Blueprint books vs Shared blueprints

[SilentLight]

Pretend you have no interest in sharing blueprints. My question revolves around blueprint books and the "shared" blueprints. I read the blueprints wiki but it didn't quite seem to answer my question:

I can copy my own blueprints into my shared blueprints then delete the blueprint out of my inventory, no blueprint book required. I'm curious what I might be missing:

Searching: Blueprint books: cannot search them like you can in shared blueprints. You instead have to create a new blueprint book for each category to simulate "searching".
Hotkey: the B key opens up shared blueprints much faster than opening inventory and finding the current location of my blueprint book, let alone the "right" blueprint book that has what I need.
Inventory: the shared blueprints does not take any inventory space. The blueprint book, especially if i make one per category, takes up inventory space.

So it seems to me copying my blueprints into the "shared blueprint" area, then deleting the blueprint from my inventory, is much better (?) because it takes no inventory space, I can search instead of using different blueprint books (using a smart naming keyword strategy), and I can even bring it up faster using B hotkey.

Am I missing something? Is there a reason blueprint books are better than using the shared blueprint area? Am I in danger of "losing" blueprints?

Sorry if I'm lacking knowledge on the topic. Thank you in advance for any feedback and info.

[5thHorseman]

Blueprints are in a weird spot right now. They used to be items that you crafted and there was no blueprint library. They were - to the game - similar to any other item like assemblers. Then, they added the blueprint library but kept the items for some reason. For 0.18 and the eventual 1.0, they're going to do something to them and I hope that that something is to eliminate the last vestiges of the blueprints being items at all (but I don't know this. They haven't said specifically what their plans are, at least to my knowledge)

I personally almost never put blueprints or books in my inventory. The blueprint libraries are where all my blueprints are and I keep them all in books. Whenever I want a blueprint, I hit B, select the book, and go to down. Then when I switch away from the book it just goes away, back to the shared library.

I've never lost a blueprint to anything but stupidity. I've heard that downgrading Factorio versions can do it, and it's always a good practice to make backups. I export strings of all my books once I have them made, and whenever I change them. I just have never had cause to use them.

[Koub]

The blueprint library GUI is quirky, misleading, and I have already deleted (several) books without being able to recover them just trying to remove a blueprint from that book.

There are several threads in the suggestions subforum requesting a rework of the blueprint library's GUI. I have hope this will happen : the devs said in previous FFF that it was planned, hope it doesn't get dropped along the line. I really hope their decision is in the direction of divorcing completely from the "a blueprint is a craftable item" era, and totally separate the blueprint library from the the inventory, allowing to manage from the inventory only links to the blueprint library.

[planetmaker]

The blueprint library GUI is quirky, misleading, and I have already deleted (several) books without being able to recover them just trying to remove a blueprint from that book.

There are several threads in the suggestions subforum requesting a rework of the blueprint library's GUI. I have hope this will happen : the devs said in previous FFF that it was planned, hope it doesn't get dropped along the line. I really hope their decision is in the direction of divorcing completely from the "a blueprint is a craftable item" era, and totally separate the blueprint library from the the inventory, allowing to manage from the inventory only links to the blueprint library.

+1 on all of that. Been there, done all of that from the first paragraph, too

[BlueTemplar]

5thHorseman, you don't keep custom deconstruction planners in your inventory (and link them to your quickbar) ?
Or can we "share" redprints too now ?

I'm using at least 2 : one that only works on mines, and another that only works (or only doesn't) on live trees, dry trees and rocks.

[planetmaker]

5thHorseman, you don't keep custom deconstruction planners in your inventory (and link them to your quickbar) ?
Or can we "share" redprints too now ?

I'm using at least 2 : one that only works on mines, and another that only works (or only doesn't) on live trees, dry trees and rocks.

Actually I do. But I very much would prefer them being integrated with blueprint library. Same idea goes for upgrade planners. That could result for instance in a blueprint book for a mall to come with one or two appropriate upgrade planners to upgrade it to the next level.

[netmand]

You're not wrong in that it's easy enough to just use the blueprints right out of the shared area so it doesn't impact your inventory. However, I keep a book in my inventory so I can hotkey a collection of blueprints I use often. Because of this and copy-paste, I rarely go to the shared area.

Also, I like to think that most of my blueprints in the shared area are there just for posterity-sake. My blue-printable designs still morph as the game changes and I improve the design or start playing a different way.

[EnerJi]

The blueprint library GUI is quirky, misleading, and I have already deleted (several) books without being able to recover them just trying to remove a blueprint from that book.

There are several threads in the suggestions subforum requesting a rework of the blueprint library's GUI. I have hope this will happen : the devs said in previous FFF that it was planned, hope it doesn't get dropped along the line. I really hope their decision is in the direction of divorcing completely from the "a blueprint is a craftable item" era, and totally separate the blueprint library from the the inventory, allowing to manage from the inventory only links to the blueprint library.

I completely agree with this! I'm still on 0.17 stable and the blueprints interface is maddening. I've been only loosely following the 0.18 updates and I see that some blueprint improvements have landed, but do you feel like this situation has been adequately addressed so far?

[T-A-R]

Shared blueprints are saved per map only, Blueprints in you library are taken to other games. In multiplayer shared is used for sharing, like standardized layouts of rail/walls/smelters etc.

In single player "shared bp's" can be used as a quick acces bar, with links to common used blueprints (pole grid, mining patch etc). Once you added them to shared, there is no more need to keep them in your inventory (or look them up from your books in your library). But if you care about a blueprint which you want to take to another game; save it in your personal library (in books for sanity).
Currently your personal library is public in multiplayer (cool feature btw).

It never hurts to copy the file blueprint.storage.dat (along with save games) as a backup file.