Question about dimensions
I've heard many opinions on this topic from many different industries, but thought I'd toss it up for discussion.
Is there any de-facto standard for quoting dimensions?
Example: I just had a client send me a project for a 22x17 poster. Shortly afterwards, he emails me back and corrects himself by saying it's not a 22x17, but a 17x22.
When I asked if it were portrait or landscape, he told me that he understood that the height is always quoted first.
I've also heard that the smaller dimension goes first.
Thoughts?
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Great question....
There is a standard for quoting dimensions but unfortunately the standard changes per industry.
In photography, the smallest size is first (4X5, 8X10, etc.) and you must specify orientation separately. In press & pre-press, the orientation is expressed in the order we give the dimensions, WIDTH always being the first number. 18X24 would mean a portrait poster where 24X18 specifies landscape.
I think the pre-press method is a more elegant way to express size & orientation, but you must know that the other guy adheres to this standard as well. I do not believe this is written down in a codified bible anywhere and may be unique to the American pre-press industry.
8.5x11
I use the US notebook paper standard with the width used first: 8.5" x 11". Any other job I've done has the width first, then the height. I would imagine this is standard, as per the example I just quoted.
Interesting your client does it the other way! Does he use 11x8.5 paper? :)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
We always do heightxweight
We always do heightxweight in my company.... packaging. I thought that was standard.
I think we have an answer!
http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/print.htm
See Harry Molloy's answer on this page. Good stuff.
That's an interesting
That's an interesting tidbit. Thanks, I've bookmarked it.
I've always used the w/h sequence for paper (as Nat points out, we usually refer to letter-sized paper as "eight and a half by eleven"). But for 3D objects, I tend to go with h/w/d (height/width/depth, meaning thickness). Weird. And I never even thought about it before, so GREAT question.
Mara
Hmm...
Leave it to me to point out the obvious, but I've always quoted shortest area first with an orientation descriptive (landscape/portrait).
Never had a problem.
Who needs standards anyway? :)
Terry Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
Tricky!
I usually go by width by height (like the 8.5x11 example given above).
At the newspaper I work at, though... that first number is very tricky. When someone sells an 5x7 ad, they're talking a 5-column by 7-inch "deep" ad. And a column width isn't just an inch, depending on what portion of the paper the ads' going in, it's either 1.764" wide or 1.189" wide.
Soooo, that 5x7 ad is really 9.653"x7" in one portion of the paper, OR, 6.407"x7" in another section.
Confusing, isn't it? ;)
But for standard-speak dimensions, I always go by width x height.
Of course, when someone sends me dimensions in just numbers, while I assume it's width x height, I'll still ASK if that assumption is right.
I can't tell you how many
I can't tell you how many times I've done a "3 by 9" or whatever ad for a client, only to have them shriek that it's much too big. I fault the ad salespeople at the newspaper for not explaining this more clearly. I hate having to educate defensive clients who imagine I'm in collusion with the newspaper to upgrade their ad. They're already a little chuffed that they're paying me for something the newspaper staff would have done (in our case, badly) for free.
The lesson in this thread is is guess we ought to say the words "wide" and "high" or whatever, just to be sure.
Mara
You can imagine...
You can imagine the confusion the artists feel who come in to be tested for for a graphic design position and we tell them to "make this jumble of nonsense text and crappy graphics into a 4x5 ad".
Usually, when we're good, we'll remember to give them a chart of the correct sizes, but sometimes it gets overlooked.
That's funny hearing how your clients get upset, though - but you're right. I've seen it the other way around - some office secretary gets drafted into making their company's newspaper ad and they send it in actual inch dimensions instead of column-inch dimensions.
Column Width
Like everyone on the planet should know what their local newspaper column width is...
I've done my share of ads thinking that the "3" was inches only to find out it was columns.
Terry Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
Column Width
Like everyone on the planet should know what their local newspaper column width is...
I've done my share of ads thinking that the "3" was inches only to find out it was columns.
Terry Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
Column Width
Like everyone on the planet should know what their local newspaper column width is...
I've done my share of ads thinking that the "3" was inches only to find out it was columns.
Terry Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
Okay, I just made a double
Okay, I just made a double post and was embarrassed... a triple post!?!?! Dang man, lay off that mouse button. teehee :)
Too much coffee.. :)
Hey Ivan,
How does one delete multiple posts?
Terry Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
Ivan usually responds
Ivan usually responds fastest to a 'feedback' request. (See feedback button in the left column navigation.)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
width x height x
width (x) x height(y) x depth(z):
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
We always use WxH as a rule,
We always use WxH as a rule, for 3D WxHxD and never had problems. The printers we work with use this as well.
Btw, newspapers also name the columns first, then the height - e.g. 7x200, meaining 7 columns (width) x 200mm (height).
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Nubloo.com for creatives
W by H
Hello, it's width by height here in the UK and as far as I'm aware, the rest of Europe. I've also heard heard it described as 'across' and 'down' in both print and screen based terms.
In correspondence I see no harm in putting 'landscape/portrait' after the measurements just to make it clear!
Agree with ronk
Agree with ronk, and not just because I am from the UK too. I was taught to think of it as along the corridor and then up the stairs, but I always check if its landscape or portrait then occasionally have to explain to clients what that means too!!!