To our readers:

From 1786, when the Pittsburgh Gazette first came off the press across from Fort Pitt, until today's edition of the Post-Gazette, this newspaper has been evolving and advancing as dramatically as the region it covers.

Throughout those 217 years, it has made monumental changes -- from a wooden press to cutting-edge computer technology. From four pages once a week to the heft of the recent holiday papers that hit your driveway with a reverberating thud.

On Tuesday, Jan. 6, the Post-Gazette will begin another change, but this time by only an inch.

Each page of the PG will become narrower by one inch, because the width of the rolls of paper that are webbed on our presses will be reduced -- an action being adopted by newspapers across the country to reduce newsprint and production costs.

As we begin the nine-month process of converting each of our five mammoth presses to this narrower web, you'll be able to see the transition unfold before you. First, you may notice wider margins on the pages. Then, you'll start to see the paper itself in a narrower form. Until the transition is complete, you may even see a single newspaper with some wide and some narrow pages. Save that one in your cedar chest.

By September, all readers will get a consistent newspaper that is easier to hold, easier to fold, and easier on the environment. The type on each page will be as big as it is now, and the content will be the same award-winning coverage.

Granted, the change is minuscule by historic proportions, but the benefits of the new shape offer a whole other dimension.

First Published: January 4, 2004, 5:00 a.m.