rikhye

Guys I am wondering how much does it cost to print plans in your part of the world
Sunil

Mike James

There are places in my neighborhood that will print large format black and white (36" width, any length) for 25 cents per square foot. So, a large set of plans is just a few dollars.

BMatthews

.. This is assuming that your master is on a vellum or other fairly transparent paper or film and you're just getting a simple blackline print. If you are looking at a photocopy type print from opaque already printed plans then it's a lot more. About $1.50 /sq ft

Or if you're talking about a plotter print of a CAD file then it's more as well. I'm not sure what my local cost is as I'm lucky enough to have access to a plotter.

WILDMAN 420

My Feedback: (1)

DO NOT EVER JUST PHOTOCOPY PLANS!! the copier actually deforms the dimensions when it copies them, have them scanned, and then put on a disc, thentake them to a printing company and have them print them, when you have them on disc, you can make copies later if you need too, plus a disc is easier to store,

dicknadine

your asking 'where to get plans printed' ? why print your own plans ? if you use some elses you really don't have that " 1 OF A kind model, JUST ANOTHER COPY'. my interpetation of Scratch Building is 'doing a model that NO ONE ELSE has from scratch', not another copy. it takes time to draw the plans. so learn to slow down and enjoy the flowers. dick

heli001

My Feedback: (5)

Wildman,

Unless you are talking about copying a 36 inch plan in tabloid cuts on a standard copier, I totally have to disagree with your statement. You are clearly not familiar with LARGE format roll feed copiers, which are designed for the purpose. They will copy plans up to 48 inches in width by unlimited length at a true 1:1 ratio.

If you scan a plan into a raster image, it wont fit onto a single HD disk, and if it is converted to vector, somebody is going to have to do some touch up work in a CAD program to clean it up.

Just wanted to clear that up, as I have been working with both of these mediums professionally for a number of years.

KC-135

My Feedback: (3)

The place I use charges $2.50 for one 36" by 72" any longer and it and extra $1.00 per 2ft. Best place I ever used no distortion at all.

heli001

My Feedback: (5)

KC,

That is a very cheap price....you did good....!

Also, if there are any A & E firms around, you will find that most Architects and Engineers have a true interest in what we do.....

If you ask, probably 9 times out of 10, they will copy the plans for you free or at cost, as long as they can see what you are doing. ......It does not cost you a thing to ask, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

What KC got was less than cost, as the damn roll paper is isn't cheap, and someone has to run the machine....[X(]

KC-135

My Feedback: (3)

Heli, Thats the kicker you run the machine,if they do it, it,s a dollar more per copy.And your right about using a A&E.Theres a Drafting supply place that will enlarge or reduce and put on disc for you. ether floppy or cd disc which is nice.

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

This has been discussed several times here before. I got to agree with Panacea on one point. That until you have tried scanning plans, you don't know the problems. A plan of about 36" by 48" with very few lines which is scanned and formatted into TIF Group 4, will marginally fit onto a 3 1/2" floppy disk. The scanning agencies like to use this format as it transfers faster. More often you scanned plan will come out to about 2 meg, compressed and thus will not fit a standard disk. In an uncompressed form it will involve about 30 meg.

Now, for those of you familiar in file formats. Photoshop, Micrografx, and most CAD software will not accept anything other than an uncompressed file. You have to convert, or uncompress the image before you can see it. Oddly, you can see it in common old Microsoft Kodak Images as loaded onto most Windows based systems. However again, there is a limitation as to how big of image Windows will let you plot out as one object.

Then, if you were fortunate enough to get one of these big files into CAD, hope you have a HUGE video card and lottsa RAM. It will use up most all of it. You think your CAD software is broken as you just simply try and pan across from here to there. It usually involves a 10-15 second delay before the screen redevelops itself. If you were fortunate enough to get a 36 by 120 inch plan scanned and into your computer, it is going to take more time to just see what you are doing than creating the new drawing file.

As far as costs are concerned, old fashioned Ozalid blueprints are still the cheapest. They run anywhere from 7 to 10 cents per square foot locally. Thats not of the dry copy, Xerox system either. 'of course you must have an original, not a duplicate, and they stink and fade over a period of years.


Wm.

WILDMAN 420

My Feedback: (1)

Heli,
you are right, The set i had copied must not have been done the way you suggest they should be, when i checked them to the originals they had stretched about 1".

ptulmer

My Feedback: (5)

Well, If you don't want to smell the flowers while drawing by hand $1.50 linear ft for 24" wide and $2.00 linear ft for 36" wide is a pretty decent price I think. Might be wrong, but I'm in the deep south. Bwk, GA USA