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#50 Unknown paper size A4
If a xfig project is started with "xfig -pap A4" using xfig 3.2.7a, we cannot convert the figure in the "File" menu to (encapsulated or not) PostScript or PDF etc, and get the error message "Unknown paper size A4". The same error appears if we attempt to convert the file with "fig2dev -L eps" of "fig2dev -L pdf". After appending 6 spaces in the 5th line of the .fig file (changing "A4" to "A4 ") it works. I figured this out because the files created with xfig3.2.5c did have additional blanks in the 5thline and do not have that converter problem.
I suspect, that this occurs in the opensuse distribution, see https://bugzilla.opensuse.org/1136882 . With the vanilla version of fig2dev3.2.7a as distributed here on sourceforge, I could not reproduce the issue. Could you confirm? More precisely, please report your distribution and the packages and package version from which you installed xfig and fig2dev (the packages are probably called xfig.. and transfig..). You already found a workaround, namely, adding at least one space after "A4". Other suggestions to fix the issue would be to upgrade / downgrade the fig2dev or transfig package, or install fig2dev from sources here on sourceforge.
My error was indeed from calling the package distributed with openSUSE Leap 15.0. Package xfig openSUSE-15.0 OSS 3.2.7a-lp150.1.1 (14.2 MiB) and transfig openSUSE-Leap-15.0-Update 3.2.6a-lp150.3.3.2 (1.3MiB). See also https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/xfig-does-not-recognize-paper-size-a4-when-exporting-to-eps-format-4175656719 . According to the zypper package manager both packages are up-to-date on my computer. I guess this solves the problem.
Well, I would not call it an error, to use a package created for your distribution. In any case, since you gave a workaround, and the issue stems from reasons beyond the reach of the source package, I will close this ticket. Thanks for your time and effort.