A Day in the Life of an imagePROGRAF TM series user

The fast-paced evolution of digitisation in recent years has brought widespread changes to the way businesses operate, and this is true for the architecture industry, which has evolved from 2D hand-drawn plans to virtual simulations and automated design processes.

As a junior architect working at a small firm, one of my favourite parts of the job is that no two days are the same. However, with a diverse range of activities, whether it’s planning, on-site construction meetings, team meetings, or unveiling a new design, it all requires a lot of admin. Printed copies are a useful tool for putting the most important pieces of information across to the right people at each touchpoint and also at the right scale – reviewing an A1 drawing is much easier to collaborate with colleagues over a print-out rather than on a screen.

Part of my role is to support the senior architects and I start my morning helping them to prep for client meetings. We work on many different types of projects, including a number of property developments that range from housing and commercial units to educational buildings. A lot of attention to detail is required and as you can imagine, there can be many different, revised iterations of architectural plans that need to be printed quickly, so they can be reviewed with clients. This is where our technical printer really supports us. I can rapidly print new versions to take into the meeting, so we can talk through the amendments and mark up any changes.

The need for high-quality technical drawings

Once I print off the drawings, I carefully go through the plans to ensure everything is accurate and ready to run through with our client. It’s vital that the plans have sharp and crisp lines so they’re clear and easy to view on detailed technical drawings, as well as bright red lines that stand out and are still bright once printed. Printing on A1 is ideal as it enables me and my team to see every last detail. High-quality prints are important, that’s why we recently upgraded our wide-format technical printer to a Canon imagePROGRAF TM series. Apart from the benefits previously mentioned, it’s smaller, so fits in well with our office space and is also quiet, minimising disruption.

The afternoon brings an off-site meeting, this time at a client’s site (typically we hold meetings outdoors while walking around the site). I support by printing the latest plans to talk through and this is where the durability of the printout is crucial, the last thing we want to do is worry about the printed plans getting ruined out in the elements. As with many businesses nowadays, we’re very conscious of our environmental footprint, so we opt to use recycled and sustainable paper to try to reduce our impact, and we’ve been really impressed with the results.

I jot down revisions to the plans as we discuss them with the client and then I fold the drawings up and put them in my bag, ready to amend once I’m back at my desk. As we opted for the multifunction version of the TM series I’m able to scan the marked up drawing once I’m back in the office to keep a record of the mark-ups from site, and then I can make the changes to the file which is a great time saving feature.

Multi-purpose printer supports with promotional materials

Back in the office, I support colleagues with setting up for an in-house client event. As a junior architect, my job can be quite varied and I enjoy getting involved in different aspects across the business. While we have promotional materials such as banners printed at our local print shop, less complex jobs such as posters or renders can be printed in-house. I’m always impressed by the colourful results a technical printer can achieve when printing posters, and being able to quickly create and print them in the office also saves time.

I work with our office manager to prep some of the materials, as they're still quite new, I show them how to use the TM series to print some posters and flyers. This is where the PosterArtist software comes in handy – with a wide range of different templates available, it’s easy to create eye-catching flyer and poster designs, so I know they’ll be able to pick this up quickly for future assets.

Achieving more, faster

Before the event starts, we have a quick internal debrief so everyone understands their role and then I get back to helping the office manager finish setting up before everyone arrives. We start putting the posters and renders up, but one of our colleagues spots a design error, so I quickly amend the file so we can print some more. Thankfully, our printer produces borderless prints, which is a massive time saver, so we’re able to print more copies without needing to spend time trimming them to size. I’m pleased with the finished result and our office looks ready to host our client.

The event goes well and I enjoy mingling with everyone and talking them through the project. We look at the CAD drawings that we’ve pinned up around the office to showcase the property development and get a feel for how it will look. The 3D renders really bring the development to life and help to generate a lot of excitement about the project. Then, after a drink and a few canapés I head home at the end of a fun and varied day at work.

On my way home, I reflect on my time in this role and all the opportunities I’ve had to work with experienced people on some really interesting projects. I’ve also seen first-hand how prevalent and important print still is for CAD and technical drawings and the different needs these fulfil. Digital and robust printed drawings work together to enable collaboration whether in the office or on site.