Technology has helped our world advance in nearly all aspects, including printing. Before plotters and traditional printers, architects and engineers had to rely on time-consuming processes to create copies of their work. Delve deeper into the history of blueline printing and how it became obsolete.
What Is Blueline Printing
When most of us think about architectural blueprints, we imagine blue paper with a complex sketch in white ink. These detailed architectural drawings include the design plans made by the architect or engineer.
It’s Not a Blueprint
Despite the name, blueline printing doesn’t create the traditional blueprint many think of—complex designs in white ink on blue paper. Instead, blueline printing produces whiteprints since the paper is white. Essentially blueline printing creates blue images on white paper, the inverse of a blueprint.
History of Blueline Printing
Now that we’ve explained what blueline printing is, let’s discuss the history of blueline printing so we can cover how it became obsolete. Before whiteprints, architects and engineers relied on blueprints; however, that process relied on many toxic chemicals. Blueprint drawings were a response to time-consuming hand-tracing and pricy photolithographic production.
First Came Blueprints
The traditional blueprint, or white line printing, is what most of us think of when we hear the word “blueprint.” Back in 1842, a man named John Herschel developed the process for creating blueprints by drawing on translucent paper—such as a negative—then placing the original drawing on a sheet of paper coated with photosensitive chemicals. From here, he weighted the semi-transparent paper down so the sketch could appear on the other sheet of paper. It was complex in comparison to today’s printing methods.
Interesting Printing History Fact
Early prints were a lot like the ones we see today. For instance, a ninth-century drawing of The Plan of St. Gall was quite detailed, and many industry professionals consider it one of the first blueprint designs.
Why Are Blueprints Blue?
Apart from crafting paper, most paper is white. This is especially true in the professional setting. So why were blueprints on blue paper? This ties back to John Herschel’s method, which relied on the cyanotype process.
This process exposes the chemical mixture of iron compounds to UV light. After exposing the iron compounds, the individual creating the copy washed the chemically-coated paper in water.
It earned the name “blueprint” because the semi-transparent paper was cyan, leaving all areas, minus the image, blue. All writing or drawings on the paper appeared white.
Many engineers and architects gravitated towards this method because it eased the creation of copies of original drawings. If an engineer had to alter their building design, copying what would work was easier than completely starting from scratch.
What Are Whiteprints?
Whiteprints, also known as blueline printing, differ from the blueprint process. Society didn’t have blueline printing until the 1890s, and this process eventually overtook the original blueprints. Why? Because it uses fewer chemicals and is more efficient. This required using photo paper and going through the diazo process to expose the image.
The chemical process used for this was similar to those used for blueprints, and the original drawing was on mylar paper. The architect would place it on diazo chemically coated paper and expose it to UV light.
Storing Whiteprints and Blueprints
Both whiteprints and blueprints are sensitive to sunlight—exposure to it could ruin them. Due to this, most stored them in a dark area or rolled them to keep in a tube. Even if properly stored, these prints can and will fade over time, though they lasted the months needed to complete the project.
These flaws in both printing methods gave curious minds the necessary inspiration to improve printing methods for inventors and builders.
Why Blueline Printing Is Obsolete Today
So, why did blueline printing go out of print? The simple answer is that society’s technology has developed and improved. Thanks to computers, professionals no longer had to rely on translucent paper, chemically coated paper, or UV light exposure.
In the twentieth century, architects and engineers first used computer-aided drafting to create copies. Even better, this made mass prints a lot easier and didn’t require all the work that goes into making blueprints or whiteprints. Things only advanced from here, bringing us to where we are today.
Printing Blueprints Today
While the process has undergone massive change over the centuries, we still rely on film paper and refer to building designs as blueprints.
Today, creating designs and printing is far more efficient than what experts had to do in the nineteenth century. For starters, we can make the entire design digitally and rely on cloud-based software to save our work. Why is this so great? Because we don’t have to worry about the original drawing getting lost or destroyed. If you save the design to the cloud, you can access it from any computer or tablet.
Architects and engineers also have access to superior printing. Once they finish a drawing, they just have to click the “print” option on their screen. Most working in the industry use plotter printers for these blueprints because, unlike traditional printers, they can create vectors and continuous lines. Interestingly, when printing these designs, we still use a type of film paper, mylar paper. This evolution has streamlined the printing process and allows experts to produce serval copies at once.
Explaining Mylar Paper
We still use mylar paper, or other types of biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate polyester film, for these types of prints because it’s more resistant to natural elements such as oil, dirt, and water. Moreover, it’s durable, so architects can bring it to the job site to inspect the area throughout the entire building process.
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Plotter Paper Guys are your top choice for printer paper, ink, and printers. With over 40 years of combined experience, we can help all our customers find exactly what they need. Buy premium bond paper to produce premium blueprints for all your design work. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about our options or need help deciding which product to purchase.
