Halving A3 paper?

[Dweeble]

Sorry if A3 is a Euro-centric size....but it's a simple question:

My print sizes vary between A4 and A3+.....A3+ is rather less than twice the price of A4. If I buy A3+ packs and halve the paper down to size for A4 as needed do you think the printer will take it (even if some trimming is needed) or are they hyper sensitive to paper size? It's a Canon PRO-100....

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

My print sizes vary between A4 and A3+.....A3+ is rather less than twice the price of A4. If I buy A3+ packs and halve the paper down to size for A4 as needed do you think the printer will take it (even if some trimming is needed) or are they hyper sensitive to paper size? It's a Canon PRO-100....

Forgive me if I'm stating what's obvious to you--and I think it may well be, and this is just to be clear--but A3 and A3+ are quite different paper sizes. If you halve A3 paper with the shorter cut, then you have 2 pieces of A4 size--and as long as your cut is reasonably precise, that should be fine for use in your Pro-100.

But A3+ is a very different thing. First, it's not a metric / ISO size at all. It's actually another name for U.S. ANSI Super B size, which is 13x19 inches. So A3 is about 29.7 x 42.0 cm, but A3+ is about 33.0 x 48.3 cm. If you cut A3+ in half across the short way, you're left with 2 pieces of 9.5 x 13 inches = 24.1 x 33.0 cm, which is neither A4 nor (AFAIK) a standard size anywhere.

So that means not a simple halving, but a complicated trimming on more than one side. I've done that with Canon A3+ paper to make letter-size (8.5 x 11 inches / 21.6 x 27.9 cm) paper for printing in a Pro-100. It worked, but not great. IMOPO it would not be worth the cost savings, especially because unless you're a very precise trimmer, you will lose some sheets.

 

[Dweeble]

Yes, I meant halve and trim. But yr point about getting it right across two dimensions meaning lost sheets probably outweighs the savings!

Thanks!

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

The only time I cut paper is to trim the excess off to match the frame size. So, that's after the printing rather than before. Otherwise, I just buy the sheets which are closest to what I wish to print. So, I stock several sizes.

The only time I use significantly larger paper is for 4x6 and 5x7, then I use US A Size and print three 4x6 or two 5x7 per sheet and then cut the prints out.

Stan

--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer
Once you start down the DSLR path, forever will it dominate your destiny! Consume
your bank account, it will! Like mine, it did!

 

[NAwlins Contrarian]

Yes, I meant halve and trim. But yr point about getting it right across two dimensions meaning lost sheets probably outweighs the savings!

Maybe it's just me, but keeping paper reasonably square gets exponentially more difficult as the number of cuts increases. So I think a single cut (e.g. A3 to two A4), with the other three sides guarantied to be square, is much more doable than is cutting two A4 sheets out of an A3+ sheet. Maybe if I had a Rotatrim Professional model I'd find it easier, but my trimmer is a cheaper model.

But! IMO / IME, keeping the paper really square is more important for feeding through the printer than it is for final use. As long as you are a bit patient, you can lay out multiple prints on one sheet of A3+ (or whatever size) paper, print them on the one sheet, and cut out the prints after printing. Lightroom is pretty good for this and Qimage is even more flexible. I routinely lay out one 8x10 inch print, or two 5x7 inch prints, or three 4x6 inch prints on one 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper, print them together, then cut them after. In fact, I get borderless by making them 8.1x10.1 inches or 5.1x7.1 inches or whatever and trimming a bit extra. Sometimes my cuts leave the prints a bit out of square, but usually not enough to be a real problem.

Thanks!

You're welcome.

 

[kjrslr]

I tend to only print a single image on a sheet. Given that, one of the best items I bought for printing was an M18 RotaTrim. I only have 17" printers so the maximum I can print to is 17" wide paper, and I don't like roll stock. I only buy 2 sizes of paper, 17 x 22 and 13 x 19. With the trimmer, I can have 3 sizes with the 17 x 22. I can get 11 x 17 & 8.5 x 11 and of course 17 x 22. With the 13 X 19 (A3+ or Super B) I can make 13 x 19 but I can also cut it in half to get 9.5 x 13 which I prefer over 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 17.

 

[palombian]

In my experience 10x15 cm and A4 are more popular and easier to find at a low price.

If I could glue them together ...