Plan format

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lncc63
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Plan format

Post by lncc63 »

Buying software over the internet is common place. You download pay for a license (via credit card) and you have your software. Even manuals for the software we use are no longer available even if we were willing to pay for them.

My suggestion is that you sell your plans in PDF format. Most everyone should have access to a local plotting service though I am not sure if PDF can handle an A0 paper size or a custom size bigger than that which you might need.

Personally I would prefer such because then I could save on the freight cost and there would be no risk of them getting lost. Also I could carry them in my PC, read them wherever I am.

Just a suggestion.

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badaboum
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Post by badaboum »

Louis,

I do not think you will see that from Jacques. It would be too easy to make illegal copies which would cut on his revenues. You have to remember he is running a business not a charity organization.
Robert Lafleur

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tech_support
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Post by tech_support »

It will never happen

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kiwi
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Re: Plan format

Post by kiwi »

lncc63 wrote:Buying software over the internet is common place. You download pay for a license (via credit card) and you have your software. Even manuals for the software we use are no longer available even if we were willing to pay for them.

My suggestion is that you sell your plans in PDF format. Most everyone should have access to a local plotting service though I am not sure if PDF can handle an A0 paper size or a custom size bigger than that which you might need.
A plan is a contract. If you don't have the original hardcopy you don't have a contract...

Second point is that having them printed out may cost at least as much as postage! Postage on plans around $10 to Europe. Printing my own design at the copy center on large format paper from DXF files 26 €...

Tony
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amateurboatbuilding.com

Old E.
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Post by Old E. »

We copy blue prints and site plans all the time. its about $5 per copy. Adds up quick.

JamesSloan
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Post by JamesSloan »

From a practical standpoint, I can't see running back to a PC screen or carrying a laptop around, just to get a dimension or note from the plans. I have to work stuff out with the paper plan in-hand or laid next to the work area. By the time I look at something on a screen and get back to what I was doing, I'll have forgotten what I needed in the first place! (I know nobody else here suffers from old-timer's disease :wink: )

Kiwi's comment about the contract is very true. It is the spirit of this contract that makes this whole system of selling plans work. One set of plans equals authority to build one boat. I buy original plan prints on eBay (not from the many pirates selling there) and elsewhere just to have for study. In the one case where I chose to build a boat I found that way, I bought a full set of plans from the designer before beginning. A few bucks is a cheap price for a clear conscience.

If one absolutely "needs" a second print of a sheet in a set, you could arrange to buy a single sheet from the designer. At least get authority to take it to a drafting house for a blueline copy.

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Post by jacquesmm »

What you pay for is the rights to build one boat.
The designer or copyright holder keeps the copyrights to that plan. The paper copies are accesory to the sales contract but the paper copies are copyrighted and can not be copied.
We have no problem with builders making working copies to use in the shop but too many do not respect copyrights. To publish our plans as PDF would be an invitation to make illegal copies.
We have some free plans on PDF but they are still copyrighted. I have seen at least 10 different persons selling our Cheap Canoe plans on eBay despite the copyright notice.
At first I complained but right now I just email a link to the free plans to the people who place a bid and let the seller apologize.

No other designer sells his plans that way or as DXF file and for good reasons.
If you want good support and quality plans, you have to understand that we must make a profit.
We will not sell electronic copies of our plans.
Jacques Mertens - Designer
http://boatbuildercentral.com

maxgsx
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Copies

Post by maxgsx »

Do the designers have a problem with me getting copies made for working from. When I build anything from drawings, the drawings get sooooo messed up, doodled on, tea stains, etc. For my work, I have a few copies made so that I can keep a set clean. Laminating them might seem like a good idea but you can't easily scribble something down on an encapsulated drawing.

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Post by maxgsx »

Jac,

You must have been typing at the same time as me !!

You have answered my question before I asked it.

Now that's bloody clever

anonymous

Post by anonymous »

max

In your work area you need a big pin board. Pin the plans you are using on that and a sheet of plastic over that for those moments you point at a dimension with an epoxy coated gloved finger... Keep it at eye height and it will save you hours of messing about.

Tony
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