How do you reduce blueprints down to a usable size?

[Dave Smith]

How do you reduce blueprints down to a usable size for inclusion of the floor plans in a report? Some of the prints I get are on 24" by 34" paper. The copy machine, and then cut and paste approach does work but it is time consuming.

I have tried taking digital images of them but if the paper is wrinkled from repeated folding the image isn't very good. I even tried ironing out the wrinkles which helped some but the quality is till not very good.

I don't have a local source for copying them down to usable size so I'm looking for suggestions.

Ideas, anyone? Thanks in advance for a good available solution.

 

[DJBanas]

Dave:

Why do you need to include a copy of the blueprints?

When I do an appraisal on a new construction from blueprints I do a drawing in Apex based on the blueprint. In the addendum I put in a statement to the effect that "the accompanying floor plan sketch is based on blueprints provided to the appraiser by XXXXX.' Never have had a problem.

Scoped out the price once to have blueprints reduced and it was something like $65 for 2 pages. Too expensive for my taste.

If you are doing commercial it may be a different story, I only do residential.

 

[Thomas N. Morgan]

I don't think there is a way to do it. Better just to make your own sketch, and note the source, as was suggested.

 

[Robert Vetter]

No Kinko's in your area?

 

[Scott Radin]

I thought kinko's was like starbucks

Seems like Don's advice is good....I do the same

 

[Brian Weaver]

I use Kinko's as well. They have a big feed copier that can reduce down to letter size, at least.

 

[TEL2002]

I iron them, then stick them on the outside of the house, on the wall, in the sun. Never had a photo not turn out legible. The sun light is the key, gives much better results than the flash or other types of lighting.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I too make my own sketch of the house based on the prints.

I have been setting my camera on "Copy" setting and taking photos of the prints using a higher resolution that give me a photo in the 500-600kb range. Then when I download these, I print them to .pdf for placement in the Master file for the assignment. If they are needed in the report, I open the .pdf file and SnagIt into the addendum directly from the .pdf file. I have never tried to copy a blue print because most of the houses we do have plans on white backgrounds.

Here's a copy of a floor plan I found in a vacant house we were doing the other day. I shot all of the plans in order to support that this was a modular and not a manufactured house.

 

[Greg Parker]

And this is why I keep coming back...

I spent almost an hour in the basement of a home last week, copying down (in my wretched sketching) a rough sketch of a blueprint provided by the home owner. I think she thought I had moved in.

Taking a picture never even occured to me...I feel sort of stupid now

 

[TC]

The Fishman has it right. My current Kodak camera even has a setting especially for documents, a red light beams out then it snaps the shutter. Pretty slick, works well in courthouses when copying a site plan. On more than one occasion I've taken a photo of the plot plan thru the front window of a construction trailer. There's always a way to get the info.

TC