Emailed Plans

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Sparky555

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I have enough trouble getting specs, outlet, light & switch counts with a blueprint. I usually use a highlighter. I have a 19" monitor & letter-sized printer. I'm not sure what to do with an emailed print. I also feel like they're shooting this same email to a dozen other guys because it's no-cost to them. What do you think?

Dave
 
What exactly is your qeustion? Whether we think someone is bid-shopping, or how to bid an electronic print?

If you need a paper copy, forward it to a printer.
 
Sparky555 said:
I have enough trouble getting specs, outlet, light & switch counts with a blueprint. I usually use a highlighter. I have a 19" monitor & letter-sized printer. I'm not sure what to do with an emailed print. I also feel like they're shooting this same email to a dozen other guys because it's no-cost to them. What do you think?

Dave
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Yep......................................
 
If I feel the need for full size printouts, I shoot the email to my engineer and they print them off on their big plotter for 5 bucks a page. Mostly I can just deal with them on the screen good enough.
 
holy crap. 5 bucks a page that is outrageous. 2 years ago we spent the 2500 and bought a large scale printer and it has saved us tons of money. but gc's emailing us drawings are a large part of how we price work in in our core business. the best thing to do if you dont have a large scale printer is to blow up and print the stuff you need for a takeoff or send it to a printer shop. i think a scaled 24" x 30" around here is about 1.90 a sheet.
 
mdshunk said:
If I feel the need for full size printouts, I shoot the email to my engineer and they print them off on their big plotter for 5 bucks a page.
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$5 a page is a lot IMO. I get pdf drawings all the time, I take them to OfficeMax printing area (staples does it too) and they blow them to scale for like $2 something a print.
 
480sparky said:
Maybe Marc's engineer has sold him on some extras. :grin:
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I dunno. The price didn't seem bad to me, but I never really checked around to put in plainly. It's probably a good thing to keep your face in front of certain people anyhow.
 
Just one suggestion about viewing plans. Try Brava reader for .tif files.

For pdf's Adobe is slow and bloated. Try Foxit reader. I'm sure they are both free as I do not like to pay for things.
 
tyha said:
holy crap. 5 bucks a page that is outrageous. 2 years ago we spent the 2500 and bought a large scale printer and it has saved us tons of money. but gc's emailing us drawings are a large part of how we price work in in our core business. the best thing to do if you dont have a large scale printer is to blow up and print the stuff you need for a takeoff or send it to a printer shop. i think a scaled 24" x 30" around here is about 1.90 a sheet.
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I don't think so if it is only a couple sheets. If it were several I would probably go lower to plot them.

Here's why. Say you send me a 30x42 drawing but I have 24" roll in my plotter at the time. I have to jack with changing out the roll which takes time. Or say you send me an AutoCAD drawing to plot. Well, if it was setup with plot styles and not weights that can take some jacking around to make the print look right, maybe 5 minutes, maybe an hour. Send me a 24x36 sheet and I have 30" roll loaded and I can plot it but then have to trim the plot to 24" wide. Margins screwy? Not to scale and I have to jack with the size to make the scale right? Paper and ink are getting more costly all the time.

Get the idea, yeah, most of the time it is easy but sometimes it isn't and you somehow have to make up for those times.

When I worked for an A/E firm I'd make check plots all the time. Every little thing I updated I would make a new plot so my working set would always be clean. Now that I work for myself and have to buy the ink and the paper I let my working set get pretty bloody with redlines and highlighter before I make a new plot.
 
As a Company we are trying to go more or less paperless (I will let you know the outcome of this later on). We just invested in Bluebeam pdf revue for onscreen takeoff. It seems to work pretty well so far.
-Ed
 
nyerinfl said:
$5 a page is a lot IMO. I get pdf drawings all the time, I take them to OfficeMax printing area (staples does it too) and they blow them to scale for like $2 something a print.
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I can print out about 1 page a minute from autocad so you are going to be paying $2 or $3 a sheet for my time. Color prints in D size cost well over $1 just for the paper and toner used.

We mostly print things out B size in b/w these days. its a good compromise between cost and size. D size prints are kind of a pain to work with anyway.

A pdf file can be sent to a printer to get it printed in whatever size you want.
 
mdshunk said:
I shoot the email to my engineer and they print them off on their big plotter for 5 bucks a page.
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Are they color or black and white? $5 a page is a little high, unless they are checking scales and trying to get prints to look right. Key Companies charges $1 for a black ad white bond print, but they won't take the time to make sure the scale is right, or make them look good.

Personally, I have a 32" Wide screen LCD monitor, a HP 5200 Laser Jet and a Canon iPF700 (color 36"). I can run prints for subs that need them, or call them into Key and have them waiting for pickup. I do like emailing them the full set, so they can see where their work with run into some one else's, or have a good idea of what is going on. I also still provide paper copies of the sheets they need.
 
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