I guess this could go under the CAD category as well...
I was taught ANSI drafting standards on a board, mainly mechanical drafting. Am I old school in thinking text heights on plats should not be less than 1/8"? The CAD department that has been spitting out plats for other surveyors for years (I haven't been here a year yet) routinely kicks out plats with text less than 1/16" in height. Minimum standards say the text has to be legible so that is subjective.
I'd rather have a second sheet only half full of legible notes that a crammed up single sheet. As soon as the title company or recorder turns the scanner on, all good information is usually lost.
rant off....Happy Holidays!
In Virginia, by law, minimum text height is 1/10 inch. And I agree that it should not be any smaller.
Not Just Height, Linewidth Is Also Important
My preference is 0.1" height, but can live with 0.08" if not a heavy linewidth.
A copy is less of a problem than a copy from a scanned record copy, that is not to original scale.
I like to be able to read an 11"x17" plot of a 24"x36" drawing. Sometimes I do not go to full size until a project is done. I have submitted pdfs for engineering review and am very sure they never plot them full size.
Paul in PA
Dave, you need stronger glasses!
MA is 0.1" too, except for machine lettering in which case we can go to 0.08"
Nah, glasses are fine. But some of our Clerks of Court do a lousy job of recording or reduce stuff before recording so we have to accommodate their quirks.
Back in the day of blanket sized plats on linen and Translucent plastic film and 1"=100' where everything was reduced to 1/4 size for recording or even photocopies as a smaller scale was a whole different world than today.
Today we are not restricted by the less than 300dpi hopes of yesterday.
Most of my hard copies are printed at photo quality and my PDFs are saved to press quality.
When you are providing a product at magazine quality printing on a ledger size format it opens the door to detail not thought of my most even a decade ago.
I can remember working for some really good surveyors that had no idea about presentation of documents. Their drawings were either like sketches from 150yrs ago or were grand wall sized drawings with thick lines and large letters.
What I use depends upon the quality my printer will produce best.
With my present printer, I use as small as 0.04 for labeling monuments and setback lines and labeling utilities I sometimes use 0.03 for X, FENCE, ROCK WALL, PL, PIPELINE, E, ELECTRIC, G, GAS, MH, MAN HOLE, WM, WATER METER, etc.
I don't want them to be readable after being faxed, copied or scanned for email by banks, attorneys and real estate jockeys spreading my work around where not intended to be.
My north arrow has a security feature that disappears when copied or reproduced.
0.02
0.08" if all Caps, if lower case letters are used 0.10". Its not usually the legibility of the originals that's the problem with smaller print sizes, its the copies or prints produced from the them.
jud
Don:
I haven't checked the standards in MA lately but isn't it 1/10" CAD and 1/8" hand lettered?
I use 1/10" as required but I will shave it to 0.85 width for some plans, it is still very legible.
Ditto in MA
1/8" by hand
1/10" by computer
The Old Time carto standards pretty much set a minimum size of 6pt type for legibility. 8pt is quite normal. 10pt and 12pt text is the norm for most books and magazines. Large area labels are normally 12pt and 14pt.
The 6pt is legible for most people with normal vision. Most or us old codgers have at least trifocals, but a 6pt text is fine if your glasses are correct.
6pt=60 Leroy=0.06"
8pt=80 Leroy=0.08"
10pt=100 Leroy=0.10"
12pt=120 Leroy=0.120"
14pt=140 Leroy=0.140"
Larger sizes work best if ,for some reason, you save half sized prints. In the digital age, maintaining multiple size plots will soon die out. I do not see a long future for paper prints any way.
i prepare all 18x24 plats to be presentable at 8.5x11. pdf is cool for reduction but the fax is not.
Would you care to share ...
how your North arrow security feature works?
Would you care to share ...
It is a simple hatch pattern that gives the arrow the appearance of having feathers.
Visible on original prints and solid when copied or faxed or scanned to a low dpi and printed. It will show distortion on high scans.
It was something I came up with from my experience working at a print shop in college.
To be honest, nobody ever notices it because you really have to look close.
B-)
Tom, Thad & Don,
CAD was hardly around when those standards (MGL, chap 36, sec 13A) were approved.
" 1/8" if free hand lettering is used and 1/10" if lettering guides are used"
You should be using LEROY, I guess
Bob
Same in Arizona.
Smallest I go is L60 (60/1000 of an inch), for building dimensions and fence ties. I mostly use L80 and L100 for general labeling. L60 is very clear to me on my laser printer or ink jet.
"I do not see a long future for paper prints any way."
Well Capt., I can not speak for where you practice but where I practice we will both being taking dirt naps when that happens.
