A4 Printing for MOC Instructions: Settings and Costs
The short answer: printing MOC instructions on A4 is perfectly workable. Print at 100% scale, use paper of 80gsm or heavier, and default to double-sided black and white. A 2,000-piece model comes to roughly 25-30 pages for under 10 yuan, and the clarity is more than enough to build from. Only instructions for models above 5,000 pieces really need A3.
A4 vs A3: Which Format Do You Actually Need?
A4 (210x297mm) suits small and mid-size MOCs of up to 2,000 pieces. It is easy to print and cheap. A3 has twice the area of A4 and suits instructions for models above 5,000 pieces, where a single page holds a lot of parts and the steps get dense.
When you print a small model on A4, it pays to merge two source pages onto each sheet: the parts diagram takes one half, the step diagram the other. That saves about 40% of the paper compared with one page per sheet, and the two halves stay on the same sheet when you are working through a step.
Print Settings That Matter
- Scale: lock it at 100%. Do not tick the fit-to-page option, which rescales the artwork and distorts part proportions, so a 2x4 brick no longer measures what it should.
- Colour: black and white is enough for line-art instructions. Switch to colour only for the pages where part colours are genuinely hard to tell apart.
- Paper: ordinary 80gsm printer paper is fine. Instructions are not folded back and forth repeatedly, so there is no need for coated or heavier stock.
- Binding: a staple in the top-left corner or a ring binder works best. Both let the pages lie flat on the table next to the model instead of curling shut.
How to Cut Printing Costs
- Print double-sided. It immediately halves the amount of paper you pay for.
- Know the going rate. Black and white runs about 0.2 yuan per page and colour about 1 yuan per page. A 30-page set therefore costs roughly 3-6 yuan in black and white double-sided, against 15-30 yuan in colour.
- Batch your jobs. When you print several sets of instructions at once, use the same shop. It works out cheaper per page and you can usually ask for free binding at the same time.
Using Printed Instructions at the Build Table
- Before printing, download the digital version from brickplan.cn and check the page count so you do not print the wrong version.
- Clip the page you are currently working from to the edge of the baseplate with a magnet clip. That is far handier than holding it in your hand while you build.
- Paper wrinkles easily once it gets wet, so keep drinks off the building table.
FAQ
Q: Are A4 prints of MOC instructions clear enough? A: Yes. Printed at 100% scale, both the lines and the part numbers stay readable for anything up to 2,000 pieces. Only pages from large models with an unusually dense part count need enlarging or a move to A3.
Q: Should I print MOC instructions in colour or black and white? A: Go black and white first. Most instructions distinguish parts through numbers and line work, so monochrome is entirely sufficient and costs about one fifth of colour. If a particular page uses colours that are easy to confuse, print just those pages in colour.
Q: What if the printed pages are too small to read? A: Enlarge the single page to 150% and split it across two sheets, or switch to A3 paper. You can also read the digital version on a tablet first and print only the step pages you need to keep referring back to.
Q: Where is the cheapest place to print MOC instructions? A: Print shops near schools or office buildings charge around 0.2 yuan per page for black and white double-sided. Online print shops are cheaper still at volume and will bind the pages into a booklet, so a 30-page set generally lands under 10 yuan in total.
Q: Can A4 handle instructions for a 5,000-piece model? A: It can, but it is not recommended. The page count climbs past 50, and constant page turning gets in the way of building. For anything above 5,000 pieces, print on A3 or read the digital version on a tablet, which is simply more efficient.