CAD Print Formats - B2 Paper Dimensions

Format B2 is one of the most popular paper formats and is defined in the international standard ISO 216. The Polish standard of paper sheets PN-EN ISO 216:2009 is in accordance with the international standard ISO 216. The B2 format is one of the most popular formats for editing office suites, such as Libre Office, OpenOffice or MS Office. It is also used in a CAD printer to print technical drawings, project documentation and geodetic maps in scales of 1:500, 1:1000 or 1:2000.

The dimensions of the B2 format are 500 x 707 mm and are the geometric mean of the two intermediate dimensions A, which means that the proportions of the sides are 1 to √2. Subsequent formats in this series are created by dividing sheets in the middle of their long side. Hence the format B1 is half B0, B2 half B1, etc., always rounded to the nearest millimetre.

When it comes to CAD printing in B2 format, it is worth knowing that the surface area of a sheet of paper in B2 format is 0.353 [m]² or 3535 [cm]². The dimensions of the B2 format for printing in 300 DPI quality are 5,906 x 8350 px, for printing in 150 DPI quality is 2,085 x 2,954 px, and for printing in 72 DPI quality is 1,417 x 2004 px. A map in the scale of 1:500 on a sheet of B2 format has an area of 8.838 ha, a map in the scale of 1:1000 has an area of 35.350 ha, and a map in the scale of 1:2000 has an area of 141.400 ha.

Printing in B2 format is possible directly from the CAD program to the printing device or via any PDF printer installed on the operating system, for example the ActCAD PDF Printer or Bullzip PDF Printer to a PDF file. Most home and office printers on sale can print in the size of B2 paper. Scanners and scanning devices also mostly allow scanning up to B2 format, as well as photocopiers and fax machines.