How we compare

FedEx Office wins on walk-in convenience and store count. We win on price (roughly 70% less per sheet), a later cutoff, and shipping direct to the job site. For any set over ~10 sheets, the math strongly favors ordering online.

Staples is fine for a couple of quick engineering prints if a store is close. For plan sets, we're less than half the per-sheet price, ship same day, and handle folding, binding, and multi-set distributions that a Staples print counter isn't set up for.

Office Depot's custom blueprints start at $3.99 a sheet on their listing, with larger sizes handled through online ordering rather than at the counter. We're $2.00 a 24×36 sheet, ship the same day you order by noon ET, and reach the whole corridor from New York to Washington DC the next business day by Ground. If you need one sheet in the next hour and there's a store nearby, go there. For a set, we're cheaper and usually faster.

A UPS Store is a good answer for one or two sheets you need within the hour, and some locations price plans fairly. But every center sets its own price, so you have to call to find out. For full plan sets we are $2.00 a 24×36 everywhere, ship the same day, and send the set to the office, the job site, or every bidder.

Plans4Less is a good online shop and they're about 25¢ per sheet cheaper on ARCH D. We have a later cutoff (noon vs 11 AM ET), next-day Ground from New York to Washington DC and Northern Virginia, free shipping over $100, and an owner you can actually reach. If you're in the Northeast and value predictability, we're the better fit; if you're purely price-shopping a large flat order, they may edge us.

ARC is the national reprographics company — service centers in major cities, account-based pricing, managed print and jobsite graphics for large contractors. If your firm already has an ARC account and a rep, that relationship works. If you don't, you'll find no published per-sheet price on their site. Ours is $2.00 a 24×36 sheet, visible before you upload, with same-day shipping and next-day Ground across the corridor.

A plotter in the office is the right answer for check prints and one-offs all day long. It is usually the wrong answer for sets: by the time ink, paper, the service plan and the person standing at the machine are counted, a 24×36 sheet costs more than $2.00, and a 50-sheet set in three copies takes someone an hour. We do the sets; keep the plotter for the check prints.

A good local repro shop is a real asset — pickup today, someone who knows your title block, scanning and mounting we don't do. We're the better tool for shipped plan sets, predictable pricing, and firms that don't have a great shop within 20 minutes. Many firms use both.

Walk-in wins when you need it in the next few hours or want to inspect before paying. Online wins on everything else — price, job-site delivery, saved files, and consistency. Most firms are best served by using both on purpose.