Downsizing (literally) the manuals

[Ron Rothbart <ron -dot- rothbart -at- DOCUMENTUM -dot- COM>]

Currently, our manuals are 8 1/2 x 11. We are proposing downsizing them to
the standard 7 x 9 1/2 size. The response to our proposal is generally
positive, but one marketing manager is asking for "data." She wants us to
come up with marketing or usability studies that show measureable benefits.
Does anyone know of anything we can use?

Also, are there other issues besides the ones we've already considered. The
reasons we've given for downsizing are:

* Looks more professional
* It's the standard
* Other companies in our "space" do it
* Smaller paper books fit on all book shelves
* Smaller paper books are less awkward to use
* The PDFs we make from our manuals would be more usable (less scrolling)

The costs we've considered are:

* Creating a new template
* Applying the new template to legacy documents
* Perhaps some scrapping of current covers
* Downsizing cover art
* Trimming by the printer
* Adding some kind of space filler to the 8 1/2 x 11 boxes

Are there other costs and benefits?

	http://www.documentation.com/, or http://www.dejanews.com/