Where to find 8.5x11 paper in England?

October 11, 2006 7:04 AM

Where to find 8.5x11 paper in England (or even Europe)?

My wife needs to print out her thesis for submission to her Canadian university; it must be printed on letter (8.5x11") paper, A4 size paper will not do. We are now in England. I haven't been able to find any UK store, online or otherwise, that will sell me 8.5x11 paper. Anyone know any? Failing that, anyone know any European online stores selling letter paper that will deliver to London for a reasonable price?

posted by louigi to shopping (18 comments total)

You could buy some sheets of A3 paper and have it trimmed down in a copy shop. The size should be 21.59cm x 27.94cm.
posted by bcwinters at 7:15 AM on October 11, 2006

These places apparently offer 'US Quarto' which I think is supposed to be the same as US Letter, though it's probably best to call & check first.
posted by misteraitch at 7:19 AM on October 11, 2006

Hi - If you're in London, I could bring you some next week :-)

I'm at a meeting in the US and will return next Wednesday.

It amazes me how hard certain things are to find in London.
posted by lukemeister at 7:21 AM on October 11, 2006 [1 favorite]

Never used euroffice but it has the paper and is UK-based.
posted by Cuppatea at 7:21 AM on October 11, 2006

The alternative would be to see if there is a print shop in the town in Canada that can take care of printing, binding and delivery of the thesis. It'll perhaps be more expensive however.
posted by edd at 7:22 AM on October 11, 2006

These guys have some
posted by mattr at 7:23 AM on October 11, 2006

I like edd's idea and want to add that the university itself may have a print/copy shop on campus that would do the job for you.
posted by benign at 8:00 AM on October 11, 2006

This is when it's good to have friends who are U.S. servicemembers in England... they could pop on down to the base exchange and get you some. I never thought 8.5 x 11" paper would be so difficult to come by in London.
posted by rolypolyman at 8:41 AM on October 11, 2006

With Canada's zeal for metrification, I'm surprised if they're still using ye olde paper sizes. Are they? Or is it just an academic / professional thing?
posted by wackybrit at 8:59 AM on October 11, 2006

Kinkos/FedEx on Tottenham Court Road had some a year ago.
posted by k8t at 9:12 AM on October 11, 2006

Thanks everyone -- that was a great help! mattr, decided not to go with that place because its minimum order seems to be 2500 sheets. misteraitch, I guess Quarto has a couple different meanings, the paper those places were offering isn't actually the right size. Cuppatea, that place is good to know about, thanks.

And lukemeister, please check your email!
posted by louigi at 10:25 AM on October 11, 2006

rolypolyman, on that line of thought: we actually tried contacting the Canadian embassy ... they didn't have any! wackybrit, no, Canada is still on 8.5x11 paper, for whatever reason. Though A4 paper is 210 × 297 mm, which is not a particularly natural pair of dimensions in metric, either ...
posted by louigi at 10:29 AM on October 11, 2006

Louigi -- A4 is 210x297 because it's one of the mid-points of the A-series of papers, which are all based on the golden ratio 1:1.618033989, each one being half (or double, depending on your perspective) the size of the previous one but with its sides in the same proportion. It is, in fact, one of the most natural dimensions there is.
posted by Hogshead at 4:56 PM on October 11, 2006

Actually, Hogshead, all the ISO paper sizes (A, B, C, D, RA and SRA series) have sides in sqrt(2):1 proportions (about 1.414), not golden ratio (sqrt(5)+1)/2:1 (about 1.618).

As you correctly note, this allows you to cut an ISO sheet exactly in half to get a smaller sheet with the same proportions. If you cut a smaller golden-ratio sheet off a larger one, what you're left with is not another golden-ratio sheet, but a square.

American legal paper (14 x 8.5 inches) is about as close as a standard paper gets to golden ratio proportions.
posted by flabdablet at 5:57 PM on October 11, 2006

Dammit, I have to stop posting after midnight with a headcold. Thanks for the correction.
posted by Hogshead at 6:57 PM on October 11, 2006

(also worth pointing out that it's a metrically natural set of sizes because A0 has an area of 1m², as flabdablet's link says)
posted by edd at 9:32 PM on October 11, 2006

I'm shocked that an institute of higher education, in Canada (Canada!) would require American paper sizes and not allow for something as internationally correct as A4. If an American university did this, no shock at all. Just sayin'.
posted by Goofyy at 8:07 AM on October 12, 2006

k8t, need some more and that Kinko's still has it (and the kind I need to, acid free, right weight and all that). Thanks for the tip!
posted by louigi at 8:22 AM on January 11, 2007