Where can I print construction plans near Boston? Sizes, files, prices and turnaround

You have the PDF from the architect and an inspection, a bid or a crew that needs paper. The question is where to print it. In Greater Boston there are four realistic answers, and they differ more in time and hassle than in price. This page walks through each, then covers the practical details that trip people up: file type, sheet size, how many copies, and what it costs.

The four options

Per sheet, the counters and PLOPLAN are within cents of each other and the mail-order plants are cheaper. What separates them is the trip: a counter set costs an hour of someone's morning, a mailed set costs days, and a delivered set costs nothing but the delivery fee. For a set that has to be on a trailer tomorrow, delivery is the only option that does not cost labor.

Which file to send

• A PDF exported at the sheet's actual size. A 24 × 36 set saved at letter size prints as an unreadable reduction, and every print shop will either reject it or print it wrong.
• Vector, not scanned. Exports from AutoCAD, Revit, ArchiCAD, Bluebeam or Vectorworks stay sharp at any size; a scanned paper set goes soft when reduced.
• Stamps and signatures on the issued PDF, not a separate file. Inspectors look for them on the printed sheet.
• One file per set, in sheet-index order. Merge before uploading and the page count matches the index.

Which size

Print at the size the architect issued. In Greater Boston that is 24 × 36 (Arch D) for almost every residential permit set and 30 × 42 (Arch E1) for larger commercial and institutional work; 36 × 48 (Arch E) shows up on civil and site sheets. Half-size copies at 11 × 17 or 18 × 24 are for the office, estimators and bidding subs, never for the permit file or the trailer. The size guide explains the trade-offs.

How many copies

One for the permit file or the inspector, one for the site, one for the office, and one for each trade that needs paper the same day. Residential jobs usually land at three to five full-size sets; commercial fit-outs print more because more trades work at once. Order half-size for everyone who does not lay out or cut from the drawings.

What it costs

At PLOPLAN's published rates a 20-sheet black-and-white permit set is $49.80 to print, $3.50 to staple and $14.95 to deliver next day anywhere inside Route 128, so about $72 delivered with tax. The same single copy at FedEx Office's published $4.99 to $6.99 a sheet is $99.80 to $139.80 before you drive to get it. Three copies of a 36-sheet house set with four color sheets each is $461.80 delivered here; the cost guide works the arithmetic for larger sets and for memberships.

How fast

• Counters: same day if you order by about noon and pick it up yourself.
• Reprographics shops: same or next day; courier delivery, where offered, is quoted per trip.
• Mail-order: one to five days depending on the shipping you pay for.
• PLOPLAN: scheduled next day standard; same day by noon inside Route 128; Next Day AM on the I-495 corridor and out to Worcester; a two-hour rush inside the city when an inspection moves up.