How do you staple the edges of papers?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I never realised that this bugged me until last semester. I was in a seminar lecture and we were given a handout of about 5 pages, stapled.

Well, I looked at it and my mind did a little TIC. The staple was horizontal (parallel to the top edge). I hate that! If I go to fold the first page over, the “point” of the staple is more likely to cause stress on the paper and tear it at the staple mark. Same goes for the vertical staples (parallel to the side edges).

Me? I go for the diagonal staple. It allows for neat paper-folding and less chance of paper-near-staple tearing. You might not be able to fold back as much area of the paper as with a horizonal/vertical approach, and the h/v might look a bit neater, but I figure the peace of mind more than makes up for it.

I’ve gotten into “debates” about the merits of various stapling techniques. So which method do people here use?

[sub]I couldn’t decide whether to put this in MPSIMS since it is really mundane and pointless, or in IMHO because it’s a poll. If this is the wrong forum, apologies in advance.[/sub]

#2

Never saw the horizontal before. A vertical staple usually means that the document was stapled automatically when copied.

I prefer diagonal, though overall I prefer paper clips to staples.

#3

Very good, and very important question. Unfortunately, you’re wrong. It’s clearly a matter of good sense, logic, taste, and harmony with the greater world that one must attach staples vertically, and very near the left edge of the paper. True, it may cause a little more stress to the page than diag, but it looks so right! And by way of compromise, I do agree that the horizontal staple method is purely evil. The only thing worse is to put the staple about 2" into the paper, which a surprising number of people seem to do, and with nary a smidgen of outward regret or guilt about having done so. Grrrr. Jerks.

#4

I staple it diagonally, it makes the paper fold in a much more pleasing way.
:slight_smile:

#5

Hey, I’m not alone on the bias. I’ve done it this was since a grade school teacher told me that it was THE way to staple, for the reasons you give. But I notice few others do the same. Of course, most docs I get are machine stapled.

#6

I’m a diagonal stapler. Definitely makes it easier to fold over the pages.

The spawn-of-Satan staple orientation is the one my boss uses: horizontal, centered on the page about an inch from the top. Who the hell staples in the middle?? That’s what the left margin is FOR! Man, my boss is a nut.

#7

I prefer diagonal for the reasons the OP stated, but usually I just slip the papers into the automatic stapler (I’m an office store junkie) and deal with however it ends up. I’m a rebel that way.

#8

I staple diagonally, the way God intended. :slight_smile:

#9

I’m somewhere between diagonal and horizontal, usually because I’m not thinking about it. Sorry, I just staple automatically, no thought process involved.

This does bring to mind, though, the smartass teacher I had once who stapled something right in the middle of the damn page. Someone brought up a convo like this in class and he thought it’d be funny. :rolleyes:

#10

diagonally is the only way to go. peons.

#11

Diagonal as well, the only way that makes sense. Though I have been tempted to staple a paper right in the middle of the page, to get back at a TA for annoying stapling practices.

#12

Automatic staplers are tools of the devil. I stack up my papers so neatly, carefully slide them into the automatic stapler (anticipating the little stapling noise)…and nothing. I pull the papers back out, slide them back into the automatic stapler…and again, nothing. Usually, after three or four attempts, somebody takes pity on me and staples the papers for me. Perfectly. The first time. Grr.

But with a manual stapler, the papers staple as they may. Usually diagonally because I’m not patient enough to line up the stapler either horizontally or vertically.

#13

Another diagonal stapler here. It drives me up the bloody wall when things get stapled otherwise.

#14

INFIDEL! It’s obvious to me that it’s your lack of faith that causes the automatic stapler not to work. You must believe! [sub]Or it could be the stapler’s out of staples.[/sub]

#15

I’m a neurotic, anal-retentive bitch, so I staple my stuff horozontally at the top left corner of the stack of papers, no more than a millimeter from the top and left edges.

#16

Diagonally, upper left corner, with an Ace 302 ( or a 502) stapler I got at a garage sale made in the 30’s.

There is no other way…after seing how mine worked compared to the crappy Swinglines, my coworker just ordered one of my Ace staplers from a catalog, we’ll see if the new ones (30 bucks) are as good as the old one.

Hmm, I spend way too much time stapling! I went through about 2000 staples this last week.

#17

Well, the stapler could be out of staples. But I don’t think it would be able to magically refill itself in time for my savior-of-the-moment to come up and staple my papers for me using the same stapler. Obviously I just can’t believe strongly enough in the Automatic Stapler Fairy.

It was always especially bad in my calculus class. I’d finish my test, go up to staple my multiple sheets of notebook paper together before I turned them in, and wouldn’t be able to manage the stapler. My teacher would always look at me with the patented Stare Of Doom That Is Hiding A Great Deal Of Laughter Behind It as I struggled, stifling his snickers with his hand. Darn the man.

#18

Diagonally, of course.

And, while there’s no reason to eat up large chunks of the page with the staple, there’s also good reason for said staple to be oh, say, an eighth of an inch from the edge. It makes them happier about staying attached to the paper.

Well, my staples are happer that way, anyway.

#19

Diagonal stapling makes the baby Jesus happy.

#20

I staple diagonally when I do it manually; however, I prefer to stape a large number of documents with an automatic stapler (parallel to edge of page). Stapling manually hurts my wrists if I do too many (I have carpal tunnel) and the inconvenience of having staples like that is outweighed by the discomfort caused by the stapling.