gossip and TV is commonly associated with tabloid sized newspapers, though some respected newspapers such as The Independent are in tabloid format, and in the United Kingdom the size is used by nearly all local newspapers. In the United States, it is commonly the format employed by alternative newspapers. Some small-format papers which claim a higher standard of journalism refer to themselves as compact newspapers instead.

The tabloid newspaper format is particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where its page dimensions are roughly 430 mm × 280 mm (16.9 in × 11.0 in).

The Broadsheet 

The broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches / 559 millimetres or more). The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet newspaper was the Dutch Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. published in 1618.

Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid/compact formats.

http://www.wikipedia.org/