Printing a construction schedule: A4, A3 or A2
A schedule is printed because it is needed in the meeting and on site. That is exactly where it most often fails: the printout is scaled down so far that the bars are no longer readable, or it falls apart into sheets nobody can piece together.
Why the printout shrinks
Most tools scale down automatically until the content fits the chosen sheet. That sounds helpful and is the cause of the problem: a plan spanning two years with six columns only fits on A4 when squeezed to a size at which the type is no longer legible. The sheet then decides about the plan, rather than the other way round.
What determines the required width
- The width of the left-hand columns – trade, label, contractor, dates.
- The period shown and the chosen time scale: days need a multiple of the width of months.
- The margins left free for binding and the header.
From these figures follows a minimum width in millimetres. If it exceeds the chosen format, no amount of scaling helps – the format is simply too small, and the honest answer is a larger sheet.
Multiple pages are not a flaw
A plan running across several pages is often the right solution – provided the break falls between the rows and not through them. A task row belongs on one sheet as a unit: left-hand columns and matching bar together, otherwise the printout can no longer be read.
In Menira
The required paper width is calculated continuously: formats that would be too small are locked in the selector, and a format chosen too tightly is raised to the next one that fits. The formats on offer run from A4 up to large-format A0, as larger offices plot them; beyond that, your own formats can be stored. The note on how many pages the content breaks into appears before the export – the decision stays yours.