Hey everyone. Does anyone have a good source to print plans at a reasonable price. I went to Kinkos last night and they wanted $90 for my project. I thought that was a bit much. I have 3 sheets that are about 40 by 140in. Kinkos wants .75$ per square foot.

Tell me where you print your plans.

I've used a place in Orange, CA called "reprographics." There may be someplace similar in your area. These are typically small shops that do most of their work for professionals and they REALLY know their stuff. If you tell them to enlarge it 1%, they can do that and do it accurately! And they charge a fraction of what FedEx/Kinko's charges.

http://www.aaablue.com/

Joe,

Staples, here, charges .50 / sq ft. It's the cheapest I have found. Kinkos is always the most expensive here. Try and find an independent, not one of the chains, sometimes they are hungrier and charge less.

steve

I'd recommend you stay away form "photocopy shops" entirely. Both the quality and price is terrible compared to these small pro places. Look for places that pros like architects use. I used to copy plans on Kinko's large format scanner/printer. Never again.

BTW, I sure wish there were someplace reasonable like this in Japan (or my part of Japan). It would cost me a royal fortune to have large format plans made here. So I get all my plans done when I'm in the US and almost always come back with at least one mailing tube.

In Louisville, KY I use a place called Meredith Reprographics. They cater to architects, builders, advertising agencies, etc. Look for similar businesses in your area. Very inexpensive. The only thing I have to do is tell them what size as a percentage of the origional I want. They are limited to 36" wide paper in and out of machine so have to 'use my imagination' (math skills and scissors) to get from them what I want.

Thanks for the options guys. The plans are very basic. I would compromise quality for price.. to a point.

I can print locally - 36" X 60" (15 sq.ft. for $5.00) - but am limited to 36" wide as well. Sometimes an extra, intermediary, copy has to be sacrificed to fit the 36" limit.

Martin

I use Thomas Reprographics which has locations across the country although I'm not certain of your location. They are MUCH less expensive than Kinkos.

75 cents per sq foot? You got a bargain! FedEx/Kinkos by me want $1 per sq ft. Needless to say I went elsewhere.

Just last week I had a set of drawings of a 1/6 scale Sea Fury scanned to .pdf, Vito Tomeo's design. The three sheets, wing, fuse, ribs/formers, would have been well over $100 at Kinkos. I went to a place called ABC Imaging in Denver and the cost was a mere $10.70.

I told them I'd be back with more.

Here's a man who is into model aviation and does plan printing.
http://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/...p?topic=7756.0

I don't know what the pricing is, but he does a quality job on heavy stock paper.

Hello All,
My name is Danny Carozza and have a plan copying and enlarging service under the name of AeroArt Studios as I run an ad in High Flight.
Feel free to contact me at
[email protected] or my home # 914 - 963 - 2847 to discuss your next project and I will explain the type of service I offer to fellow modelers

That's the sort of price the Reprographics place I've used charges. It's a whole different magnitude (lower) of pricing compared with any of the standard photocopy places like Kinko's and the service and turn-around are typically amazing.

Everybody uses a local place that charges a fraction of Kinko's. But I started measuring what I had copied there and found they could be out as much as 3/16" in 2 feet. I had one enlargement done that was out by 3" in fuselage length. My local Kinko's is usually withen 1/16" over 4 or 5'. So I pay there price and I am happy with what I get. I just wonder how many people ever actually check their copies after they are done.

This is exactly why I use a reputable reprographics company that deals with professional companies doing very precise work. They would not stay in business very long if their printing and plotting were not spot on.

I'm not comparing a "cheap photocopy place" with Kinko's. I'm talking about using reprographic shops that pros like architects and engineers use for their work. I asked the pro shop I use to print out a large format file I had provided on CD. This had to be precisely correct and when I did measure the printout (for exact cowl diameter) it was EXACTLY as measured on the file in photoshop. Turn around time on this project? Well, I brought in the CD and 10 minutes later had my print. The people who work in such shops are pros themselves and used to working with pros.

Contact Hemikiller here on RCU he does plans printing at very reasonable prices
I now use him exclusively for all of my printing needs, if I'm not mistaken he can
print up to 42" wide sheets, great guy to deal with.......best pricing I have found,
he knows what modellers expect, can enlarge or reduce and delivers a great product,
his e-mail: [email protected]

Bill D.

This is good information. Next time I'm going to look for a reprographics shop.

Besides their prices, FE/Kinkos prints only 36" wide and it's on very thin(cheap) paper that tears easily.

Jim

Lake Flyer, I hadn't even thought about checking to see how far the copy might me out after printing.

I got some PM on good places with low per sq ft prices. To the other guys out there that say you have sources at reasonable prices.....do you know the sq ft price?

Thanks

I don't think I ever saw/heard a sq ft price. All I know is that I had just done a similar job at Kinko's where the price was close to $90 and at the reprographics shop is was less than $30.

Joe,

I'm the guy that Bill Diedrich mentioned above. Your project printed by me would have been $47.19 plus actual shipping via USPS or UPS. You can check out my ad here on RCU via the link below.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/ite...564&electric=0

I charge $.40/square foot, the paper is genuine HP 24lb bright white inkjet bond in 24" & 36" widths, 21lb in 42" width. I can also print in color or on vellum or mylar, prices are higher for those options.


Experiences like those from the posters above are why I started doing plans printing and enlargements, because it happened to me more than once.

Birdman and I have used him before and and if you want the best.....hes the man!
HPA

Wow, I guess all Kinkos arent created equally. I walk in go to the large format printer, run what I need and when I check out the gal asks me how long it is, I pay .75 per running foot where I go, not by the square foot. Ive been using the same one for ten years so it wasnt a fluke, it's been that way for the entire time.
I've never took a disc or a flash drive in to get something printed and dont know what they would charge for that.
Doc

Cinti reprographs or Key blueprint (same place) 1/3 scale DH-2 plans 9 sheets $26.00. e-mail the file and go pick up.

The Kinko's in Baton Rouge used to be the same until they got a new crew in, they ask you then they get the tape measure out to
check just in case you aren't being honest! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! On one occasion I took a set of plans in that were copy righted to make an
extra copy to work from, went to the large format copier and did them myself, when the guy measured the plans and saw that they
had a copy right on them he refused to let me pay for the plans and destroyed the copy I had just made, never went back after that.
Oh and they now charge $1 sq ft for large format printing.

Hence the reason I now use the services of Hemikiller, it might take a few more days to get the prints but I now plan well ahead when
I need something printed by him, good turn around on sets that I mail to him also.

On the copy right thing, there seems to be conflicting imformation floating around, as I have called and ask one designer for permission
to make a working copy of his plans and been told permission wasn't necessary, and on another occasion been told absolutely not, if you
wanted a working copy you should have ordered two sets.

Bill D.

That's an interesting question: Is it assumed that a set of plans will be "consumed" in the process of building a model?