World format

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The world format is a system of paper formats developed by the German chemist Wilhelm Ostwald in 1911 . The background was the standardization of paper formats for space-saving storage of books and other documents in libraries as part of the Die Brücke organization .

The system was based on the following:

  1. The formats must merge into one another by means of a loss-free halving.
  2. The formats must be similar to each other. This means that the ratio of the side lengths must remain the same.
  3. The basis of the system is 1 cm.

Ostwald determined that the first two requirements are met with the ratio of width and height of 1: √2 (approximately 1: 1.41). Georg Christoph Lichtenberg came to the same conclusion around 125 years earlier. The DIN formats established in 1922 also meet this requirement. However, the basis there is an area of ​​1 m² for DIN A0. The world format X (22.6 cm × 32 cm) is roughly the same size as C4 (22.9 cm × 32.4 cm) and lies between A4 (21 cm × 29.7 cm) and B4 (25 cm × 35.3 cm).

The success of the world format was rather minor. Although some print products were published in the new format in the German-speaking countries in the following years, these only accounted for a negligibly small proportion of the total number of publications. The fact that the default of the world-series letter format instead of the common file folder in folio format fit, difficult their full implementation. With the DIN 476 standard established in 1922, which eliminated this problem, the world format series became meaningless, especially since it almost corresponds to its C series.

The world format was only able to establish itself in Switzerland: in 1913 the advertising committee of the Swiss National Exhibition decided in 1914 to adapt all official printed matter for the exhibition to the world format series. As a result, the world format prevailed in domestic advertising, and to this day the standard size for advertising posters in Switzerland is the world format XIV (90.5 cm × 128 cm), generally known simply as the "world format".

On the basis of 1 cm, Ostwald received the following formats, which he designated with Roman numerals:

World format Format (cm × cm) Area (cm²) DIN (cm × cm)
I. 1 x 1.41 1.414
II 1.41 × 2 2.828
III 2 x 2.83 5.657
IV 2.83 × 4 11.31 C10 2.8 × 4
V 4 x 5.66 22.63 C9 4 x 5.7
VI 5.66 × 8 45.25 C8 5.7 x 8.1
VII 8 x 11.3 90.51 C7 8.1 x 11.4
VIII 11.3 × 16 181.0 C6 11.4 x 16.2
IX 16 × 22.6 362.0 C5 16.2 x 22.9
X 22.6 × 32 724.1 C4 22.9 x 32.4
XI 32 x 45.3 1448 C3 32.4 x 45.8
XII 45.3 x 64 2896 C2 45.8 x 64.8
XIII 64 × 90.5 5793 C1 64.8 x 91.7
XIV 90.5 x 128 11585 C0 91.7 x 129.7
XV 128 × 181 23170
XVI 181 × 256 46341

The series can be continued at will.

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