Folding A3 and larger pages
Introduction
Most documents are of A4 size but maps and drawings are often A3. Land Registry title plans for most houses are A4 size but if a larger area of land has been registered, for example an estate road or agricultural land, the title plan may be A3 or larger. Before the 1970s many Conveyances were about A3 size (not exactly A3 as that is a modern paper size but approximately A3).
Usually hardcopy hearing bundles are assembled in A4 binders with A3 pages being folded into A4 size.
Folding A3 sheets - do you need extra wide dividers?
The width of an A3 sheet is the same as the length of an A4 sheet so A3 sheets - in landscape orientation - can be folded into portrait A4 size. If there is an isolated A3 sheet, with A4 sheets either side of it, it can be folded twice so that it does not protrude at all beyond beyond the right edge of the A4 sheets in front and after it and so that its page number is still easily visible.
Alternatively it is possible to fold an single A3 sheet once. If you do this the folded sheet will, because it cannot be folded exactly in half due to the binding, protrude about half a centimetre beyond the right edge of the A4 sheets in front and after but this should not obscure the tabs. The page number is not visible on a single-sided A3 sheet in its folded position if folded once (and not easily visible on a double-sided A3 sheet if folded once because next to the the binding) but this does not matter if the sheets either side are A4 as it will be obvious what page number the A3 sheet is from the page numbers of the A4 sheets in front and after it.
If there are a series of A3 sheets (such as a chronological series of maps or a series of architects drawings) which will often need to be looked at together, it is often better to fold them once, and all together, so that they can be unfolded all together. Indeed because the page number is not visible/not easily visible on an A3 sheet in its folded position if folded once it is important that consecutive A3 sheets, if folded once, should be folded together so that they can all be unfolded together to reveal the page numbers. If consecutive A3 sheets are folded once individually, you have to unfold multiple individually folded sheets to check page numbers in order to find the page you want.
However if you fold - once - a series of A3 sheets together the folded sheets will, because of the extra thickness (as well as because of the binding) protrude further beyond the right edge of the A4 sheets. Usually this does not cause a problem if the tabs are printed along the outer edge because although the extra thickness increases the protrusion, the greater the thickness the greater the rounding effect at the fold causing the folded edge to stand proud of the surface below so that even if a tab is directly below it should not be obscured. If there is a problem, extra wide tabbed dividers can be used.
Folding sheets which are larger than A3
Before printing A2 or A1 pages it is worth considering whether they really need to be printed on paper that large or whether printing on A3 (using the highest quality print setting) would suffice. Hardcopy pages greater than A3 size can be difficult to handle at a hearing and take time to fold and unfold and it may not be necessary to print them larger than A3 in order to read relevant detail.
If you do decide that you need to print on A2 or A1 paper and therefore need to fold A2 or A1 sheets, the procedure for folding them is rather more complicated than for A3 as the video here shows.
Disclaimer
This information page is designed to be used only by clients of John Antell who have entered into an agreement for the provision of legal services. The information in it is necessarily of a general nature and will not be applicable to every case: it is intended to be used only in conjunction with more specific advice to the individual client about the individual case. This information page should not be used by, or relied on, by anyone else.
This page was lasted updated in March 2024. Disclaimer