brochure templates for letter and A4 sizes

users
#1

sizes

I'm old enough to remember the push back in the '70s to move to the metric
system in America. At the time, it made a lot of sense to me simply because
everything metric is in multiples of 10. But, I think the biggest bugaboo
for Americans was that we just couldn't get the handle of visualizing and
conceiving the actual size of things in metric units. I can visualize and
estimate a foot, a yard, even a mile. I have a harder time estimating a
meter or kilometer.

In terms of absolute size, there is nothing about an inch that is any more
or less arbitrary than a centimeter. Both are identifiable and equally
arbitrary spans of space. A yard is no more or less arbitrary than a meter.
It's just that a meter is broken down into subparts measured in multiples of
ten, whereas the yard is broken down into units of three feet and 36 inches.
Certainly, the metric system makes more sense internally, but for those of
us accustomed to inches, feet, and yards, we see no problem with it.

And, I think that is the reason things won't change here. Until we perceive
our system as broken, we won't look for ways to fix it, especially if it
costs money to do so. It works for us just fine, thank you, even if it is
goofy.

Virgil

#2

Children throughout the world can do it. Even you could! You'll never do it until you determine to do so; the only problem is that you haven't yet tried.

(And anyway, if you are estimating, a metre *is* a yard!)

Brian Barker

#3

Brian Barker wrote:

(And anyway, if you are estimating, a metre *is* a yard!)

Or more closely, 40" or precisely 39.37".

BTW, the official definition of a foot is now 30.48 cm.

#4

Hi :slight_smile:
It does take time to get used to it.  We should really focus on helping people that want to migrate to LibreOffice and worry about the rest later (Or never).  lol (yes i know i was being hypocritical there and it has been fun)
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#5

Sorry, but you have delusions of precision. The claim I was commenting on was that *estimating* (not my word) a yard was easy but a metre was difficult (or impossible?). If you need to estimate a yard or a metre without the aid of any measuring device, the precision you can hope for requires no difference.

Brian Barker

#6

Brian Barker wrote:

Or more closely, 40" or precisely 39.37".

Sorry, but you have delusions of precision.

You mean you can't eyeball 39.37 cm? :wink:

#7

Children throughout the world can do it. Even you could! You'll

never do it until you determine to do so; the only problem is that
you haven't yet tried.

You're absolutely right, I haven't tried, because I've had no reason to. My system has worked for me (and my fellow Americans) for my entire 57 years on Earth. Until it stops working, I'm quite happy to keep using it.

I guess my point is that having something "better" isn't necessarily enough motivation to produce change. I fully agree that the metric system is better than the English. But, my English system works. I fully and accurately measure things every day with it, and I effectively communicate those measurements to others. Until it stops working, I have little motivation to change.

Virgil

#8

Let me shift gears slightly.

What measurement unit do y'all use in your Writer rulers and margin/spacing settings. I've set mine to use Picas, which is a traditional unit of measurement for typesetting. It's equal to 1/6 inch and provides for very tight control of a document.

Do others use Picas? If not, what are you using?

Virgil

#9

How about keeping this thread about the brochure issues and not the pros and cons of Metric and Imperial [English] measurements.

I started it, and if people want to go on with the pros/cons, maybe you can start a new thread in the discuss list.

#10

How about keeping this thread about the brochure issues and not the pros

and cons of Metric and Imperial [English] measurements.

I started it, and if people want to go on with the pros/cons, maybe you

can start a new thread in the discuss list.

+100

#11

I use inches, but I have used "cm" when I needed to create a drawing that used a "scale" of say 1 cm per foot or some other thing that was large and needed to fit on a letter size paper, like a building 's network layout to scale. Try making a building the size of a football field [American-football or soccer-football] onto one letter size page.

But, whenever I work with printed documents and not drawings, I use inches.

I am use to doing it. The people I deal with are use to it. If I was going to use picas or any other measurement, they would not understand me. I have had laid printing type before so I use to deal with typesetting, but that was in the 70's and long before a computer was smaller than a refrigerator and not a desktop item. Now with desktop publishing and all that comes with it, typesetting concepts seem to no longer be something businesses are willing to deal with. Even professional printer hardly ever use a printing press that uses hand laid type anymore. It is all computer based and transfered to printing plates via laser and photo methods.

SO
like most I know, I use whatever is easiest for me to deal with. I know of some people that use metric for most of their work, and they live within a mile or three from me in New York State USA and our inch/foot/yard system. The same goes with software. I have not learned draw, yet, since I use other vector-graphics package for too many years to stop now and relearn another free package to do the same. I use Inkscape for Windows and Linux, and before that I used Corel Draw.

So, if you prefer to use picas, points, or some other measurement, then that is what works the best for you and no one can say their's would be the measurement method over yours. There are too many people that believe that, even if they can be proven wrong.

But, I also define web page fonts by "points" instead of any other size measurement in my style sheets [.css]. But that is not what was asked.

#12

Hi :slight_smile:
I have cm in the ruler but seldom take much notice of what it's in.  I just shift tab-stops and things until they look about right rather than having a strictly regimented thing.  Same if i'm adjusting margins.  I just shift it until it looks about right. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile: