Easiest way to duplicate A4 and US letter sized files

[wiredbambi]

Hello

Apologies there is probably an easy logical way to do this but I'm still learning as I go with Affinity.

I'm creating digital files (printable collage sheets etc) and would like to easily duplicate my A4 files to also fit the US paper size without having blank borders or stretched graphics.  I spend a long time creating the files with lots of layers etc and don't really want to have to do this process twice over if possible.  I wondered about creating a custom sized page in between both sizes and going from there but I may be thinking about this totally the wrong way.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Joanne

[Alfred]

15 minutes ago, wiredbambi said:

there is probably an easy logical way to do this

I don’t see how there can be any way to do what you describe, Joanne, never mind an easy or logical one! Since the aspect ratios of the two sizes are different, you can’t avoid blank borders if you don’t want to stretch the page content in either direction.

[wiredbambi]

Thanks for the reply, I think I'm going to have to create a template which is slightly larger than both paper sizes and have a fairly plain background image which I can then crop to each paper size to avoid having odd blank borders.

Hopefully I will work it out so it looks OK and doesn't take me an age!

[GaryLearnTech]

Maybe start from the area common to both paper sizes?  Then take off a small margin?  Then extend your template to exceed both sizes as you already described.  That should allow you to focus on a single design that's common to both sizes.  Here's your starter for 10: 

[wiredbambi]

Thanks very much!  I'm going to be busy ☺️

[thomaso]

3 hours ago, wiredbambi said:

would like to easily duplicate my A4 files to also fit the US paper size without having blank borders or stretched graphics.

This is where the Constraints feature may be useful, if not ideal. Its main idea is to define for objects or groups whether they should scale, stretch or keep their size & their position (margin) on a page in case of a page format change. With a smart concept + a little effort, you can use it to adjust the layout with one click when you just change the page size. Here the relatively small difference in the two page ratios will make it easier and reduce the need of many constraint settings.

Affinity Help:
https://affinity.help/publisher/English.lproj/pages/DesignAids/constraints.html

Basic terms + functions:
https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/courses/affinity-designer-quick-start/lessons/constraints

Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkWu-hckS8E

 

[wiredbambi]

I'll check that out.  Thanks very much ☺️