Re: PDF paper size

[Pete Kloppenburg <pkloppen -at- CERTICOM -dot- CA>]

I asked:
> > So what happens when you try to print an 8 1/2 by 11 PDF on A4
> > (or whatever) paper? Anybody have experience with that?
And Tracy Boyington asked back:
> Why can't you just use the A4 paper dimensions in your document
> before creating the PDF file?

As Wile E. Coyote would say, "A legitimate question, deserving a
legitimate answer."

Short answer - yes, I could do it.  And yes, I may in fact *have* to
do it, if the response from this list says that things will go haywire
if I try to give Europeans letter-size PDF files.

Long answer: The reason I just don't go ahead and do that is that it
strikes me as a very inelegant solution to the problem. If I resize the
document, I'll have to go in and reformat everything, which is an ugly
task. What's more, FM's conditional text is an elegant solution to
the issue of different functionality- I can keep one document for
both European and North American manuals.  But two different
paper sizes?  Either I must reformat every time I want to print
the European version (a nightmare) or I must maintain two copies
of the document (even worse).  So, if someone could either assure
me with confidence that there will be no problem, or point out a more
elegant and maintainable solution, I would be much obliged.

Thanks

Pete Kloppenburg - pkloppen -at- certicom -dot- com
Technical Writer
Certicom
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada

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