Introduction

Blueprints are manufacturing instructions. They originate in the engineering department and give the manufacturing department all the information that is needed to make a product. Blueprints transform ideas into products and communicate information between engineering and manufacturing.

The term blueprint, originated years ago when prints were blue. Prints had blue backgrounds and white lines. Today most prints are white and have black lines, but they are still often called blueprints. Many organizations do not use the term blueprints and use such names as; prints, drawings, manufacturing prints, engineering drawings, and industrial prints.

Manufacturing includes occupations such as; machinists, machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors. Manufacturing also includes many other fields such as; purchasing, production control and sales.

The three basic elements of a manufacturing print are; the drawing, dimensions, and notes. Prints contain all the information that is needed to make a finished product. A finished product may be anything from a simple part, to a complex assembly. Quantities of parts to be made may range from one to millions. Manufacturing organizations range in size from small machine shops to large industrial corporations. In all cases, prints provide the information to manufacture a product.

Industrial prints use an orderly and systematic graphic language. They present data in an easy to understand form. Prints are rather easy to read, if the principles are studied one step at a time. Print reading is similar to mathematics; it takes work and time to learn at the beginning. Once learned, it becomes easy. Once...