Glenn Ryan Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 18 hours ago, barryt said: These A4 PRO plans are worth up to 17GBP each! Hoping its a mistake. If not, goodbye RCM&E from me. Yes it might be 17GBP if you were to buy the actual plans from Sarik but yes the free offering in the digital sense is not worth it at the moment. At this stage I'm leaning towards just re-subscribing to the Print and Digital so that way I do get the value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 (edited) It is early days with the digital plans and I'm sure they will sort it out. I would have thought that the easiest way would be to put the plans in a "subscribers only" download section on the website with a link in the digital copy download. A decent quality full size plan supplied with the magazine is likely to be quite a large sized file and may be difficult to open on a phone, or tablet. Obviously if you like the plan the cheapest option is to buy a hard copy of the magazine rather than go to Sarik. Particularly if you have to pay for the pdf printing out full size. It is interesting that what used to be a bonus with the magazine is now expected (and often much criticised). Many other hobby magazines of similar size and price don't do give-aways every month. Maybe the costs involved could be utilised to increase other editorial content. After all aren't there sufficient free plans available to download from the internet ? Let's face it "new" plans (with no similarities to existing designs) are very few and far between these days (as can be seen in another magazine, which has been reissuing its old plans and articles every month for the last few years). Edited January 14, 2023 by kevin b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 3 hours ago, Glenn Ryan said: download the PDF's, re-scan it back in at the highest of possible resolution (1200dpi or something high like that) then resize it so we don't lose the clarity. I don’t think that would work as you would be using the very poor (low resolution) PDF to start with. For the Kestrel, as a friend will let me have the hard copy, I will scan it at 1200 then use that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 Hi Ron. Scanning in at 1200dpi is quite slow and creates very large files. Due to the original plan resolution (printed) I find that 600dpi is the maximum needed for the small plans included in early magazines and generally 300 - 400dpi is more than adequate. When it comes to printing out at full size I rarely have to print greater than 150dpi. However, technically unless you intend to manipulate the plans (or do any remedial work) it is really unnecessary to scan at a greater dpi than the original was produced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 I want to be able to use the plan in CAD as I need to redraw parts of it if I’m going to build it in foam and I want to convert the PDF rather than having to over draw it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhendley Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 Hi everyone. This is just stage one. Due to overwhelming requests, we wanted in the first instance to let digital-only subscribers at least see the plans. And due to limitations of the digital edition service, they have to be reduced to A4, to help there should be a scale added. We are working on some ideas but keep your feedback coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Long 1 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 53 minutes ago, dhendley said: Hi everyone. This is just stage one. Due to overwhelming requests, we wanted in the first instance to let digital-only subscribers at least see the plans. And due to limitations of the digital edition service, they have to be reduced to A4, to help there should be a scale added. We are working on some ideas but keep your feedback coming. Unfortunately, your answer does not tie in with the marketing email I received from classicmagazines.co.uk on the 4th January which states:- We have an exciting announcement for all digital readers. From the January issue, all digital issues of RCM&E will now also include model plans worth up to £17 each! This gives the strong impression that digital readers will get full size usable plans worth up to £17 each. When in reality, as the plans are only A4 in size and of a resolution that makes them all but unusable when enlarged to the correct scale for printing (whether you add a scale or not). So they are not worth anything like the up to '£17' quoted in the marketing email! That marketing email is misleading - something I think the ASA would be interested in, as I am sure it breaks it's advertising rules regarding accuracy! I would suggest quickly moving to 'Stage 2' and provide digital subscribers access to full size plans in PDF format. Perhaps in time for the February edition so that you fulfil what was written in that marketing email. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 1 hour ago, dhendley said: We are working on some ideas but keep your feedback coming. Whilst I’m happy to see the ‘low quality’ PDFs available I would like to see this linked to a service whereby we can download ‘full fat’ files for our use. Ideally I would also like to have the option to download a DXF file! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Ryan Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 Yes I agree. It's great to see the step forward and offering the plans but having the ability to download the full size plans is necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Ryan Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 Well I thought about it long and hard. I played around with the pdf that you can download and played around with my printer and pdf settings and got a reasonable result so I decided to renew my subscription as just a Digital one. I figured that if I really needed the printed magazine that I could just buy it when it hits the stands. I would however like to see the full size plans placed somewhere like a drop box or something like that where subscribers could download those instead of the small ones. That would be the best solution I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 5 hours ago, Glenn Ryan said: I played around with the pdf that you can download and played around with my printer and pdf settings and got a reasonable result I would argue that a ‘reasonable result’ is not the same as ‘identical’ to the full size printed version, therefore we still need access to an electronic (ideally dxf) version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perttime Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 (edited) A vector format PDF could be resized in Inkscape ... without making the lines thick. Edited January 19, 2023 by perttime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Yep, that was posted a few days ago, but the dxf type file is far more flexible imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Hall Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Interesting thread. I was just about to push the button on digital subscription and thought .... I'll just check if there are any problems. Glad I did. My intention was to subscribe, download the .PDF plan for the the Vans RV-4 from Feb '21, drop in on the local copy shop and print at A1. Then I could continue making parts for it - my cat decided that some of the parts tasted nice and were good to play with ! I think I might hold off until plans are scanned at 1:1. Seems a pointless expenditure otherwise. In the past I have got the magazine plan scanned but have found that it wrinkles due to the folds and thin paper, so lines are not always straight and any misalignment can play havoc with overall lengths or positioning. I have had more success in redrawing plans using AutoCAD. Printing from a PDF generated by AutoCAD gives an excellent quality. It takes a lot of time to draw though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Andy. PM sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhendley Posted March 6, 2023 Share Posted March 6, 2023 Hi everyone, just to let you know that having the plans available to digital users in this form is just a stop-gap. We had so much feedback when they weren't available that we thought this quick fix was better than nothing in the short term. The archive platform we use forces all the pages to be the same size - so they are downsized to A4. The next phase will be to incorporate full resolution versions behind a login area. I love the idea of dropbox, but need to find a way of authenticating subscribers. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Ryan Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 Thanks for the update @dhendley. Although I was a little grumpy to begin with I found a work around and it's all good but I do look forward to having the full size plans available once it is sorted out. Thanks in general for offering up the plans digitally 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted March 6, 2023 Share Posted March 6, 2023 12 hours ago, dhendley said: but need to find a way of authenticating subscribers. As it is only subscribers who can get the download (mag) and its is only the electronic versions with the downloadable plans I would have thought that having a link on one of the plan download pages would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhendley Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 18 hours ago, Ron Gray said: As it is only subscribers who can get the download (mag) and its is only the electronic versions with the downloadable plans I would have thought that having a link on one of the plan download pages would work. That's not a terrible idea Ron, but we want to discourage people sharing an open link wherever possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Indeed - I think it's important for the publishers to retain the IP rights for the plans offered in the magazines and there have been some unscrupulous individuals "sharing" and making profits out of copying plans and making them available for download in the past. A decent level of protection is needed for the designers and IP owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Once downloaded there is no control over what happens to that file, in exactly the same way that photocopying plans cannot be prevented! Therefore having control over who downloads makes no difference as a copied link or copied file are the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 As they say Ron - "This is why we can't have nice things..." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Vink Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 DXF? Yes please 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Stephenson Posted March 19, 2023 Share Posted March 19, 2023 If the publisher were to offer printed versions of the plans for less than it would cost to have a digital version reproduced by a print shop, say, this might discourage piracy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, Andy Stephenson said: If the publisher were to offer printed versions of the plans for less than it would cost to have a digital version reproduced by a print shop, say, this might discourage piracy. If I download an Outerzone plan and get it printed by my local print shop it costs £4 per A1 sheet. If the publishers were to sell plans at that price they wouldn’t have a business. If you are a digital subscriber and you fancy building from the free plan then buying a copy of RCM&E from Smiths or wherever would be more economical than buying the plan from Sarik Hobbies although not by much. The M23c has three sheets to print (four if you get a mirror image of the wing too. Incidentally the current free plan, M23c, is £19 not £17 from Sarik Hobbies, despite what it says at the top of the magazine. If you are a prolific free plan builder a 12 month magazine subscription is only £16 more than a digital one, without having the expense and hassle of getting your digital plan image printed. This is assuming you will soon be able to print full size printable plans from your digital subscription. Edited March 20, 2023 by Piers Bowlan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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