MS Word 2010 — How to Define Page Sizes for your Technical Documents

© 2010 Ugur Akinci
With every year we’re leaving behind the concept of a traditional “book”. The topic-based DITA structured authoring, for example, has no use for any page size information.
However, there are still millions of technical documents created in the form of a traditional book-shaped manual, or guide. With MS Word determining page size is really just a click away. For unusual page sizes, Word offers an equally easy solution as well.
For the most used traditional page sizes:
1) Open your document and select the Page Layout tab.
2) Click the Size drop-down menu button to view the system-defined options:
(Click to enlarge the image)
3) Select Letter (8″ x 11.5″), the most frequently used vertical paper size in the United States, or any other standard size offered.
MS_Word_2010_Page_Size_DEFAULT
4) If your preferred paper size is not on this list, click the More Paper Sizes… button at the bottom of the Size drop-down list to display the Page Setup dialog box:
MS_Word_2010_Page_Size_DEFINED
You can define not only page size but your page margins here at well.

About European/Metric Page Sizes:

If you are using metric standards for your technical document, here are some popular non-American page sizes:

1) A4

Similar to U.S. paper size”Letter,” also known as “A” size. A4 measures 210 x 297 mm.

2) Legal

Next comes the “Legal” size: 8.5″ x 14″ in U.S. which really does not have a rough equivalent in the Metric system.

3) A3

Third comes the strange and fascinating “B” size (“Ledger”) at 11″ x 17″ in the USA. A3 measures 297 x 420 mm.

4) “Shortie” or A5

In the USA, this corresponds to 8.5″ x 5.5″, which is exactly the half of A or Letter size. In Europe it’s referred to as A5 and it measures 48 x 210 mm.

2 Comments

  1. John Rullman on September 21, 2010 at 9:04 pm

    I thought I might find information here about how to define a new entry for the list of standard paper sizes selectable in Word 2010. Any guidance on that?



    • admin on September 21, 2010 at 10:39 pm

      Create a new blank document in Word 2010. Go to Page Layout tab. Click (Page) Size button to display the drop-down menu. Select “More Paper Sizes…” option to display the Page Setup dialog box where you can define any page size you like. Does this answer your question? Regards, Ugur