Most printed matter adheres to the size of the standardized DIN system. The designer will also be well advised to employ these most commonly used sizes. For one thing, these sizes are stocked by the paper manufacturer and the printer can order and obtain them without loss of time. For another, the presses and cutting machines also have specific standardized dimensions which match the paper sizes of the DIN system. Again, the sizes of envelopes are DIN standard- ized and, last but not least, the scale of postal charges is partly based on the DIN standardization.

A size which is outside those of the DIN system must be manufactured to this specification at the paper factory or, alternatively, a larger size than required is used for printing and trimmed afterwards, which means a waste of paper. Both approaches increase production costs.

The following page shows the sizes of the DIN series. The reader will see that the next largest size is always twice as big as the preceding the one; for example, the A6 is twice the size of the A7. This means in effect that every DIN size that is folded also produces a DIN size.

The advantage of this standardization are incomparably greater than its disadvantages. A firm wishing to have a corporate identity will also have to introduce uniform paper sizes, for information printed on standard paper makes a greater impact on the reader.

The recipient is also more likely to keep standardized sizes of paper because they slip easily into files and card indexes. This is a point that no designer can afford to ignore.