I've been gathering up contractor "As built" markups recently and running them through the new office printer/copier/scanner. It can do up to A3 size and scans up to 30 sheets at a time to PDF.
We also have a lot of old plant for which the original (hand drawn) schematics have been lost through various means, and the maintenance electricians are re-drawing the circuits on mostly A4 paper.
CAD packages have advantages of being easy to update if you have the software, easy to archive, and if you need a copy, it is always printable in completely legible format.
Hard copies are easier to use on the plant floor, can be marked up or drawn by anyone, but cannot easily be continuously copied or archived/emailed.
Using a PDF scanner, the drawings can now be easily archived. Software exists allowing PDF files to be split and joined, allowing individual old pages to be updated or more pages added.
Could we now be looking at hand drawings making a comeback?
Could they compete with CAD?
We also have a lot of old plant for which the original (hand drawn) schematics have been lost through various means, and the maintenance electricians are re-drawing the circuits on mostly A4 paper.
CAD packages have advantages of being easy to update if you have the software, easy to archive, and if you need a copy, it is always printable in completely legible format.
Hard copies are easier to use on the plant floor, can be marked up or drawn by anyone, but cannot easily be continuously copied or archived/emailed.
Using a PDF scanner, the drawings can now be easily archived. Software exists allowing PDF files to be split and joined, allowing individual old pages to be updated or more pages added.
Could we now be looking at hand drawings making a comeback?
Could they compete with CAD?