Starting tomorrow, The Advertiser will look a bit different.

For one thing, the paper will be narrower because we are moving from a "web width" of 48 inches to one of 44 inches. The web width is the measurement of a full roll of newsprint and since four full pages can be printed across each roll, our pages will be reduced in width from 12 inches to 11 inches. The length of the paper will remain the same.

For the first few days, tomorrow through Thursday or so, the 11-inch image will appear on our regular 12-inch pages, making it appear that there is extra space in the margins. Don't get used to it because the margins will disappear after we use up the wider newsprint rolls. By Friday or so, we will convert to the new roll sizes, although we will need to burn through some off-sized rolls so you may find some ribbons of blank paper inside the sections.

The newspaper has been redesigned but the changes are modest compared to other makeovers we have completed. The top and side of the front page will have more references to inside pages and some will key specifically to what is appearing online at www.honoluluadvertiser.com. Four stories instead of five will appear on Page One. The nation/world report on Page A3 will contain more briefs, and the weather page centers more on O'ahu than before.

Design Director Christine Strobel has had a huge hand in upgrading our look, going over details for the past few months that retain the crisp look of The Advertiser while adding new navigation techniques and font styles.

Though the overall space has been reduced, we are increasing the size of the body type to make stories easier to read. The four daily sections of the paper (A section, Hawaii/Business/Classified, Sports and Island Life) will remain the same. The Sunday sections also will not change.

"The resizing of The Advertiser was an excellent chance to pull design elements across sections together," Strobel said. "The image area is getting smaller, but we're spacing the stories out more and bumping up the type so the readability will be improved."

This is a cost-cutting move and many newspapers have already transitioned to this new size, including our sister papers in Phoenix, Louisville, Des Moines and Indianapolis.

"Newsprint is the second largest expense (after payroll) for most newspapers," said Martin Black, The Advertiser's production director who has been leading the effort toward the 44-inch "cutdown" for more than a year. "Reducing the web width is one way to reduce this expense by millions of dollars a year."

Black said the modifications to our two newly reconfigured presses will be completed over seven weeks, ending in late April.

The good news is that readers who have spent time with copies of the redesigned Advertiser seem happy with the new size and look of the paper. Now that we are unveiling it officially to all our readers beginning tomorrow, we look forward to the reaction.