Blueprint reading

By K. O. Hoffman

Subjects: Blueprints

Description: INTRODUCTION TO BLUEPRINTS Throughout history, the need for accurate communication has led humanity to develop several new methods to convey thoughts and ideas. From the first drawings on cave walls to the modern written language, communication has been an important factor in the development of society. The engineering drawing is an important method of communication in industry and manufacturing. The engineering drawings are graphic descriptions, similar to photographs of objects, that are too detailed to be easily described in words. The artists, designers and engineers made these drawings to develop and record their design ideas. These drawings serve as instructions and provide all information and specifications needed to make an object. COPY OF DRAWINGS The original engineering drawings represent a large investment of time and money. Also serve as legal documents. Then, the original drawings are not normally used in the workshop. Instead, copies are made to prevent damage to the originals. There are several ways to copy an original drawing. The process, that has been known for a long time, is the "blueprint". The blueprints are copies that reproduce an image as white lines on a dark blue background. But nowadays copies are made in either machine photo copier machines or blueprints. These processes produce copies with blue lines, black or sepia on a white background. For industrial purposes, the blueprints are the most common. This process uses chemically treated paper sensitive to light. The paper is revealed by ammonia vapor and water mixture. After making copies, the original is filed for safekeeping. Copies are then sent to the workshop. No matter what process is used or what color the lines are, the terms blueprinting, copying and drawing are commonly used in describing the reproduced copies for the workshop of the original engineering drawings.