Cost of Copying Plans

[Mike Griffin]

Guys I just got off the phone with Kinko's here in New Orleans and they wanted $9.75 for one copy of a 48" x 36" plan. Am I wrong or is that ridiculous??

Mike

[john e. holliday]

That sounds about right.   Again I wonder if it isn't the person doing the copying.  Have paid as much as $12.00 for a copy.  I like the setup AMA has in which you can get a second copy for half price with the first copy of plans.

[Mike Griffin]

That sounds about right.   Again I wonder if it isn't the person doing the copying.  Have paid as much as $12.00 for a copy.  I like the setup AMA has in which you can get a second copy for half price with the first copy of plans.

I guess I am just out of touch Doc.  That sounds like a lot for a copy....maybe it isn't.  Thanks for the reply.

[PerttiMe]

The paper and ink don't cost much but they have to pay salaries, rent, machinery, etc. Much like when producing a kit, but on a slightly different scale, I imagine.

[Mike Griffin]

Well I certainly understand the cost of producing a kit.  Thanks for the replies... guess It has been a while since I copied one....

Mike

[bill bischoff]

Guys I just got off the phone with Kinko's here in New Orleans and they wanted $9.75 for one copy of a 48" x 36" plan. Am I wrong or is that ridiculous??

Mike

That's consistent with the price here in Dallas. They charge me $.75 per square foot, so $9.75 with tax is right.

[Don Curry AMA 267060]

A buddy of mine and myself have been using Office Depot and have  been paying about $3.00 per page. They will also enlarge or shrink for the same price.

[Brian Massey]

Here in Fresno I found a place that specializes in doing copy work for architects; they charge me less than 2 bucks for a copy. Nearly $10 sounds like robbery to me. Can you imagine having an entire roll of blue prints copied at 10 bucks a sheet!!

Brian

[Balsa Butcher]

The town where I lived in New Mexico charged twice that - they were an architect/survey supply store. Kinko's in Albquerque charged just 'bout what you are paying. One of the issues is that fewer and fewer stores have the large scale copiers to copy/reproduce plans directly from a master. Local Kinko's here in Sacramento will only do it from a disc and it ain't cheap. Maybe I'll go to Fresno next time I need some plans copied. 

[Steve Helmick]

The tricky part is finding a place that can do the size you want, do it accurately in both X & Y axis, ignores any copyright info, and do it cheaply. It's asking a lot. Brian got lucky!  Steve

[Randy Powell]

I use a 36" Wide copier at the UPS Store. For 50" it's $2.25

[Robertc]

You can also try a place that does blueprints.  For me, it's about $3.00 a sheet.

[Hoss Cain]

Guys I just got off the phone with Kinko's here in New Orleans and they wanted $9.75 for one copy of a 48" x 36" plan. Am I wrong or is that ridiculous??

Mike

Konko's is always the "High Rent District" if for no reason other than they are equipped to do most everything.

Here Office Max and Office Depot are considerably less expensive for copies, however I am not sure they can handle anything so large.

For 1 plan, that size could be set-up with 9 11 x 17s at less than 1/2 the quoted price.

[Tim Wescott]

I guess I'm just adding to the chorus -- shop around.  The place I go to is owner-operated; the last time I had plans copied it was $3.00, and I walked away with a 100% sized plan and a 102% size, "just in case".

[Mike Griffin]

I just got off the phone here with a local blueprinter.  25 cents a square foot.  $3.00 for a 48 x 36 as compared to $9.75 at Kinkos...dont think I will go to Kinko's   

[Bill Hodges]

I suggest, if possible, to get set up with a "locally owned" print shop, the ones that do blue prints and similar work.  We did that here in St. Augustine and get copies done for about $4.00 per sheet plus they save the plans in a file on their computer.  If we ever need another copy, all we have to do is call or stop by and tell them what we need.

Bill Hodges

[Ward Van Duzer]

Agree with the "Robber Baron" Comments on Kinko's. Stopped using them maybe 10 yrs ago. Now using Staples @ some cost (now unknown to me!) per sq. ft. Usually comes out under $4.00. per pg. for full sized plans.

Ward-O (Bradenton, Fla.)

[Mike Griffin]

I found a company here in New Orleans that is an imaging and blueprinter .  They are called ARC and are a chain.  They charged me .25 cents a square foot today.  That is very reasonable and I can live with that pricing.  Amazing how Kinkos wanted .75 cents a square ft and these people do it for .25 cents a square ft.  I guess the moral is shop around.  Thank you all for your input..

Mike

[LARRY RICE]

Mike,

Blue print shops not only are cheaper they also are the most accurate.  Other printers often shrink the print slightly or warp them.  The blue printer must be right on.

Larry
Black hawk Models

[Mike Griffin]

Mike,

Blue print shops not only are cheaper they also are the most accurate.  Other printers often shrink the print slightly or warp them.  The blue printer must be right on.

Larry
Black hawk Models

Thanks Larry.. The one I went to today did a good job and the paper it is on is much higher quality than I got at Office Depot or Staples.   

I appreciate everyone's input on this..thank you all.

Mike

[Neville Legg]

That does sound very expensive? I have my own Xerox 3030 analogue plan copier!! so it doesn't cost me anything We set it up in a show room (Office equipment) where my workshop is, and we charge customers about £2.00-£2.50/AO copy, about $3.00-$4.00? so you are expensive . And I copy plans for club members for free

Cheers

[Paul Taylor]

A buddy of mine and myself have been using Office Depot and have  been paying about $3.00 per page. They will also enlarge or shrink for the same price.

This is the same for me last time I got a set copied. Try O.D.

[Joseph Lijoi]

Architectural and drafting supply places are much cheaper.  Try blueprint and reproduction services.  Also lean on your friends.  There are a ton of guys in this hobby who are engineers and have access to large format printer/scanners and digital roll type printers. If you have the plan on a disk you may be able to email someone the plans as an attachment and have them print it out for you.  Good luck.

[Marvin Denny]

  My experiences with various copying businesses has been pretty similar to everyone elses.  Kinko's prices vary with whom ever happens to be at the counter when you go to pay, and occasionally their copying machines get out of adjustment and you get either stretching or shrinkage in either the X or Y direction--- you need to check before paying for copies.
 I recently had a set of VERY FRAGILE plans that were drawn on some sort of thin brownish paper that was very brittle.  If you didn't be VERY careful, it would split.  It also had some stains (coffee, tears, blood? whatever) that I wanted copied onto vellum as well as regular paper.
  Kinko's, Office Max, Office Depot and a couple of others wouldn't touch them.  I finally in desperation went to a regular Blueprint copying business,  Kansas Blue.   Not only did they get me good copies, they "cleaned up" the copies by removing the stains on the copies, but they were cheaper than ANY of the other places I had gone to.  OH  that business was also a unit of the chain ARC.  Even though that business is 10 miles further away from where I live than the closest of the others, I now go to them.  OH  They also laminated the original in a plastic film to preserve them.  No extra cost.


  Bigiron
  Bigiron

[john e. holliday]

The blue print officeI used to go to went out of business.   They also had classes for computor drafting as well as contracts with city and county for work.   All the lans theydid forme were on velumn first and then copies made.

[bill bischoff]

I got a 24x36 print done at Office Depot today. Cost was $.49 per sq. ft, or only 2/3 of Fedex/ Kinko's. The employees in the copy department seemed pretty technologically impaired, but ultimately were successful in producing the desired print.

[Bruce Guertin]

I found this thread topic on the search function this morning. It's an oldie but, good info. So I downloaded the plan PDFs that I had and trotted over to Progressive Printers in Winter Haven, Florida. I had never seen a printer large enough to do a 36" x 48" there in the years I've been going there. But, he had one. SO, I had Steve, the owner, run off two copies of the 2005 Fancherized Twister, one print each of the Mustunt I and III, and one of Vince Micchia's Kawasaki Hein. I made sure what I printed had a scale on the plan so we could check for correct sizing. They were.

I paid $3.58 for each print. Good quality copies on nice paper.

I did point out that the Twister plans had a copyright and I would be using these for my own use. He printed them anyway.

[Tom Vieira]

I suppose I'm lucky I work at a machine tool company...  I just download the plan and send it to the plotter!

[Wayne J. Buran]

You can also try a place that does blueprints.  For me, it's about $3.00 a sheet.

I agree, I have used a blueprint/archetecture company for at least fifteen years and  the cost is no higher than $5.00 per copy on large sheets.
Wayne

[Mike Griffin]

WOW  just saw this.  I started this thread almost 9 years ago.  Guess I am getting old, I don't even remember it.  LOL... just shows you what a great archive this forum really is.  Thank you again Robert for all you do.

Mike

[George Albo]

I guess before answering it pays to look at the dates. Note to self: Look at the date!

[Mark Mc]

Well, because of this thread, I stopped in at the FedEx room at work that the company uses.  We do so much copying and posters that it makes sense to have a FedEx office in the lobby.  I stopped in yesterday to ask how much per square foot.  He asked if it was company business, which gets an 80% discount, but when I said it was for personal use, he gave me the employee discount.  It's only .72 cents per sq.ft. for employees. 

Mark

[Doug Burright]

I take the plans that I need reproduced to the blue print shop. They know what they are doing, and I have exited there with 6 or 8 copies- reduced and actual size- for less than $30. Try your local blue print shop.

[goozgog]

    I also use a commercial  film and
"blue print" shop and it works out to about
$5.00 USD for a 60" span plane.

  But,  sometimes I scale the little drawings
up with a ruler and pencil and a nice white
sheet of paper.
   I love discovering the designers thoughts
as I check and measure his work. I am forced
to consider every detail, so I build the model
in my head before I ever cut wood.
  For me it's a pleasure and my best planes
come from this process.

Cheers! - K.

 

[Bruce Guertin]

Based on what I saw in this thread I was going to find an architectural supplies store and see if they could help or point me in the right direction. I stopped at the print shop on the what the heck impulse. Glad I stopped and thankful for the archives here.