How to Print Roll Plots on 11x17 or Letter Paper

Four ways to print a roll plot on standard paper

A roll plot is one long PDF page, often 34 inches high and up to 200 inches long, drawn at a design scale such as 1 inch = 40 feet. An 11 by 17 or letter printer cannot print it in one piece, so each method below cuts it into sheet-sized sections. They differ in how the printed scale is set, whether the drawing stays sharp, and how much labeling you do by hand.

Whichever method you use, decide the printed scale before you print. Full size keeps the roll’s own scale, so a scale ruler works on the prints. A reduction fits more corridor on each sheet, and the printed scale is the original scale divided by the percentage.

Method 1: Make numbered sheets with Zip Takeoff’s Roll Plot Converter

Zip Takeoff’s free roll plot converter turns a roll plot, also called a scroll plot or roll plan, into a numbered set of 11 by 17 or 8.5 by 11 (letter) sheets. It runs in your browser without an account, and the PDF is not uploaded. Pick the roll’s Drawing scale, the Paper, and a Print scale, then click Stamp frames and click along the roll where each printed sheet should go. Clicking near the end of the last frame snaps the next one beside it with half an inch of overlap, and the [ and ] keys turn frames in 45-degree steps for curves. Export PDF builds one file of every sheet in order, even when the rolls come from several PDFs.

Each sheet holds the original PDF linework cropped to its frame as vectors rather than a screenshot, so small text and thin lines print as sharp as the source and stay searchable; a scanned roll prints as the scan it is. Every sheet carries a MATCH LINE - SEE SHEET n label on each overlap, a graphic scale, the printed scale, and SHEET n OF N, and an optional key sheet before each roll shows where every sheet falls. The printed scale is right when Drawing scale matches the roll and you print at actual size, not fit to page.

To use less paper or fit more of the drawing on each sheet, change the Print scale. Both the free converter and the full Zip Takeoff app offer full size or a standard reduction, such as 1 inch = 80 feet for a 40-scale roll, and a reduced sheet states both scales, such as SCALE 1" = 80' (REDUCED FROM 1" = 40'). In the worked example below, half size cuts an 11 by 17 set from 12 sheets to 6.

To take quantities off the roll as well, open it in the Zip Takeoff app and measure directly on the roll plot PDF: areas, lengths, and counts are recorded by condition, a named measurement group, and on vector sheets Smart Area, Smart Linear, and Smart Count suggest areas, lines, and matching symbols for you to review. The same Roll Plot Converter on the app’s Sheets tab then exports your takeoff as 11 by 17 or letter sheets ready to print, with the markup on each sheet and an optional legend listing each condition’s quantity between that sheet’s match lines. Stamping frames in the app needs an estimator seat; the steps are in make a roll plot booklet with your takeoff.

Method 2: Tile the roll with Acrobat’s Poster option

Open the roll in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader and choose Print. Under Page Sizing & Handling, select Poster. Adobe’s help pages list five tiling options: Tile Scale adjusts the scaling percentage, Overlap sets how much each tile overlaps the tiles beside it, Cut marks add guide marks for trimming the overlap, Labels print the file name and page number on each tile, and Tile only large pages tiles only pages larger than the paper. Adobe says Acrobat calculates the number of sheets needed and that the print preview updates so you can check the layout before printing.

Tile Scale sets the printed scale. At 100 percent the tiles are full-size pieces of the roll, so a 40-scale roll prints at 1 inch = 40 feet. At any other percentage, divide the original scale by the percentage: 50 percent gives 40 ÷ 0.50 = 80, or 1 inch = 80 feet. Write that scale on the first tile.

Poster splits the whole page across sheets, so a 34-inch-high roll is tiled in rows as well as along its length, including blank areas away from the alignment. Apart from cut marks and the label, the tiles carry no match line references, station ranges, or sheet numbers. Number the tiles as they come off the printer and write the station range on each one before the stack is shuffled.

Before printing, use the preview to find a tile that contains a scale bar or two station labels. Measure that tile first when the prints come out, before cutting or taping any of them together.

Method 3: Snip sections into a Word or Google Docs file

This method uses a screenshot tool. Zoom to a section of the roll on screen, capture it, paste the image into a Word or Google Docs document, and repeat along the alignment until the roll is covered. Then print the document.

Three things change in the process. The screenshot captures the screen’s pixels, not the PDF’s linework, so small text and thin lines blur when printed. The document resizes each picture to fit its margins, so the printed scale depends on your zoom level and the picture size, and it is unknown unless you calculate it. The images carry no match lines or order, so you draw your own match lines and keep the sections in sequence.

If you use this method, keep each page measurable. Capture every section at the same zoom level and set every image to the same width in the document. Include a scale bar or a station interval in each capture. Write the station range on each page. After printing, measure a known length and write the resulting scale on the sheet: if a 100-foot station interval measures 0.8 inch, the printed scale is 100 ÷ 0.8 = 125, or 1 inch = 125 feet. Overlap each capture with the next by at least one station label and mark a match line at that station on both pages.

Method 4: Print sections at a custom scale

This method prints one selected area at a time from the PDF viewer. In Acrobat Reader, Adobe’s steps are to choose Edit, then Take A Snapshot, draw a rectangle around the area, choose File, then Print, and click Selected graphic. Adobe notes the selected area can print full size or resized to fit the paper. Fitting to the paper produces an uneven scale, so set a custom scale percentage instead.

NYSDOT’s Roll Plan Guidance describes this procedure with a selected graphic, a chosen paper size, and a custom scale percentage. The roll plots guide summarizes it and its scale arithmetic. Draw each new selection so it overlaps the last one by a known amount, such as one station, and mark the match line at the same station on both sheets.

Worked example: a 192 by 34 inch roll at 1 inch = 40 feet

Example (illustrative): a roll 192 inches long and 34 inches high, drawn at 1 inch = 40 feet, covers 192 × 40 = 7,680 feet of corridor. This example uses a quarter-inch margin on each edge of the paper and a three-quarter-inch strip along the bottom for the title and legend, which leaves a drawing window of 16.5 by 9.75 inches on 11 by 17 paper and 10.5 by 6.75 inches on letter paper. Neighboring sheets overlap by half an inch.

On 11 by 17 at full size, each sheet shows 16.5 × 40 = 660 feet by 9.75 × 40 = 390 feet of ground. With half an inch of overlap, each sheet advances 16 inches along the roll. The first sheet covers 16.5 inches, leaving 192 − 16.5 = 175.5 inches. 175.5 ÷ 16 = 10.97, which rounds up to 11 more sheets, for 12 in total.

At half size, 1 inch = 80 feet, each printed inch shows two inches of roll. The window covers 33 by 19.5 inches of roll, or 1,320 by 780 feet, and each sheet advances 32 inches: (192 − 33) ÷ 32 = 4.97, rounded up to 5, plus the first sheet, is 6 sheets. On letter paper at full size each sheet advances 10 inches: (192 − 10.5) ÷ 10 = 18.15, rounded up to 19, plus 1, is 20 sheets. At 1 inch = 80 feet the letter window covers 21 by 13.5 inches of roll and advances 20 inches: (192 − 21) ÷ 20 = 8.55, rounded up to 9, plus 1, is 10 sheets.

These counts assume a straight alignment that stays within the window’s height. Curves or work spread across the roll’s height need more sheets or rotated sections. To check any of these prints, a 100-foot station interval measures 100 ÷ 40 = 2.5 inches at 1 inch = 40 feet and 100 ÷ 80 = 1.25 inches at 1 inch = 80 feet.

Check the printed sheets

Check the scale on the first sheet before printing the rest. Measure the graphic scale bar or a station interval with a ruler and compare it with the scale you wrote on the sheet. If they disagree, find the cause, such as a fit-to-page setting or a different percentage, and reprint before measuring anything.

Check the overlap. The end of each sheet should repeat the start of the next, and a match line drawn at one station should appear at that same station on both sheets. Check the order: every sheet carries a sheet number and its station range, and the numbers run in station order.

A key sheet makes the set easier to use. Print the whole roll reduced to fit one sheet, draw the outline of each printed section on it, and number the outlines to match the sheets. If you take quantities from the prints, measure each sheet only between its match lines so the overlap is not counted twice.

Limitations of printing a roll plot on small paper

A reduction makes text and line weights smaller. Look at the smallest text you need, such as station labels, inverts, or pay item callouts, on a test print before committing to a reduced scale.

Each sheet shows a window of the roll. Details, tables, and typical sections placed in open space along the roll can fall outside the windows that follow the alignment; print them separately. A scanned or flattened roll prints as the image it contains, at whatever resolution the scan has.

Printed sections are working copies. The roll plan PDF and any addenda that reissue it remain the contract documents, so check that the roll you printed is the current one before measuring from the prints.

Frequently asked questions