01.30.2025
How Blueprint Scanning Solves Storage, Access, and Version Control Challenges
Managing physical blueprints can be a real headache—storage limitations, risk of damage, and difficulty sharing or updating plans efficiently. In fact, a recent Adobe survey found that 48% of employees say they struggle to find documents quickly and efficiently, and 95% have felt frustrated by the search. In the architecture, construction, and design industries, this is especially challenging given how vital architectural drawings are to the work.
And it doesn’t stop there. Physical blueprints exist in only one location at a time, while projects often span multiple sites. In the past, companies relied on copying and physically shipping drawings, but that led to costly version control issues—making it difficult to determine the most up-to-date plan. In industries like oil and gas, where a single error in documentation can lead to costly mistakes, businesses can end up spending millions just to resolve these inefficiencies.
With remote and hybrid work now the norm, the need for digitized drawings is more urgent than ever. Teams working from different locations need instant access to the same plans, ensuring everyone is aligned and working from a single source of truth—without delays, confusion, or outdated information.
But here's the good news: digitizing your blueprints can transform the way you work, making your plans more accessible, secure, and easier to manage. In this guide, we'll walk you through the blueprint scanning process step by step, so you know exactly what to expect when converting your physical plans into high-quality digital files.
Step 1: Preparing Your Blueprints for Scanning
Before you digitize your blueprints, a little preparation goes a long way. Taking the time to organize and inspect your documents ensures a smooth scanning process and high-quality results.
1. Sort and Organize Your Blueprints
Start by gathering all the blueprints you need to scan. Think about how you want them organized—by project, date, or another system that makes sense for your workflow. If you have outdated or duplicate plans, this is the perfect time to declutter. A well-organized set of documents makes the scanning process faster and keeps your digital files easy to navigate later.
2. Check for Damage
Blueprints can take a beating over time. Tears, folds, and faded ink can impact scan quality, so it’s worth inspecting your documents before sending them in. If a plan is heavily creased, flatten it as much as possible. Small tears can be reinforced with archival tape to prevent further damage. High-resolution scanners can enhance clarity, but the better condition your originals are in, the sharper your digital copies will be.
3. Choose Your Scanning Preferences
Not all scans are the same, and a few key choices will determine how your digital blueprints look and function:
Colour vs. Grayscale: Colour scanning not only captures all annotations and highlights but also preserves finer shading details—critical for engineers and architects who rely on subtle variations in the drawings. Grayscale is a strong alternative that retains detail without the large digital file size of colour. Bi-tonal black and white, however, is best avoided as it can lose important fine details.
Resolution: A standard 300 DPI (dots per inch) scan preserves detail, but if your blueprints are highly intricate or faded, higher resolution may be needed.
File Format: Do you need a simple PDF for viewing, a TIFF for high-resolution storage, or a CAD-compatible format for future edits?
4. Plan for Indexing and Searchability
One of the biggest advantages of digitizing blueprints is how much easier they are to find—if they’re properly indexed. Think about how you’ll want to search for these files later. Adding metadata (like project name, date, or location) during the scanning process makes it effortless to retrieve the right file in seconds. If your team needs quick access to plans, this step is worth considering upfront.
Step 2: High-Resolution Blueprint Scanning
How Blueprint Scanning Works
Blueprints, architectural drawings, and engineering plans often exceed standard paper sizes, which means they require specialized large-format scanners. These high-resolution scanners are designed to capture intricate details so nothing is lost in translation.
At WCD, we use advanced high-resolution scanners capable of digitizing documents up to 36 inches wide by any length, so even the largest construction plans can be preserved with complete accuracy.
Quality Control
After scanning, each digital file should be reviewed to ensure it meets strict quality standards. This is part of our process at WCD. Blurry sections, missing details, or distortions are flagged and corrected, so the final digital blueprint is a perfect match to the original.

Step 3: Converting to Digital Formats
Once your blueprints are scanned, the next step is converting them into digital files that are easy to view, share, and store. Choosing the right file format ensures that your plans remain accessible and functional for your team.
Common File Formats for Blueprint Scanning
PDF – The most common format for viewing and sharing. PDFs maintain layout integrity, making them ideal for reference and collaboration.
TIFF – A high-quality, lossless format used for archival storage. TIFF files retain maximum detail and are commonly used for long-term preservation.
JPEG – A compressed format that reduces file size, suitable for quick reference but not ideal for high-detail architectural drawings.
Most clients prefer PDFs for accessibility and TIFFs for archival purposes, but WCD can provide files in multiple formats to suit different project needs.
Step 4: Indexing & Organizing
Scanning your blueprints is just the first step—how you organize them makes all the difference. Without a proper system in place, digital files can quickly become just as difficult to manage as stacks of paper. That’s where indexing and metadata tagging come in, making it easy to search, retrieve, and share your blueprints in seconds.
Why Indexing Matters
A study by Glean found that employees spend an average of two hours a day—25% of their workweek—searching for documents or information needed to carry out their work. Indexing your scanned blueprints eliminates this inefficiency by ensuring files are structured in a way that makes sense for your projects and teams.
How Indexing Works
Indexing involves adding key identifiers to each scanned file so it can be quickly located when needed. These identifiers can include:
Project Name (e.g., "Downtown Office Tower Expansion")
Date of Creation or Revision (ensuring teams always access the latest version)
Client Name (for firms managing blueprints across multiple clients)
Drawing Type (e.g., electrical plans, structural blueprints, plumbing layouts)
Location or Site Name (useful for multi-location projects)
By tagging files with this metadata, users can search by keyword instead of manually sifting through folders.
Step 5: Secure File Storage & Delivery
Once your blueprints are digitized and organized, the final step is ensuring they are securely stored and easily accessible.
Storage Options for Digital Blueprints
Cloud Storage (Recommended for Accessibility & Security)
Cloud-based solutions allow authorized team members to access blueprints from anywhere. WCD offers ImageConnect, a secure digital file room where documents are stored, indexed, and retrievable at any time.Local Server or Internal Network
For firms that prefer on-premise storage, blueprints can be saved to company servers with controlled access permissions. This ensures files remain within a secure internal environment.External Storage (USB or Hard Drive Backups)
For archival purposes, files can be delivered on encrypted USB drives or external hard drives, providing offline access when needed.
Ready to Scan Blueprints and Save Time?
Blueprint scanning saves space, improves efficiency, and enhances security—all while making collaboration easier across teams. Whether you’re an architect, engineer, or builder, having quick access to your plans ensures projects stay on schedule and decisions are made with accurate information.
At WCD, we specialize in high-resolution blueprint scanning and provide secure digital storage solutions tailored to your needs. If you’re ready to make the shift from paper to digital, get in touch with us today to start your blueprint scanning project.