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golfernut78
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| Joined: | Fri Jul 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Euless, Texas |
| Posts: | 218 |
| Exams Taken: | PD, GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Exams Passed: | PD, GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Describes Me: | licensed architect - texas |
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Posted: Mon Sep 29th, 2008 08:02 pm |
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we send our drawings (complete sets not 1 or 2 sheets) as a PDF file to be printed. also, instead of sending hard copies to general contractors (much of our work is out of state) we send a CD with the PDF file so they can print as many copies as they want. the problem i'm having is the printer that we have used for 6+ years is saying that they have been mischarging us for our pdf file prints. they should be charging us 50 cents / sf for pdf files and not 10 cents / sf that they have. however if we send everything in a tiff file it would just 10 cents / sf. personally i dislike the printer we use and want to switch. they don't print dwf files, which is becoming pretty popular and i've had some contractors request and now they are charging more for pdf files.
anyone send there prints out in tiff format? what formats do you guys use?
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LIK
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| Joined: | Sat Feb 4th, 2006 |
| Location: | Architect . Leed Ap, USA |
| Posts: | 131 |
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Posted: Tue Sep 30th, 2008 06:50 pm |
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why does pdf cost more than tiff?
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xcentric
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| Joined: | Fri Mar 28th, 2008 |
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| Posts: | 351 |
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Posted: Tue Sep 30th, 2008 07:02 pm |
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When we sent drawings out to be printed, it was as a print file (I think we had a .ps or similar file - in AutoCAD, choose your normal printer and then check "print to file"). I believe the printing place had to have the correct plotter driver to be able to process these files. It seemed to work okay. Sometimes we did use pdf as well, but the file size was much larger then.
Sorry, I don't know what rates they were charging for the printing.
My guess is they charge more for pdf because either the file sizes are bigger, or someone in the office has to convert the files, or manually send them to the printer a page at a time rather than as a batch.
My suggestion would be to have a discussion with the printer about what file types they prefer and what they charge. Pick one that works for you or shop for a new printer. See who your consultants and contractors are using.
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Nomadica
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| Joined: | Thu Jul 27th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 325 |
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Posted: Tue Sep 30th, 2008 07:53 pm |
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I had some issues with a printer awhile back who couldn't do .pdf files - it was because they were using some 3rd party software with their big OCE plotters instead of OCE software, because there was a $34k difference in price (and you thought architects' software was expensive!)
Because of that they required .tif files, and that worked fine except that the files were VERY large and thus couldn't be emailed or sent by ftp. At the time we were located within walking distance of the printer so we would walk the files over there.
We never sent out .tifs to contractors or anyone else - because the file sizes were enormous. We would sometimes send them .pdfs, but we usually avoid sending out files ourselves, preferring to use a plan room for this.
When they finally bought the real OCE software they doubled their rates (I think from $0.15 sf to $0.30 sf - but that was for all file types plotted on those machines, and they could now do .pdfs, so we started uploading .pdfs instead of walking over .tifs. There isn't any difference in price for different file types.
The printer is associated with a plan room right across the hall, so once they have our files we just direct the contractor (or anybody else authorized to have the files) to the plan room and they buy as many sets as they needed.
On the one hand doubling the rates was a surprise. But that's a cost that we've passed on to clients, and as we copy them on the printer's invoices they don't tend to raise any questions or objections about those rates.
For in-house use (redlining, etc.) we're more likely to plot in our office.
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rudoneyet
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| Joined: | Sat Jan 19th, 2008 |
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| Posts: | 169 |
| Exams Taken: | PD, GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Exams Passed: | PD, GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Describes Me: | Architect |
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 03:25 am |
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We do .PDF's and it works great. The files are easy to store and send, and they come out just like we proof print them here in the office, no worry about line weights and screening, or drivers compatibility or forgetting the plot file or not being able to find the plot file to attach. I love using the .PDF format. The place we send them is a large independent reprographics place and it's a lot cheaper than the price you mentioned, more towards the ten cents a square foot than 50 cents a square foot, which is really high. I'd do some shopping on that price.
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brudgers
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| Joined: | Thu Jun 1st, 2006 |
| Location: | The Moment |
| Posts: | 7339 |
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 02:53 pm |
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$0.50 is very high in my opinion.
I would suspect that an out of town printer could UPS drawings to you for less than that on moderate size jobs.
I've had the best success with .plt files. Tiffs are too large and PDF's are dependent on the settings at conversion.
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