FT Swappable Paper Size

[Kronblom]

Hi,

I've been gathering material and getting ready to try and scratchbuild by following the swappable plans. However since I live in Europe I can only print on A4, and the tiled plans are US Letter size, (I think 8''x10'').

How would I go about getting the right size and printing on A4 size paper?

Thanks.

 

[xuzme720]

You can probably take the full size plans and have the program split it up into A4 sized sheets rather than US letter.
Google "tiling oversized PDF's for printing" and you'll get a more thorough explanation. If you still can't get it to work, let us know what you are using for programs and we can try to get you sorted.

 

[SP0NZ]

If you use Adobe Acrobat to print the Full-Size plans, under Page Size & Handeling, select the Poster option. Make sure that your paper size is set correctly. Acrobat should take care of the rest for you. I typically print the full-size plans this way on US Letter (which is 8-1/2" X 11" by the way).

 

[jhitesma]

I much prefer the way Acrobat does the splitting to multiple pages than the versions that FT provide anyway. And letting acrobat do it you can have it tiled to whatever paper size you want.

That said. Personally I gave up on printing entire plan files from FT because they're just horribly wasteful on paper. Instead I started opening the plans in photoshop (now inkscape instead since it's more efficient for vector art like plans) and cutting and pasting bits so they fit on fewer sheets of paper. Things like rudder can go on one sheet and even the horiz stab on a lot of the FT planes can fit on a single sheet. Some plans like the bloody wonder, FT Flyer, baby blender wing I just measure out right on my foamboard since they're so simple and just straight lines. Found that was quicker and easier than printing and taping.

 

[c172ae]

I have printed on A4 paper as long as I can remember. It works perfectly as long as I use the method described with printing as a poster on 100% size.

 

[pakerfeldt]

jhitesma,
Would you mind sharing the result?

 

[finnen]

A4 is fine, it's bigger than the letter format FT uses. Just remember to mark "original size" or scale to 100%, and you just have to cut away about 2cm from the bottom of the paper.

 

[hayebseret]

Hi,

I've been gathering material and getting ready to try and scratchbuild by following the swappable plans. However since I live in Europe I can only print on A4, and the tiled plans are US Letter size, (I think 8''x10'').

How would I go about getting the right size and printing on A4 size paper?

Thanks.

Hi,
Although you have the answers in the thread, i had the same issue.
You have two possible solutions:
1. use the "poster 100%" option.
2.if you are using any other program then Acrobat, you can tell it to use "original" paper size, then your printer will wait for you to insert latter size paper, simply provide it with A4 and print, it will fit in and you will see all the dotted lines of the FT plans.

 

[jhitesma]

jhitesma,
Would you mind sharing the result?

Sorry, I didn't reply sooner - missed this post somehow.

I don't really have any files that are ready for sharing. I tend to just open the PDF in Photoshop, move things around, print and then not even save the file.

I am sharing the 20x30 versions of the plans as I prepare them to print on my large format plotter - but so far the Viggen is the only one I've done that way: http://flitetest.com/articles/ft-viggen-modified-for-printing-on-20-x30-sheets