blueprint

A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number of copies. It was widely used for over a century for the reproduction of specification drawings used in construction and industry. Blueprints were characterized by white lines on a blue background, a negative of the original. Color or shades of grey could not be reproduced. The process is obsolete, largely displaced by the diazo whiteprint process, and later by large-format xerographic photocopiers. It has almost entirely been superseded by digital computer-aided construction drawings. The term blueprint continues to be used less formally to refer to any floor plan (and even less formally, any type of plan). Practising engineers, architects, and drafters often call them "drawings", “prints”, or “plans”. The blueprint process