[Historical Breakdown]{#3}Why are Blueprints, well, blue?

[AphelionMarauder]

Ahoy fellow sailors!

 

So this week we will be looking at a different flag than the one promised. Yes, we are switching gears to look at a different flag. The blueprint flags. Sailors rarely, and by rarely I mean never, fly blueprints from the yardarm. However, there is one thing that I really wanted to know.

 

Why are blueprints blue?

 

Yes, the age old question that many people have asked. Why blue? Does the engineering community have something against other colors? Did they run out of the other colored pencils so they said, “Screw it, we will just use white”?

 

Well, get ready captains, because today we investigate why blueprints are blue!

---

In 1861, a French chemist by the name of Alphonse Louis Poitevin was performing an experiment. He found that Ferro-gallate, a compound that can be found in vegetables, is light sensitive when it reacts with gum. After further tests, it was discovered the substance was safe to work with on paper and discovered that the substance only reacts with light. This lead to more testing, and eventually, a process called “blue printing” came into existence. This was the first way people copied documents on a larger scale.

 

The process is actually really simple. Someone creates a drawing on translucent tracing paper or cloth, and then it is placed over the piece of paper which has been coated with a mixture of the chemical used to turn the paper blue. When the two papers are exposed to a bright light, the chemical reacts to form an insoluble blue compound known as Prussian Blue. However, the area where the blueprinting paper was covered by the drawing on the cloth or paper does not turn blue as it was not exposed to sunlight. The paper is brought into a dark room where the tracing is removed and the paper is washed with a solution to remove the unreacted chemical. With that, you now have yourself blueprints!

 

Architects, engineers, and shipwrights continued to use blueprinting to copy their large-scale drawings. Even later on with the rise of CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems, which draw in black on a white background. Though the process of making actual blueprints has gone away from conventional methods, some companies still insist on buying blue printer paper and printing in white so they still can use “blueprints”.

---

Unlike the last two flags, I have reviewed, this one really does not have any massive connection to the naval history of World War One or Two the way the Vella Gulf flag or Coast Guard flag does. This flag is simply a promotional item.

 

However, blueprints themselves are the reason oodles of projects and engineering tasks were finished. Think about it, every single ship produced at one point had a set of blueprints made. So while the flag itself does not commemorate a heroic event or a figure of history, it is a monument to the countless hours of engineers and shipwrights pouring over plans and designs of ships that later became the ones we sail in the game.

[Mykawa]

Thank you, never thought to look this up but this was interesting.

My father worked with blue prints a long time ago I had seen many in our home. 

[AphelionMarauder]

5 minutes ago, Mykawa said:

Thank you, never thought to look this up but this was interesting.

My father worked with blue prints a long time ago I had seen many in our home. 

Your welcome. 

Blueprinting is also one of the few technologies that once it was created, there was no improvement in the process. Chemical reaction, two pieces of paper, and a light bulb. Not to mention it lasted so long as well. 

 

What did your dad work on with blueprints?

[SinqueScheiDeMona]

Nice info. 

 

Random story: For anyone old enough to remember greenbar dot matrix printer paper people in my shop used to crapa brick and praise the lord almighty when we would get a box of blue bar by accident. Different hue, same contrast yet people would claim it was so much easier to read. 

[AphelionMarauder]

2 minutes ago, SparvieroVV said:

Nice info. 

 

Random story: For anyone old enough to remember greenbar dot matrix printer paper people in my shop used to crapa brick and praise the lord almighty when we would get a box of blue bar by accident. Different hue, same contrast yet people would claim it was so much easier to read. 

Your welcome. 

 

Also, white on blue has been said to be easier to read then black on white. So I mean, it would make sense people would like the blue more.

Question though, why not buy blue bar instead?

[Mykawa]

He bounced between carpet and tile/linoleum industry and had home design blue prints. 

[SinqueScheiDeMona]

More expensive back then. Especially as this was back when a lot of stuff was being automated. Went from a four man print shop 24/7 to just the manager and techs taking over label printing and burster duty. The joys of messing with industrial printers. When I was gone out payroll admins had gone from hundreds of pages daily to a six page report. Now it is probably a two paragraph email. 

[AphelionMarauder]

7 minutes ago, Mykawa said:

He bounced between carpet and tile/linoleum industry and had home design blue prints. 

Yep, that would be one of many uses for them. My parents still have the physical blueprints to my home (which is their house, but hopefully not too much longer for me).

4 minutes ago, SparvieroVV said:

More expensive back then. Especially as this was back when a lot of stuff was being automated. Went from a four man print shop 24/7 to just the manager and techs taking over label printing and burster duty. The joys of messing with industrial printers. When I was gone out payroll admins had gone from hundreds of pages daily to a six page report. Now it is probably a two paragraph email. 

My parents used to own a print shop, I bet they feel you.
 

 

---

I thank you both for your stories, things like this are actually really interesting to read!

[CaptnAndy]

Great Post! Think about the number of blueprints it took to make a WW2 warship. The original drawings (either ink or pencil on vellum) were kept in the Engineering offices and multiple blueprint copies were distributed to the workshops. The original drawings were never folded because they had to run through the rollers of the blueprint machine. they were stored in either flat or hanging cabinets. The most common drawing size was 24 x 36", and the drawings were scaled to fit that D Size format. The lettering was mostly done free hand during that period.

I started an engineering company in 73, and an early purchase was an engineering copier that would scan a D Size drawing and make a black and white C Size (18 x 24") copy. We hated to have to work with blueprints because they smelled, they would fade when exposed to sunlight, or welding arcs, you couldn't write notes on them, or make copies from them, and they were frequently hard to read.

[AphelionMarauder]

6 minutes ago, CaptnAndy said:

Great Post! Think about the number of blueprints it took to make a WW2 warship. The original drawings (either ink or pencil on vellum) were kept in the Engineering offices and multiple blueprint copies were distributed to the workshops. The original drawings were never folded because they had to run through the rollers of the blueprint machine. they were stored in either flat or hanging cabinets. The most common drawing size was 24 x 36", and the drawings were scaled to fit that D Size format. The lettering was mostly done free hand during that period.

I started an engineering company in 73, and an early purchase was an engineering copier that would scan a D Size drawing and make a black and white C Size (18 x 24") copy. We hated to have to work with blueprints because they smelled, they would fade when exposed to sunlight, or welding arcs, you couldn't write notes on them, or make copies from them, and they were frequently hard to read.

After a year or two, the blueprints do tend to get really wacky. If blueprints fade, it is because they were not washed correctly, because people didn't want the paper to wrinkle, however the sign that the paper started to wrinkle means that the paper was cleaned correctly.

[bewbs_]

Went to school for architecture, so I have created many "old school blueprints".... I do not miss that smell.

 

 

[AphelionMarauder]

16 minutes ago, bewbs_ said:

Went to school for architecture, so I have created many "old school blueprints".... I do not miss that smell.

 

 

That is why they need to dry in the sun, or else the chemical remains and it stinks to high hell. I actually got to see a blueprint once and it smelled like crap. I almost passed out.

[bewbs_]

More or less just the room they are prepared in, smell could get really strong in there....  

[Warlord_Deadeye_Pete]

ohhh the memories!  My first career choice way back in the late 70's after I got out of the USAF with my class A,B,and C FCC licences was going to architecture school because the market was utterly flooded with electronic and radio techs.  I worked for a few years as a Draftsman, so yea, I know the process well. Little did I know the market was also flooded with drafting technicians.  I flat blew the opportunity to learn CAD/CAM.. and Cad eventually lead to 3d modeling, which is used today in the gaming industry.  If you'll note the opening screen of your game you'll see the Autodesk logo...and that folks is CAD/CAM Used by architects, engineers and game designers!  

[AphelionMarauder]

4 minutes ago, TL_Warlord_Roff said:

ohhh the memories!  My first career choice way back in the late 70's after I got out of the USAF with my class A,B,and C FCC licences was going to architecture school because the market was utterly flooded with electronic and radio techs.  I worked for a few years as a Draftsman, so yea, I know the process well. Little did I know the market was also flooded with drafting technicians.  I flat blew the opportunity to learn CAD/CAM.. and Cad eventually lead to 3d modeling, which is used today in the gaming industry.  If you'll note the opening screen of your game you'll see the Autodesk logo...and that folks is CAD/CAM Used by architects, engineers and game designers!  

Yep, CAD is really powerful, and Autodesk has made most of the need for physical blueprints.

[chewonit]

How do you print white on blue (or any color)?

[AphelionMarauder]

Just now, chewonit said:

How do you print white on blue (or any color)?

It is called Wax Printing and Laser Printing.

A printer has wax blocks inside of a hopper of sorts. The printer heats up and lays the wax down onto the paper in a similar way to how ink and laser jet printers work. Laser uses a roler transfer system to apply the ink.

For thermal wax:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/thermal-wax-printer-60056.html

 

[AphelionMarauder]

I also have a small project related to my continuing series of "Historical Breakdown". If anyone is interested in learning more, PM me.

[Phoenix_jz]

Awesome post, it was a fascinating read!

 

I had never actually stopped to think about why blueprints were called 'blueprints,' but I guess I know now!

 

It's also really cool to read some of the stories people share.

[AphelionMarauder]

2 minutes ago, Phoenix_jz said:

Awesome post, it was a fascinating read!

 

I had never actually stopped to think about why blueprints were called 'blueprints,' but I guess I know now!

 

It's also really cool to read some of the stories people share.

I will be sharing stories on each and every flag WG has made. I will have quite a few racked up.