No doubt in my mind whatsover that you are stealing, F4U. Sorry, it's just how I feel.
You are not paying for using the design. You buy the plan, make a copy, and sell the original. You get use of the design for free.
I tend to think that any court in america would see it the same way.
You have it rationalized in your mind somehow that it is okay, but if someone did it to you, you'd feel differently.

As far as the accuracy of the copies, it totally depends who is doing it an on what machine, I have seen MAJOR distortion, but the Kinko's I have been using lately does just about perfect work. Like you, I make copies so I don't have to cut up the originals.