[Tex/LaTex] using US letter within an ACM paper

acmpaper-size

\documentclass{sig-alternate}

This previous line leads to a dimension 595 x 841 (according to pdf information).

\pdfpagewidth=8.5in
\pdfpageheight=11in

Those lines enabling another dimension, 612 × 792, which was required.
Are there other possibilities to ensure 8.5×11 in?

Best Answer

Class sig-alternate does not set the driver dependent paper size. Therefore you get the default that is configured for pdfTeX, in your case A4. Also LaTeX's \paperwidth and \paperheight are not set (see egreg's comment).

If \paperwidth and \paperheight are set correctly, then package geometry can do the driver dependent part (e.g. setting \pdfpagewidth and \pdfpageheight for pdfTeX; \special{papersize=...,...} for dvips; …). Option pass lets the page layout settings unchanged. Option showframe displays the page layout.

\documentclass{sig-alternate}

% Set letter paper size:
\setlength{\paperheight}{11in}
\setlength{\paperwidth}{8.5in}
\usepackage[
  pass,% keep layout unchanged 
  % showframe,% show the layout
]{geometry}

\begin{document}
  \noindent Hello World 
\end{document}

PDF paper size: 8.50 x 11.0 in
Result with showframe:

Result

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