This stems from the thread titled:
A4 and US Letter PDF Compatibility?
I've developed a small script for Rhino 4 (using Rhinoscript) that will create two rectangles, one nested within the other. The outer rectangle is the paper size, the inner rectangle represents the maximum boundary where model parts should be located.
In case 1, the script detects you're working in inches. So it will draw a rectangle that is 8.5 x 11 inches (US Letter) with an interior rectangle that specifies the offsets from the aforementioned thread.
In case 2, the script ASSUMES you're working in millimeters (the script ONLY bothers to detect inches so if you were working in centimeters it would assume millimeters regardless). Therefore, it draws a rectangle that is 210 x 297 (A4) with the proper marginal offsets. Keeping in mind that if you work in something other than inches or millimeters it will use THOSE units so your rectangle would be drawn improperly.
After loading the script it can be called by typing in "UniversalPrintableArea" (minus quotes). Then it will ask you to place the upper left corner of the INNER rectangle. It will draw the shape and group all lines together. The orientation of the grouped lines will vary based on which viewport you click within. If you click on a viewport other than the Top, Front, and Right, it will draw the box in the default orientation (assumes you are viewing from the Top viewport, as this is where developable surfaces are unrolled).
How are these shapes useful? Well as far as myself, I lay out parts within Rhino as opposed to in a separate program. Then, I export them by creating a PDF printout. These "boxes" serve as a guide when defining the area I wish to print and scale to use. When I press Print in Rhino I redefine the printer area by constructing the printing rectangle from the upper left corner of the outer rectangle to the lower right corner of the outer rectangle. Rhino then typically asks if I want to adjust the scale (which I don't as I want it 1:1). With my printing area properly defined now I exit the Print dialog and hide the border shape group. Finally, I press Print again and save my PDF to my desktop.
Now I can import my PDF into a PDF editing program (I make use of Inkscape) and can rest assured that all the shapes are properly situated so that no printer cutoff will occur when the PDF is printed at 100% (regardless of A4 or Letter size paper). I can make color modifications or add part numbers or whatever else I might need to do.
If anyone is interested please let me know and I'll gladly provide the code here and make the *.rhvb file available. Or if you have suggestions for improving the script I'm open to those as well.