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Designation: F 2203 – 02

Standard Test Method for

Linear Measurement Using Precision Steel Rule1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation F 2203; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of 
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1
e NOTE—Figure 1 was corrected editorially in January 2003.

1. Scope TABLE 1 Description of Materials Measured in Round Robin

Studies
1.1 This test method covers the measurement of linear
Measurement   Measurement Ruler Scaling
dimension of flexible packages and packaging materials. It is Set
  Material Type
Characteristic Applied
recommended for use with an allowable tolerance range of 3
A Foil Web Web Width in.
mm (1 ⁄ 8   in.) or greater based on gage repeatability and B Paper Web Web Width in.
reproducibility presented in the Precision and Bias section. C Spunbonded Olefin Web Web Width mm
D Printed Foil Web Print Repeat Length in.
2. Referenced Documents E Printed Paper Web Print Repeat Length in.
F Printed Spunbonded Olefin Print Repeat Length mm
2.1   ASTM Standards:   2 Web
G Forming Film Web Web Width mm
D 1898 Practice for Sampling of Plastics 3
H Finished Pouch Dimension A in.
D 4332 Practice for Conditioning Containers, Packages or I Finished Pouch Dimension B in.
Packaging Components for Testing J Finished Pouch Dimension C in.
K Finished Pouch Dimension D in.
E 691 Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study to
L Finished Pouch Dimension E in.
Determine the Precision of a Test Method M Finished Pouch Dimension F in.

3. Terminology
3.1   Definitions:
3.1.1   linear dimension —the measurement of length, width
or relative positions.
3.1.2   parallax error —the error resulting from a change in
observational relationship to a fixed position. For example,
looking at a measurement gage from different angles can cause
variation in the reporting of that measurement.
4. Significance and Use
4.1 This test method provides a means for measuring linear
dimensions. Accurate measurement of dimensions can be
critical to meeting specifications and characterizing process
performance.
4.2 This test method should not be applied to tolerance
ranges of less than 3 mm ( 1 ⁄ 8  in.) when it is preferable that test
error does not exceed 30 % of tolerance range. See Precision
and Bias Section for gage repeatability and reproducibility
results.
1
This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F02 on Flexible
Barrier Materials and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee F02.30 on Food
and Consumer Packaging.
Current edition approved Oct. 10, 2002. Published December 2002.
2
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or
contact ASTM Customer Service at service@astm.org. For  Annual Book of ASTM 
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on
the ASTM website.
3
Discontinued, see 1997 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 08.01.
4.3 This test method does not address acceptability criteria.
These need to be jointly determined by the user and producer
of the product.
5. Apparatus
5.1   Precision Steel Rule :
5.1.1 Tempered steel rule in increments of   1 ⁄ 64 in., 100ths, or
1
 ⁄ 2  mm.
5.1.2 Steel rule should be of sufficient length to measure full
dimension of interest.
5.1.3 It is recommended that a calibration be performed on
the apparatus used and it is certified to a recognized industry
standard.
6. Sampling
6.1 The number of samples tested should be adequate to be
predictive of performance. Caution should be taken when
eliminating samples with defects as this can bias results.
6.2 See Practice D 1898 for guidance on sampling practices.
7. Conditioning
7.1 Conditioning of the samples will depend on the material
under evaluation. If conditioning before testing is appropriate,
normal, and desirable, then condition the test specimens at 23
6  2°C (73.4   6  3.6°F) and 50   6  5 % relative humidity for not
less than 24 h prior to test.

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F 2203 – 02
TABLE 2 Summary of Interlaboratory Results by Measurement Set
Repeatability Reproducibility 95 % 95 %
Measurement Average Standard Standard Repeatability Reproducibility
Set mm Deviation Deviation Limit Limit
s r  s R  r  R 
A 266.85 0.162 0.204 0.459 0.576
B 777.30 0.324 0.424 0.917 1.200
C 826.25 0.167 0.267 0.472 0.756
D 82.42 0.132 0.199 0.374 0.564
E 279.47 0.000 0.162 0.000 0.459
F 379.78 0.204 0.319 0.578 0.903
G 326.78 0.204 0.387 0.578 1.094
H 133.57 0.162 0.253 0.459 0.717
I 253.65 0.094 0.284 0.265 0.803
J 9.97 0.162 0.280 0.459 0.791
K 18.10 0.162 0.204 0.459 0.576
L 114.41 0.229 0.339 0.648 0.959
M 225.91 0.229 0.298 0.648 0.843

TABLE 3 Summary of Interlaboratory Averaged Results mm, round up or down to nearest 0.5 mm, to   1 ⁄ 64   in., etc.).
Average Test Value 284.2 mm (11.19 in.) Depending upon the level of accuracy and visual acuity, image
Repeatability (within a laboratory) standard deviation ( s r ) 0.187 mm (0.0074 in.)
magnification may be an aid.
95 % repeatability limit (r ) 0.528 mm (0.0208 in.)
Reproducibility (between laboratories) standard 0.288 mm (0.0113 in.) 8.2 Lay sample to be measured on flat surface with suffi-
deviation (s R )
95 % reproducibility limit ( R ) 0.815 mm (0.0321 in.)
cient color contrast to distinguish the edge of the sample.
Sample should lay flat and smooth without wrinkles, creases or
folds. Material should not be under tension when measured.
7.2 See Practice D 4332 for guidance on conditioning prac- 8.3 Lay ruler over product or place product on top of ruler
tices. so that the characteristic to be measured can be clearly viewed
and referenced to the ruler. Care should be taken to properly
8. Procedure
align sample to avoid skewing errors. A ruler may be set on
8.1 Review applicable specifications, drawings, or proce- edge along the surface rather than laid flat if the risk of parallax
dures. Specify unit of measure to be used and directions related error is apparent.
to precision requirements (for example, measure to nearest 0.5

NOTE—Example A and Example B begin at the leading edge of fixed scale division on rule at a point within the scale, at 1 in. or 10 mm, for example.
FIG. 1 Proper Alignment to Ruler Scale Divisions

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F 2203 – 02
8.4 Carefully align the starting point of the measurement to
the leading edge of fixed scale division on rule (Fig. 1,
Example A). Then measure to the end point of the character-
istic. Note the scale division on the ruler that corresponds to the
end point of the measurement. Determine the measurement by
subtracting the start point measurement from the end point.
Record the number in the unit of measure and precision
required by specification.
9. Report
9.1 Report the following information:  
9.1.1 Lot number and source of material, date, time, loca-
tion and operator of test and complete identification of mate-
rials being tested,
9.1.2 Any conditioning of the materials,
9.1.3 Any and all deviations from standard, and
9.1.4 The sampling plan and number of specimens tested
along with test results.
10. Precision and Bias
10.1   Precision—A research report 4 describes a round robin
conducted in 2001 in accordance with Practice E 691, involv-
ing seven laboratories measuring 13 dimensional attributes of 
five packaging materials. Materials and measurement attributes
are listed in Table 1. Measurements taken included use of steel
rules scaled in inch and millimetre divisions. Statistical sum-
maries of repeatability (within a laboratory) and reproducibility
e1
(between laboratories) are listed in Tables 2 and 3. All test
results are expressed in SI millimetre (mm) units of measure.
10.2  Concept of “r” and “R” in  Tables 1 and 2—If  S r  and
S  R  have been calculated from a large enough body of data, and
for test results that are averages from testing 3 specimens for
each test result, then the following applies:
10.3 Repeatability “r ” is the interval representing the criti-
cal difference between two test results for the same material,
obtained by the same operator using the same equipment on the
same day in the same laboratory. Two test results shall be
judged to be not equivalent if they differ by more than the “ r ”
value for that material, in this instance approximately 0.528
mm. That is, it can be expected that the same operator
measuring the same sample may obtain a reading that varies by
up to 0.528 mm (0.0208 or approximately   1 ⁄ 64  in.).
10.4 Reproducibility “ R” is the interval representing the
critical difference between two test results for the same
material, obtained by different operators using different equip-
ment in different laboratories, not necessarily on the same day.
Two test results shall be judged to be not equivalent if they
differ by more than the “ R” value for that material, in this
instance approximately 0.815 mm. That is, it can be expected
that different operators using different equipment in different
laboratories may obtain readings that vary by up to 0.815 mm
(0.0320 or approximately   1 ⁄ 32  in.).
10.5 Any judgment in accordance with 10.3 or 10.4 will
have approximately 95 % (0.95) probability of being correct.
10.6   Bias—There are no recognized standards by which to
estimate the bias of this test method.

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11. Keywords
A research report is available from ASTM International Headquarters. Request
RR:F02–1017. 11.1 dimension; linear measurement; rule; scale

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