Origami -- A4 to US letter fold??

September 5, 2008 3:02 PM

How can I turn A4 paper into American letter size? Is there a simple fold I can use to do this? I know an origami fold to turn letter into A4, but I would like the opposite.
posted by dbooster to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

I don't understand how you make letter longer or how you would make A4 wider. Here's the sizes, side by side for comparison.
posted by b33j at 3:14 PM on September 5, 2008

Short answer: You can't. American letter sized paper is 8.5 inches wide; A4 is 8.3 inches wide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size
posted by dws at 3:15 PM on September 5, 2008

Best answer: You can derive the proportions of A4 from folding because the proportions of the A-sizes are geometric, whereas the proportions of American letter sizes are arbitrary - there is no intrinsic relationship between width and length as there is with the A-sizes. You just have to use the measurements.
posted by -harlequin- at 3:19 PM on September 5, 2008

Response by poster: I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. Of course you can't make A4 into US letter, or vice versa, but something of the same ratio. For example, there are many simple origami folds to turn US letter (and any other size) or paper into something that bares the same ratio as A4. Actually when you start with US letter it ends up being closer to A5. So I am looking for a simple fold that does the opposite. Of course I can measure and cut, but I'd prefer a faster method, like a simple fold.

Does that make more sense?
posted by dbooster at 3:25 PM on September 5, 2008

Response by poster: ah, ok, I accidently skipped over harlequin's response. That looks like the answer. Thanks! I guess measure and cut it is.
posted by dbooster at 3:27 PM on September 5, 2008

BTW, with the ratio of letter as 8.5" to 11" (ie 17 to 22), there will certainly be a way to achieve that using geometry, and thus, presumably, origami, but on the face of it it seems likely to be so complex as to dwarf the measure-with-a-ruler method. But... maybe someone can come up with something simple enough to be useful? Or achieve the necessary simplicity via an approximate ratio that while not precise, is very close and allows the exploiting of a shortcut?
posted by -harlequin- at 3:45 PM on September 5, 2008

Best answer: With A4 width = 210mm, divide by 17 and multiply by 22. Then subtract from 297. The resulting difference is 25.24mm, slightly under an inch.

So cut an inch off the bottom of an A4 piece of paper, and you should have the same proportions as US letter.
posted by Araucaria at 4:18 PM on September 5, 2008