Foo - Graphic design help - US paper sizes

Folks,

I've been asked to do a copy of some artwork in US paper sizes (I'm usually working ISO sizes, A4-A3 etc) for a friend.

So...

If the original artwork is on A3 paper, folded to A4 (ie 4 page brochure), then am I correct to think that the best way to present this artwork for a US printer is on Tabloid (17x11 inch, 279 × 432 mm), folded to Letter (8.5 x 11 inch, 216 × 279mm)?

I want to double check that this will work fine for my man when he walks into a Kinko's etc and hands over the disk.

According to MS Word, paper sizes in U.S. dimensions are:

A3: 11.69" x 16.54"
A4: 8.27" x 11.69"

Maybe adjust your margins accordingly to accomodate the conversion?

According to MS Word, paper sizes in U.S. dimensions are:

A3: 11.69" x 16.54"
A4: 8.27" x 11.69"

Maybe adjust your margins accordingly to accomodate the conversion?

I think you missed my meaning. I'm not looking to convert A4/A3 to inches, I'm looking to alter the artwork to fit onto the most commonly available paper in the US, which is not (as I understand it) the ISO sizings. I'm not sure if you can just wander in to Kinkos and ask for A3.

If I'm wrong, then I doubly curse Microsoft for that damned 'US Letter' default setting in Word that is the bane of everyone's life in the rest of the civilized (metric) world.

most kinkos i have been to, know what a4 is. I use it alot in paper projects. most kinkos have a4 or atleast keep a stash in the back

but 8x11.5 are the most common here. so what you consider letter, may be what se consider standard

^ what he said. Also pull up MS Publisher - that darn thing only lays out the unobvious paper sizes in which to layout your stuff.

Folks,

I've been asked to do a copy of some artwork in US paper sizes (I'm usually working ISO sizes, A4-A3 etc) for a friend.

So...

If the original artwork is on A3 paper, folded to A4 (ie 4 page brochure), then am I correct to think that the best way to present this artwork for a US printer is on Tabloid (17x11 inch, 279 × 432 mm), folded to Letter (8.5 x 11 inch, 216 × 279mm)?

I want to double check that this will work fine for my man when he walks into a Kinko's etc and hands over the disk.

Probably, but you really should be asking this question at Kinko's, or whoever your client will use. Printers over here all have their own quirks, just like over there, and you need to touch base with them if you want to do this just once.

Probably, but you really should be asking this question at Kinko's, or whoever your client will use. Printers over here all have their own quirks, just like over there, and you need to touch base with them if you want to do this just once.

I've emailed their customer support and lets see if they can provide a confirmation. Not a lot of info on their website, but then again this sort of stuff might be presumed knowledge!

Having worked at Kinko's for 9+ years, and other print shops for 6+ years after that to this current time, I can confidently say that the chances of a US Kinko's location having a stock of A4 or A3 paper on hand is very slim. They should have no problem, however, with printing the job onto 11x17 to be folded to 8.5x11. Especially if you are nice and provide the job to your guy as a PDF. All the print shop will have to do is click the Scale to Fit Paper checkbox and everything will be taken care of by the computer.

Also, I'd highly recommend not submitting the job as a Word document. I can pretty much guarantee there'll be issues with it if you do so, due to the potential for dropped fonts & print area differences between default printers. PDF is the way to go.

Graphic artist here. Letter (8.5x11") or 11x17" are two most common in North America.

I designed a brochure that runs on 11 x 17 and folds to 8.5 x 11 and had Kinkos run and fold it. Worked fine and it also gave me the ability to print single pages as needed from my desk on 8.5 x 11 size. Also converted the file to pdf to that it was 4 pages 8.5 x 11 to use when I needed to email the file, etc.

Thanks jsharr, coffeecake and monogodo - just the sort of confident answer I was after!

Art will be done using InDesign and I'll put two pdfs on the disk (with and without bleed).