RFC 2346 (rfc2346) - Page 2 of 6
Making Postscript and PDF International
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2346 Making Postscript and PDF International May 1998 6. Author's Address 5 7. Full Copyright Statement 6 1. Introduction Certain text formats, for example Postscript (MIME-Type: application/postscript; file extension .ps) and Portable Document Format (MIME-Type: application/pdf; file extension .pdf) specify exactly the page layout of the printed document. The commonly used paper format is different in North America and the rest of the world. North America uses the 'Letter' format, while the rest of the world uses the 'A4' format. The North American Letter format is 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in) while the ISO standardised A4 format is 210 x 297 mm (8.3 x 11.7 in). The Letter format is thus 6 mm (0.2 inches) wider, while the A4 format is 18 mm (0.7 inches) taller. This means that documents formatted on one continent may not be printable on another continent. It is oboviously desirable that documents on the Internet are printable on all continents. This paper gives advice on how to achieve this. This memo is not intended for HTML documents, but the advice may be of value also for HTML developers in case they are using fixed-size graphics and fixed WIDTH sizes of objects in HTML documents. 2. Three methods for printing on different paper formats 2.1 Method 1: Use wider margins Paper format you use when converting the document Suggested minimal margins to Postscript Paper or PDF orien- Suggested change Left Right Top Bottom tation of margins ------------ ----------- ----------------- ----- ----- ----- ----- A4 Portrait Add 18 mm (0.7 20 mm 20 mm 33 mm 33 mm (upright, inches) to the top 0.8" 0.8" 1.3" 1.3" vertical) of page and bottom of page margins A4 Landscape Add 18 mm (0.7 33 mm 33 mm 15 mm 15 mm (lying, inches) to the 1.3" 1.3" 0.6" 0.6" horizontal) left and right margins Palme Informational
