I just finished building MS using the downloadable instructions from Lego on my ipad.  It was very hard to for me to differentiate some of the elements, colors, and placement, especially the black roof slopes.  I am going to do the CC next and would like to use printed instructions, but I am not paying $250 for them.  I tried using the Staples Laser printing service for just the parts list and it still has poor clarity.

 

Any tips on where to find a better file and/or how to print them in a higher resolution?

Try this

 

4513878.pdf  1 of 2

4513879.pdf  2 of 2

You're fighting a losing battle to some extent. It seems in the interest of file size that Lego has a pretty poor resolution in their PDFs - and the rule of thumb is if it looks crappy on the screen, it'll look worse printed.

 

I would suggest two things:

 

1) Try on a laptop or computer screen to see if adjusting the contrast and/or brightness make it easier to differentiate the parts.

2) Try printing two pages per (in portrait) to see if smaller is better.... Make sure you get non-glossy paper too.

 

Otherwise, if you have trouble on a particular page, I've got the real instructions (as I bet a lot of others do) and could help out! I don't charge a $5 fee like hxckid88 either.

You're fighting a losing battle to some extent. It seems in the interest of file size that Lego has a pretty poor resolution in their PDFs

The wrong colors should have nothing to do with the file size. I have no idea why all (?) instructions downloadable by Lego have some colors so much off, but that cannot be the reason.

The wrong colors should have nothing to do with the file size. I have no idea why all (?) instructions downloadable by Lego have some colors so much off, but that cannot be the reason.

I would guess they don't want people making copies and selling them.  With a little thought, I imagine they could still offer a great set of digital instructions and protect their IP.  It's probably just easier to put up a bad PDF.

The wrong colors should have nothing to do with the file size. I have no idea why all (?) instructions downloadable by Lego have some colors so much off, but that cannot be the reason.

I wasn't so much responding to colors exactly but more so why the print was bad and why it's hard to see where one brick starts and one ends. When you use a compression method such as JPEG, as you adjust for size, quality goes down. When quality goes down, the rendered picture becomes more of an approximation of the original which means shiny textures on the bricks and thin black lines between them become blurred.

When you lose those small details, bricks of similar color are hard to differentiate.

The lack of basic color difference isn't restricted to the PDFs. Sometimes real instructions don't make a huge distinction between black and dark bley either, but they are in high res so you can usually make them out.

My contrast/brightness suggestion may make it easier to see. Only having the real printed or the original high-res PDF (which Lego isn't giving us) would solve his problem in the best way.

I would guess they don't want people making copies and selling them.  With a little thought, I imagine they could still offer a great set of digital instructions and protect their IP.  It's probably just easier to put up a bad PDF.

I imagine there is that plus the image compression used for the pictures in the PDF files helping to keep the document small is not so good causing certain colors difficult to discern.

looks like the links I sent from Brickset don't look any better. It amazes me that LEGO can't put out better looking instructions than that. The "instructions" should be vector based which would result in a smaller file size. It's the shots of the model (raster images) that make the file size large.

 

I think the best bet would be what gregpj suggested.

looks like the links I sent from Brickset don't look any better. It amazes me that LEGO can't put out better looking instructions than that. The "instructions" should be vector based which would result in a smaller file size. It's the shots of the model (raster images) that make the file size large.

 

I think the best bet would be what gregpj suggested.

 

The problem with providing vector based files is that all the knockoff brands could easily grab them, make a few tweaks (a piece here or there, a small color switcheroo) and pass them off as their own. Doing that to a poor quality PDF is a painful task - you'd basically have to recreate almost the entire book at which point you have your own high-res fake to pass off.

 

Still, it would be nice.

Does anyone know if the scans on brickfactory are the same as the lego PDFs or different?

Does anyone know if the scans on brickfactory are the same as the lego PDFs or different?

They are sourcing images from their own web page. For example, here is page 1 of the VW Mini.

 

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As a comparison, I would say the image quality is worse though. They are just screen grabs of the original PDFs at 53% size.

looks like the same crappy resolution

looks like the same crappy resolution

 

I think they're worse because you can't bring the images to 100%. You get a lot of artifacts at 53% zoom on straight lines.

I think LEGO can partner up with Prime or Nook and release high resolution instruction online on subscription / pay per view basis.  These instruction manuals should be contained within the app and cannot be downloaded or printed.

 

Those pdf files are just horrible

What's strange is how I can recall downloading a couple of Creator instructions from Lego's site such as Blue Roadster and the quality was very good (may have used some vectoring even) but then go for a more recent PDF and quality is almost pukeable.

Try http://letsbuilditagain.com . They don't have every set, but the ones they have are scans of the actual books. Sometimes it's easier, sometimes not so much.

 

Otherwise, if you have trouble on a particular page, I've got the real instructions (as I bet a lot of others do) and could help out! I don't charge a $5 fee like hxckid88 either.

 

I may have found a new buisness for you, Instruction Rental.  The cost could be based on the rarity say $25/week for the CC with a security deposit.  You ship them out with a pre paid return envelope.  Kind of like the old NetFlix.

 

Try http://letsbuilditagain.com . They don't have every set, but the ones they have are scans of the actual books. Sometimes it's easier, sometimes not so much.

 

Thanks I will have to try this at home work blocks it.

I may have found a new buisness for you, Instruction Rental.  The cost could be based on the rarity say $25/week for the CC with a security deposit.  You ship them out with a pre paid return envelope.  Kind of like the old NetFlix.

 

 

 

Unless you bind them like the library books, the wear and tear will eat that business model for breakfast and lunch