A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing documenting an architecture or an engineering design. A technical drawing is a form of graphic communication This type of Drawing is used in the transforming of an idea into physical form The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Engineering is the Discipline and Profession of applying technical and scientific Knowledge and More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan.

Contents 1 History 2 Use 3 Replacements for blueprints 4 Blueprint companies 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

History

The blueprint process is essentially the cyanotype process developed by the British astronomer and photographer Sir John Herschel in 1842. Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print Sir John Frederick William Herschel 1st Baronet KH, FRS ( March 7, 1792 &ndash May 11, 1871)was an Year 1842 ( MDCCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common ^[1] The photosensitive compound, a solution of ammonium ferric citrate and potassium ferricyanide, is coated onto paper. Potassium ferricyanide is the Chemical compound with the formula K3 Areas of the compound exposed to strong light are converted to insoluble blue ferric ferrocyanide, or Prussian blue. Prussian blue is a very dark blue colorfast non-toxic Pigment – one of the first synthetic Dyes – which was discovered accidentally in Berlin in 1704 The soluble chemicals are washed off with water leaving a light-stable print.

A similar process was used to produce printing proofs for offset printing. An artist's proof is at least in theory an impression of a print taken in the Printmaking process to see the current printing state of a plate while the plate (or Offset printing is a commonly used Printing technique where the Inked image is transferred (or "offset" from a plate to a rubber blanket then to the

Various base materials have been used for blueprints. Paper was a common choice; for more durable prints linen was sometimes used, but with time, the linen prints would shrink slightly. Linen is a Textile made from the Fibers of the Flax plant Linum usitatissimum. To combat this problem, printing on imitation vellum and, later, mylar was implemented. Vellum (from the Old French Vélin for "calfskin" is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on single pages scrolls codices or books Biaxially-oriented Polyethylene terephthalate (boPET Polyester film is used for its high Tensile strength, Chemical and dimensional Stability

Use

For almost a century blueprint was the only low cost process available for copying drawings. Once invented, no technical development was required; the process was put to widespread use immediately, notably in shipbuilding and the manufacture of railway locomotives and rolling stock.

The coated material ready for use has a shelf life of two days. Every industrial area had one or two small independent suppliers who made blueprint coated materials to order. These suppliers also provided a copying service for small users.

The normal use was to have a wooden frame with a spring loaded back, similar to a picture frame with a glass front. The drawing would be traced in India ink on tracing paper or tracing cloth. "Indian ink" redirects here For the play by Tom Stoppard see Indian Ink (play. Indoors, coated paper and tracing would be loaded into the frame which was then brought out to sunlight. Exposure time varied from less than a minute to about an hour (under an overcast sky). The operator could see the blue image appear through the tracing, when ready the frame was brought indoors. The material was washed in running water to remove the unexposed coating, then dried. It gave a clearly legible copy of the drawing with a white line on dark blue background. This copy possessed unlimited resistance to light and resistance to water that was as good as the substrate.

The diazo document copying process progressively took over from blueprint during the period 1935 to 1950. Whiteprint is the commercial terminology to describe document reproduction using the Diazo chemical process

Replacements for blueprints

Traditional blueprints have largely been replaced by more modern, less expensive printing methods and digital displays. In the early 1940s, cyanotype blueprint began to be supplanted by diazo prints or whiteprints, which have blue lines on a white background; thus these drawings are also called blue-lines or bluelines. Diazo refers to a type of Organic compound that has two linked nitrogen (azo compounds Whiteprint is the commercial terminology to describe document reproduction using the Diazo chemical process Other comparable dye-based prints are known as blacklines.

Diazo prints remain in use in some applications but in many cases have been replaced by Xerographic print processes similar to standard copy machine technology using toner on bond paper. Xerography (or electrophotography) is a Photocopying technique developed by Chester Carlson in 1938 and Patented on October 6 For the Irish surname see Toner (surname. Toner is a powder used in Laser printers and Photocopiers to form Bond paper is a high quality durable Writing paper similar to Bank paper but having a weight greater than 50 g/m2 More recently, designs created using Computer-Aided Design techniques may be transferred as a digital file directly to a computer printer or plotter; in some applications paper is avoided altogether and work and analysis is done directly from digital displays. A plotter is a Vector graphics printing device that connects to a Computer. A display device is an Output device for presentation of Information for Visual or Tactile reception acquired stored or transmitted

As print and display technology has advanced, the traditional term "blueprint" has continued to be used informally to refer to each type of image.

Blueprint companies

Although the industry has converted to the whiteprinting system, the companies have primarily stayed the same. Whiteprint is the commercial terminology to describe document reproduction using the Diazo chemical process Among the largest as of 2006 is NRI, a ReproMAX founding partner, with eight offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and BP Independent Reprographics, which is the result of several mergers and buyouts between Independent Blueprinting, Crown Reproductions, and The Blueprint Company. ReproMAX, based in Chesterfield MO is a privately-held technology corporation with a membership of over 230 independent member reprographers across North America and Western Crown Reproductions was a major Manhattan, New York City Blueprinting firm from the 1970s through the late 1990s

With the advent in large, conglomerate, corporate entities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the traditional, family-owned blueprint shop. Most small to medium-size "blueprinters" are now owned by much larger corporations like American Reprographics Company (they alone own over 235 print shops in the US and Canada). American Reprographics Company ( is the largest reprographics company in the United States providing business-to-business [1]

However, there are still some truly independent shops. Among them are University Reprographics in Seattle, and Bill's Blueprint in Everett, Washington. [2]

A similar network has been built up as a connection of independent reprographers, as members of ReproMAX. ReproMAX, based in Chesterfield MO is a privately-held technology corporation with a membership of over 230 independent member reprographers across North America and Western As a result, ReproMAX has grown to be the largest association of reprographics companies, with over 230 current network partners in North America and Western Europe. [3] The electronic planroom and document management solution for ReproMAX is available as ReproMAX/DFS.

References

See also

• Floor plan

External links

• The-Blueprints.com - The largest free blueprint / template / 3-view collection on the internet with more than 24000 prints online
• Blueprint CSS Framework - Blueprint CSS Framework (grid, typography etc. A floor plan ( floorplan) in Architecture and Building engineering is a Diagram, usually to scale, of the relationships between rooms ). Published under MIT License.

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