Convert Pica (pica) to Russian Archin (archin) instantly.
About these units
Pica (pica)
A pica is another typographic unit, equal to 12 points, or 1/6 of an inch, making it larger and more suited to structural layout than to fine detail. Picas are commonly used to measure text blocks, column widths, margins, and line lengths in print and digital page design. The pica originated alongside the point in printing traditions stretching back to the 18th and 19th centuries. It offered a convenient intermediate scale—small enough for precise adjustments but large enough for practical page design. When newspapers became widespread, picas helped designers rapidly calculate column grids and organize dense printed pages. Even as publishing tools evolved into software like Adobe InDesign and LaTeX, picas remain deeply integrated into the workflow of book designers, typographers, and professional printers. They are part of a system that allows page elements to be arranged with precision, ensuring that every visual aspect of a document aligns harmoniously.
Russian Archin (archin)
The archin was a Russian unit of length equal to approximately 71.1 cm. Like many traditional European units, it was based on body proportions and was widely used in textile trade, tailoring, land measurement, and carpentry. Before Russia adopted the metric system in the early 20th century, the archin formed part of a larger system of customary units such as the sazhen and vershok. Merchants relied heavily on the archin when measuring cloth and other traded goods, making it central to the economic life of Imperial Russia. Today, the archin appears in historical documents, literature, and museum records. Understanding the archin is essential for historians studying Russian industrialization, daily commerce, and rural life before modernization efforts transformed the measurement landscape.