If you work in industries like architectural design, engineering, landscaping, construction, or drafting, you need a convenient and efficient method in place for storing those over-sized blueprints, and other large design documents. There are three basic methods for storing these over-sized working documents, rolled up, laying flat, or hanging.
Storing Rolled Blueprint Plan Drawing
Rolled plan drawings (checkout our blueprint shelving at our online partner store) is a very cost and space efficient way to store blueprints. Specifically designed shelving units with cubby slots will store many rolled drawings efficiently. However, this method of drawing storage has a tendency to curl the blueprint drawing edges making it difficult to get the document to lay flat again.
Storing Plan Drawings Laying Flat On Shelves or Cabinets
There is nothing nicer than to have your plan drawings laying nice and flat ready for use. Unfortunately, life isn’t that laid back. Employees are typically working on several projects at one time and drawings end up being stacked one on top of the other. Also, flat file drawer cabinets (checkout our online store partner flat file cabinets) are more costly than plan drawing shelving, but if you need to protect your drawings, cabinets are the best choice.
Vertical Hanging Plan Drawing Storage Racks
Hanging plan drawing racks (checkout out our online store partner hanging drawing supplies) provide one of the nicest labeling systems for quick retrieval. Hanging drawings in shelving eliminate the problem of curled edges when drawings are rolled up. These hanging racks can be placed double decked in shelving units, wall mounted, on a stand, and even on rolling mobile carts. While they may not be the most space efficient method of storage, they are the most convenient.
Other vertical hanging blueprint racks (checkout our online partner store blueprint racks) include blueprint stands, blueprint storage racks, plan racks, and blueprint holders, but they all refer to the same type of vertical large document storage for your blueprints and oversized documents. This vertical hanging storage method saves space while keeping your documents flat so that you can read them with ease. These convenient storage racks can be mounted on the wall or on stands that have casters, which allows the documents to be easily rolled from one work area to another.
These are a few suggestions on how best to store your large plan drawings, blueprints, or other large documents. You will need to choose your large document storage solution based upon on your current and future needs.
