Talk:Paper size - Wikiwand

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Lazare Carnot

On 4 November 2015 an anonymous user from IP address 194.153.110.6 (Paris) added the name Lazare Carnot as the source of the paper formats listed in the Loi sur le timbre (no. 2136), but did not provide a supporting reference. Does anyone have an earlier supporting source? Markus Kuhn (talk) 14:07, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

Edit by IP

I reverted as "Improvement not obvious". In particular the source cited does not support the claim that "...Canada and certain parts of Central and South America, are now in the process of transitioning to ISO 216." -- at least except in the highly abstract sense in which the US is theoretically "in the process of transitioning". Imaginatorium (talk) 06:50, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

Question about removal of proposed lead clarification

On 9 August 2025 at 06:23 UTC, I proposed a minor change to the lead to better reflect that ISO 216 is the official international standard, used by the vast majority of countries, whereas ANSI formats (Letter, Legal, Ledger) are exceptions. This change was reverted at 06:41 UTC with the comment “Improvement not obvious”. I would like to understand the reason for this removal, as the change was intended to be neutral and is supported by reliable sources (official ISO 216 page, CIA World Factbook, CEN adoption notes). 2A01:CB14:829F:7200:897:E732:B46A:7C92 (talk) 09:28, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

The editor who reverted you posted a comment about this in the section immediately above this one ("Edit by IP"). Mind matrix 10:20, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

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Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 17:08, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

Mass changes of number style

@Sngpra: I reverted a mass of minor changes, mostly changing (eg) "1280 mm" to "1,280 mm". The MOS allows either comma or non-comma forms for 4-digit numbers, and since all values here are a maximum of four digits, I think the non-comma form is neater. So you need consensus for a change like this. Imaginatorium (talk) 05:26, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

simpler intro

@Imaginatorium: can we please put a simple explanation before getting abstract into the introduction? i tested the current with 12 year olds and they were not able to understand what it is about. with a simple thing like a1 is half of a0. and that c0 is envelope of a0 and b0 is envelope of c0. or - c sligltly larger for envelope, and b really larger for machines. or put something mathematical like

More information Format, Area in m² ...

class-0- to class-4-formats
Format	Area in m²	Decimal (rounded)	Length (mm)	Width (mm)
B0	2^1/2	1.414	1414	1000
C0	2^1/4	1.189	1297	917
A0	2⁰	1.000	1189	841
B1	2^−1/2	0.707	1000	707
C1	2^−3/4	0.595	917	648
A1	2⁻¹	0.500	841	594
B2	2^−3/2	0.354	707	500
C2	2^−7/4	0.297	648	458
A2	2⁻²	0.250	594	420
B3	2^−5/2	0.177	500	353
C3	2^−11/4	0.149	458	324
A3	2⁻³	0.125	420	297
B4	2^−7/2	0.088	353	250
C4	2^−15/4	0.074	324	229
A4	2⁻⁴	0.0625	297	210

but such a table i would not put in the intro. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ThurnerRupert (talk • contribs) 06:16, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

The article is about paper sizes in general and "it's complicated™" because the US does not use the ISO sizes. So your table (or better still, the diagram) would probably generate more heat than light. So for your purposes, the section paper size#A series makes a better starting point. Inspired by your story, I have added a sentence there to explain in more practical terms how each size relates to the one above and the one below. Does that help? --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 12:28, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

do you understand "most countries adhere to the ISO 216 standard, which includes the widely recognized A series (including A4 paper) defined by a consistent aspect ratio of √2"? that language is jibberish, normal people are not mathematicians. therefor i tried to write it a little simpler. you master english better than me, please propose something? ThurnerRupert (talk) 02:48, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

Problem: the sentence you describe as "jibberish" is correct English and true; most people may not be mathematicians, but that does not necessarily mean they are innumerate. Your attempt at a replacement is not even close to English: for a start you need to learn to use capital letters at the beginning of a sentence, for words like "I", and so on. Without any plausible replacement why should anyone take your concerns seriously? Imaginatorium (talk) 05:25, 10 January 2026 (UTC)

@Imaginatorium: not sure how that answers my question, let me put it different therefor. i did add "A0 is 1 m2 of size, A1 is half of it, A2 half and so on." in the intro, to make it clear for any educational background what it is about. can you please be specific why this sentence is not acceptable? --ThurnerRupert (talk) 23:16, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

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