What page size?

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If your document will be shipped electronically, use A4 format or Letter format, depending on which format is more common in the countries where you sell your product. If you leave page margins of at least 1.5 cm on all sides, both formats usually also print well on the paper of the other format.

Alternatively, you can use a custom format of 21 cm x 27.94 cm, which combines the minimum dimensions of A4 format and Letter format.

If your document will be shipped on paper:

If there’s any corporate style guide that you’re obliged to follow, use the page size that this style guide suggests.

Check with product management and sales whether the manual needs to fit into any given package, case, or compartment.

Check with your printers’ shop whether they have preferred sizes for which printing costs are especially low.

Within the remaining scope and options, choose a page size that suits the requirements of your audience as best as possible (see also Design for your audience). Do the users need a small page size so that the manual fits into a pocket? Or do users need a large page size with lots of information on one page—for example, in a service manual, where turning pages with dirty fingers is very inconvenient?

Tip:
When in doubt, use a larger rather than a smaller page size, especially if your document contains many detailed pictures and many tables.

Usually, use portrait orientation. Use landscape orientation only if you need to show a lot of information side by side.

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Standard formats

The most common standard formats are:

A4: 21 cm x 29.7 cm

Letter: 21.59 cm x 27.94 cm

A5: 14.8 cm x 21 cm

B5: 18.2 cm x 25.7 cm

B6: 12.80 cm x 18.20 cm

Pocket: 10.5 cm x 21 cm

Custom formats

If you don’t want to use one of the standard formats, decide on either the width or the height that you want, and then use the golden ratio to determine the second dimension (see Use the golden ratio).

Foldout pages

If a small page size is sufficient for most parts of your document but you have a few pages where a larger page size would be better, having one or more foldout pages can be a user-friendly option. Information that you place on the outside of the foldout page remains visible even after turning the next page.

Foldout pages are especially helpful for information that users frequently need in parallel when reading other sections of the manual, such as:

pictures or drawings of the product that show the names and locations of parts or controls

tables with technical data

 

Tip:
Depending on how much information you need to include, you can fold a foldout page multiple times. When the page is unfolded, it can be several times as wide as the body of the manual. Sometimes, brief instructions can even be completely organized as one single foldout instead of a traditionally bound manual.


What page margins?