Blueprint vs. Prototype

Main Difference

The main difference between Blueprint and Prototype is that the Blueprint is a document reproduction produced by using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets and Prototype is a early sample or model built to test a concept or process

• Blueprint

  A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number of copies. It was widely used for over a century for the reproduction of specification drawings used in construction and industry. The blueprint process was characterized by white lines on a blue background, a negative of the original. The process was not able to reproduce color or shades of grey.

  The process is now obsolete. It was first largely displaced by the diazo whiteprint process, and later by large-format xerographic photocopiers.

  The term blueprint continues to be used less formally to refer to any floor plan (and even less formally, any type of plan). Practicing engineers, architects, and drafters just call them “drawings” or “prints”.

• Prototype

  A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.A prototype can also mean a typical example of something such as in the use of the derivation ‘prototypical’. This is a useful term in identifying objects, behaviours and concepts which are considered the accepted norm and is analogous with terms such as stereotypes and archetypes.

  The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον prototypon, “primitive form”, neutral of πρωτότυπος prototypos, “original, primitive”, from πρῶτος protos, “first” and τύπος typos, “impression”.