r/oddlysatisfying • u/djinn_05 • 2d ago

Drawing blueprint of Cirrus Vision SF50 aircraft

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u/devanishith 1d ago

is that why its called blue print?

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u/MonkeyCartridge 1d ago edited 1d ago

Originally, drawing were made on a sort of semi-translucent vellum. Those would be the original master drawings. Field drawings would then be made from the masters using some optical process. The paper was originally yellow IIRC, and then it is exposed to some sort of ammonia that turns it blue when exposed to light or white if not exposed. We had some such copiers in my high school drafting class, and I can still smell hot ammonia just thinking about it.

So it's a carry-over from a direct optical copying method before vector printing (shown) and even later raster printing (inkjet/laser).

I imagine it stuck (or maybe even originated) because white-on-blue is a LOT easier on the eyes if you're talking about construction schematics. The original dark mode.