2007.12.10 02:49 "Re: [Tiff] dpi settings", by Graeme Gill

How is it even possible to deprecate a Metric unit? It's only a prefix, and the prefix exists in order to control magnitudes. What evidence is there that centimetres are being "phased out"?

Sorry, perhaps I overstated it (the centimetre-gram-second system is deprecated), but there has certainly been some movement away from centi as a preferred prefix.

I'm not sure many of the official documents are on line, but this <http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/brownridge.html#table2> is one source indicating what I'm talking about.

way, but I think so. Do Australian standardisation authorities still retain the ability to produce clear guidelines? If so, perhaps you can cite them. But I don't see how this is going to affect TIFF one way or the other.

I understand the metrication authority is largely disbanded, as their primary task is done.

For purposes of resolution, I doubt it. Do you find inches more practical in this connection?

Inches aren't used much, except in translating US based standards and documents. If you were to ask anyone aged 30 or less what an inch is, or how many inches in a foot, they probably couldn't give you a confident answer.

I never found that when I was working in pre-press in Australia. It was dpi all the way.

Oh, DPI is very common, due to the dominance of US based publishing products.

We're wildly off topic now.

Sure, but I stated that at the outset!

It's not just technical versus non-technical; it's also subject matter. For instance, why do you not question the ubiquity of Imperial INCHES in the pre-press/publishing context (TIFF's home turf)? In a metricated country, isn't that infinitely more confusing than using a metric prefix for a metric unit?

Dealing with different units is a hassle, and a source of confusion and mistakes. But I'm not about to set out to convert the US to metric :-) The point of bringing up this topic is that it's irritating to only have the choice of inches or cm in applications. From my perspective, and the general trend in things I think, inches or mm is preferable.

Graeme Gill.