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I recently found that if you use the \geometry package to change the page size, then the actual page size is only 99.6264% of the requested page size. Here's a minimal working example:

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage[papersize={1000pt,1000pt}]{geometry}
\begin{document}
    Test ...
\end{document}

Now checking the output using pdfinfo shows:

...
Page size:      996.264 x 996.264 pts
...

It should have been 1000pt by 1000pt. I tried many combinations of the options and none worked. Is this a bug, or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance,

GI

gi1242
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    Welcome into the group of the users of TeX.SE. – Sebastiano Dec 23 '19 at 16:33
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    Use \geometry{papersize={1000bp,1000bp}}. TeX points and pdf points differ. – Ulrike Fischer Dec 23 '19 at 17:03
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    To elaborate on @UlrikeFischer's solution: a TeX pt is 1/72.27 of an inch, based on the best data that Knuth was able to find about printing / typesetting conventions at the time (the exact value of a point varied, but this was closest). Later, when Adobe developed PostScript (and later PDF), they standardized on 1/72 of an inch as the value of a point, and this is what most of the world now uses -- in TeX that value is available as bp, for "big point". (I think there must be a question on this site already that goes into this...) – ShreevatsaR Dec 23 '19 at 17:28

1 Answers1

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Adobe's definition of typographic "point size", which has become the industry standard over the years, differs from TeX's definition. TeX sets

72.27pt=1inch

whereas Adobe (and much of the rest of the publishing industry) sets

72pt=1inch

The ratio of the two sizes is 72/72.27 = 0.996264 = 99.6262%, which is exactly the number you've come up with as well.

If you wish to use Adobe's definition of "point size" in a TeX or LaTeX document, you need to use -- as @UlrikeFischer has already pointed out in a comment -- the unit bp, short for "big point". E.g., 

\geometry{papersize={1000bp,1000bp}}
Mico
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