Hard to Read Text in Exam Case Study Documents

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Samantha Weinryb

January 31, 2024 00:41

I just took PPD yesterday (I did fail but I was close so I’m not feeling too down about it) and I had a lot of trouble navigating through the Case Study Drawing Documents. Specifically had an extremely hard time seeing the text even when I zoomed very far in and squinted. I wasted a bunch of time just trying to read the text, zooming in then out to move from page to page, zooming back in, and so on. I was also rushed for time which is one of the things I will be practicing. But regardless of that, I was wondering if anyone else had this experience or if it’s just me?

The text was still extremely faint when zoomed in too. The font had no thickness as well. I had to rely on the word search hoping I was looking at the right thing. I felt like the exam was bullying me for not moving fast enough lol. If anyone has tips or tricks on how to deal with this, please share!

Not sure if this amounts to a direct email to NCARB so I thought I’d ask here first.

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  AdaCastellon January 31, 2024 14:29

  Yes I made a post on this and it’s been going on for years! NCARB refuses to provide crisp and clear PDFs. For almost $300 a test, they should provide legible plans.

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  Dana Parker March 05, 2024 02:00

  Yes. I've had the same issue. I thought maybe it was an age thing. So I decided next time I'll take my reading glasses.

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  Samantha Weinryb March 05, 2024 03:24

  Yeah my strategy for when I took PDD was to do the Case Studies first when my eye aren’t tired. The text was still annoyingly hard to read but I wasn’t frustrated about it. That seemed to be the winning method as I did luckily pass that test (it was my 3rd attempt.)

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  KirkyAng April 17, 2025 00:00 (Edited April 17, 2025 00:01)

  This is still a problem! Just took the PPD and I couldn't answer the last few questions in the case study because I literally couldn't see the room names and numbers to be able to answer.  I zoomed in, but the pdf window didn't have a horizontal scroll bar...so zooming in so far just shot half the plan out of view.  To top it off, the entire plan had different thick hatch patterns covering everything.  This isn't right.  I wasted so much time, just to have to give up.  I'm honestly glad I didn't waste time at the beginning of the test doing the case studies now...since I was never going to get those last questions anyway. It was very defeating.  Wonder if your allowed to use a magnifying glass?! :)  Asking for an old friend

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