Any architects or builders here?

[disneysteve]

I'm trying to find an inexpensive place to have a set of building plans scanned and stored electronically on a disc. Kinko's does it but they charge about $10 per sheet which seems a bit ridiculous. Does anyone know of a cheaper way to do it?

[Seeker]

Almost always, the plans are done in electronic format before they are produced on paper.

Can't you go back to the original designers and ask for electronic format?

[disneysteve]

Almost always, the plans are done in electronic format before they are produced on paper.

Can't you go back to the original designers and ask for electronic format?

Good question. The building was completed in 1997, though, so I wonder if they were doing things electronically at that point. Something to check into.

[Seeker]

The first CAAD program goes back to 1960's.

By the end of the 1990's I would think that only the smallest architect firms might not have been automated.

If your plans are not hand-drawn, then an electronic format of it should exist somewhere. Hopefully that company is still around.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

There's a "blueprint" service near my library that offers large scale scanning & printing services to the public just because they've got the equipment to do it. So I'd look for local architectural plans printing services, apart from architects' offices. The one I'm thinking of still has the word "blueprint" in its title. Don't know if they'd charge less than Kinko's, but it might be worth looking into.

Also photographers, especially the ones who offer doctoring of old damaged photos, might have very large scanners.

Or, couldn't you just digitally photograph the plans you have?