# Custom engineering scales?



## py3ak

In the office, 24x36 sheets are often reduced to 11x17 sheets. The engineers don't have a scale for exactly that proportion. Is there a way to order custom scales? I've been looking online, but have not found an appropriate scale yet.


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## py3ak

Why do you think I'm asking on here?


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## py3ak

What better way is there of forcing you to try to think about something?


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## py3ak

What if I can't help it? What if it is my particular gift and curse to get you to think about stuff?


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## py3ak

What if you're so predictable that others deliberately lure you on?


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## blhowes

Ruben,
Here's a good site to check out: Paper size - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Looks like the 24 x 36 is Arch D and the 11 x 17 is ANSI B. I don't know what type of files they're trying to convert (not sure if it matters), but I was able to convert a pdf from the 11 x 17 to 24 x 36, and it converted cleanly. I'm sure the reverse would be true.

Here's what I did in Acrobat to test it out. I extracted one of the pages from an 11 x 17 document. Then, I printed to pdf. In print properties, I selected ARCH D for the paper size, then printed it to pdf.

To go from 24 x 36 to 11 x 17, you'd do the same thing, except in print properties select ANSI B (or 11 x 17)


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## py3ak

Thanks, Bob - once they're reduced they're being printed, so then the question becomes measuring them. The proportions are not exactly half, so they have to do some calculating, and we were looking for a scale that would relieve that mental strain.


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## blhowes

py3ak said:


> Thanks, Bob - once they're reduced they're being printed, so then the question becomes measuring them. The proportions are not exactly half, so they have to do some calculating, and we were looking for a scale that would relieve that mental strain.


So, just so I understand, are they taking something that's 24x36 and scaling it down until it fits on the 11x17? Since they're just scaling it down, it doesn't fit correctly on the 11x17, since the 24x36 has a ratio of 1.5 and the 11x17 has a ratio of 1.5. Is that the gist of the problem?

Just thinking out loud, but when they scale it down, can they scale the Height and Width separately? If so, they could scale the 24" dimension by 45.8% and the 36" dimension by 47.2%.


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## py3ak

Yup, that's what they're doing! A 12x18 sheet would pose no problem, but losing that extra inch on each end is making things needlessly complicated.


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## blhowes

What graphic software tool are they using? I use IsoDraw at work to do a lot of my graphics work. It allows me to scale the horizontal and vertical dimensions separately. The same is true with Adobe Illustrator. I'd imagine whatever they're using would allow them to do the same thing.


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## py3ak

I'm not sure, Bob. I was asked about ordering custom scales for them, so that's the approach I took.

Could it be that finding me insufferable says more about the finder than about the me?


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## Jeffriesw

Ruben, I have not found an accurate scale that will work. I am assuming your referring to a regular hand held engineering scale to be able to scale a dimension on a set of 11 X 17's ?


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## py3ak

You got it, Bill! I am pretty sure there are no standard scales out there - that's why I was wondering about a custom order.


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