Plotting on paper or vellum - does it matter?

jayvee

Well-Known Member
Hello all, I've recently been gifted with a plotter that wasn't being maintained by another department. It's a Christmas dream come true - I can now print out build drawings on bigger paper than 8.5x11! It's up and running now and has produced beautiful work thus far on a roll of vellum I already had. My question is this: is there a standard about plotting drawings on vellum vs. paper? Does it matter? Personal preference? I learned to draft when plotters were $$$$ and we drew on vellum and used a blue-line machine so my guts say "drawings go on vellum" but since I'm printing now, paper is cheaper. I tried to search first but the threads I found were about where to buy hand drafting supplies and plotting software or machines. Thanks for any input!
 
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Hello all, I've recently been gifted with a plotter that wasn't being maintained by another department. It's a Christmas dream come true - I can now print out build drawings on bigger paper than 8.5x11! It's up and running now and has produced beautiful work thus far on a roll of vellum I already had. My question is this: is there a standard about plotting drawings on vellum vs. paper? Does it matter? Personal preference? I learned to draft when plotters were $$$$ and we drew on vellum and used a blue-line machine so my guts say "drawings go on vellum" but since I'm printing now, paper is cheaper. I tried to search first but the threads I found were about where to buy hand drafting supplies and plotting software or machines. Thanks for any input!
Speaking as one who creates Theatre construction drawings all day. Don't be precious about drawings. 20# bond is standard. If you go to work for an architecture firm then worry about vellum when you are doing presentation drawings a multimillion dollar client. Also, save your money. If your new plotter is color, print all you drawings in monochrome. Half tone sucks for most plan and working drawings. Save your color for when you need to print artwork, magazines, or some other colorized item you need for a show. Color drawings are difficult to read in a shop. Put it down in black and white. My last td job I spent the majority of my ink budget on 750mL Black cartridges. I only ever used color ink when I knew I had to print a Wallpaper or some major art pieces or lobby posters. I loved my 1055P+ but anything that can produce 11x17 or larger is good enough for shop drawings.
 
Speaking as one who creates Theatre construction drawings all day. Don't be precious about drawings. 20# bond is standard. If you go to work for an architecture firm then worry about vellum when you are doing presentation drawings a multimillion dollar client. Also, save your money. If your new plotter is color, print all you drawings in monochrome. Half tone sucks for most plan and working drawings. Save your color for when you need to print artwork, magazines, or some other colorized item you need for a show. Color drawings are difficult to read in a shop. Put it down in black and white. My last td job I spent the majority of my ink budget on 750mL Black cartridges. I only ever used color ink when I knew I had to print a Wallpaper or some major art pieces or lobby posters. I loved my 1055P+ but anything that can produce 11x17 or larger is good enough for shop drawings.
Excellent, thanks! This is exactly what I wanted to know (and suspected). I've got an Epson T5270 and it's my new best friend.
 
Vellum is semitransparent so does some tricks bond can't. Blue line copies is one, and overlays is another. Some prints used to be made with many layers at once!

If you ever need to do those things get some vellum. In a shop the cheap but tougher bond will be invaluable daily.
 
Vellum is semitransparent so does some tricks bond can't. Blue line copies is one, and overlays is another. Some prints used to be made with many layers at once!

If you ever need to do those things get some vellum. In a shop the cheap but tougher bond will be invaluable daily.
Thanks! I have a roll of vellum now and will hang on to it for special projects. I didn't want to waste it in the shop if I didn't have to since those drawings will get used and abused.
 
I'll agree with the above, paper is better in a shop. I'll also add the note that bigger prints aren't always better. It may sound trivial, but if you give your shop big pieces of paper, that paper eats up more real estate out on the floor. At my last shop I printed on B sheets because that's the biggest our printer could handle. All our guys carried around 11x17" clipboards with their drawings on them. In my current job, we use D sheets. Yeah, you can fit a lot of info on one piece of paper, but our guys have built what are essentially rolling drafting tables to handle the large format paper and keep it off their benches. The footprint of each table is roughly 36" x 24". Not a big deal for us; but if you've got a tiny cramped scene shop, your guys may start to resent the giant sheets of paper that keep getting in the way of their work, especially if they're used to A sheets.... Food for thought.
 
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Yeah I'd always use paper unless I needed to use vellum for some reason.
Mainly when drawing by hand and the times when translucency comes in very much handy.

I also agree with bobgaggle, keep drawing sizes reasonable to the work at hand. Nothing more annoying than a bunch of oversized prints getting in the way.
 
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I'll agree with the above, paper is better in a shop. I'll also add the note that bigger prints aren't always better. It may sound trivial, but if you give your shop big pieces of paper, that paper eats up more real estate out on the floor. At my last shop I printed on B sheets because that's the biggest our printer could handle. All our guys carried around 11x17" clipboards with their drawings on them. In my current job, we use D sheets. Yeah, you can fit a lot of info on one piece of paper, but our guys have built what are essentially rolling drafting tables to handle the large format paper and keep it off their benches. The footprint of each table is roughly 36" x 24". Not a big deal for us; but if you've got a tiny cramped scene shop, your guys may start to resent the giant sheets of paper that keep getting in the way of their work, especially if they're used to A sheets.... Food for thought.
Yeah, smaller sheets certainly have their place. I teach high school and middle school kids and it's really great to be able to show them how things "should be" with Arch D ground plans, etc. When I break down projects for build days I will often pull out the pieces onto smaller sheets so each group can have the plan for their piece.
 

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