School of Engineering · Playlist

Drawings in Design

Where engineering graphics fit in the design process, working drawings and title blocks, and producing drawings from CAD models.

  1. Engineering Graphics in the Design Process
  2. Working Drawings and Title Blocks
  3. Creating Drawings from CAD Models
Engineering Graphics and CAD/Reading Drawings

Engineering Graphics in the Design Process

Use sketches to explore ideas, models to develop geometry, and drawings to communicate a design for making and checking.

Choose a graphic for the question you need to answer; Practice

Choose a graphic for the question you need to answer

Engineering graphics communicate technical ideas and problem solutions. Aim for accuracy, simplicity, and clarity. A graphic succeeds when another person can use it for the intended task.

Ideation sketch
A quick drawing for exploring and comparing ideas. Designers and teammates use it to discuss shape, motion, or arrangement before committing to detailed geometry. Label uncertain sizes and assumptions.
CAD model
A digital description of geometry. Designers use it to develop parts, examine how components fit, and support analysis or manufacturing preparation. A realistic appearance alone does not prove that the design works.
Engineering drawing
Selected views with dimensions, tolerances, and notes. People making, assembling, and inspecting the product use this information to understand what is required. See Working Drawings and Title Blocks.

Choose a graphic for brainstorming

Use testing to send the design back for refinement; Practice

Use testing to send the design back for refinement

Begin with the task and its requirements: what must the design do, and what limits must it satisfy? Sketch alternatives, develop promising geometry, then test it against those requirements. Testing may involve calculations, simulation, a prototype, or a combination.

Design sequence: define the need, sketch alternatives, develop a CAD model and draft drawings, test, refine, then check and release. A return arrow sends refinement back to the model and drawings.

When a test reveals a problem, revise the design and test again. Update the affected graphics so that the model, drawings, and test record describe the same design.

Supporting detail: Addendum 1 — Why the process is a loop.

Choose a graphic for a fit review

Release identifies the information approved for use

Release identifies the information approved for use

Release means approving a defined design state for its intended use through the organization's review process. Before release, check the model, drawing set, and supporting requirements together. A saved file is not automatically an approved file.

A maker needs part requirements; an assembler needs component relationships; an inspector needs criteria for deciding whether the result is acceptable. Match the information to the reader's job. For drawing-based work, use Creating Drawings from CAD Models to prepare the sheets and CAD History, Versions, and Sharing to distinguish an editable design from a preserved milestone.

Supporting detail: Addendum 2 — Does every design require a separate drawing?.

Follow the specified drawing standard and its applicable edition; Practice

Follow the specified drawing standard and its applicable edition

Standards give drawing readers shared rules for interpreting views, lines, dimensions, and symbols. The ASME Y14 series is widely used in US engineering drawing practice; ISO technical drawing standards are widely used internationally. These are not exclusive geographic boundaries. Read the drawing's stated requirements rather than choosing a convention from a country name.

A convention is an accepted way of presenting information. A company may add conventions for sheet layout or numbering, but those choices must remain consistent with the governing requirements. Use the current applicable edition specified for the work; do not silently apply an old classroom example or change an existing drawing's governing edition.

Check units, projection method, and the stated standards before interpreting a drawing. Continue with Orthographic Projection and the Glass Box and Choosing Drawing Views for view interpretation. This overview does not reproduce standard clauses or serve as a compliance checklist.

Check the governing convention

Engineering Graphics and CAD/Reading Drawings

Working Drawings and Title Blocks

Distinguish part and assembly drawings, then use title blocks and revision records to identify the information that applies.

Send the drawing type that answers the reader's job; Practice

Send the drawing type that answers the reader's job

Detail or part drawing
Defines an individual part for making and inspection, using the necessary views, dimensions, tolerances, material information, and notes. A part drawing is not the same thing as an enlarged detail view.
Assembly drawing
Shows how components relate and fit together. It may include item identification, assembly requirements, and overall or interface dimensions. See Exploded Views and Bills of Materials for exploded views, item balloons, and parts lists.
Working-drawing set
The coordinated drawings needed to make and assemble a product: typically assembly drawings and the required part drawings, with supporting lists and notes as needed. A set may span several sheets and drawing numbers.

An assembly view alone usually does not provide every requirement needed to manufacture each component. Confirm that the recipient has the required sheets and revisions.

Choose a drawing for making a part Choose a drawing for assembly

Read identity, units, and scale before reading dimensions; Practice

Read identity, units, and scale before reading dimensions

The title block identifies the drawing and records key information about it. Its layout varies. Read field labels; do not assume a familiar-looking border has familiar settings.

Generic title-block example with separate fields for part name, drawing number, units, sheet scale, revision, and sheet count. Notes explain which question each field answers.

The part name tells you what the item is; the part or drawing number identifies the controlled record. Those numbers may be different. Units tell you how to interpret dimension values. Scale describes the displayed view size relative to the object, not the part's actual size. Check individual view labels for scale overrides, and use stated dimensions rather than measuring a print.

Find the units Interpret sheet scale

Find material, tolerances, and responsibility in the block or notes; Practice

Find material, tolerances, and responsibility in the block or notes

General practice includes fields or notes for material, general tolerances, revision, and drawn/checked information. Some templates also carry dates, approval status, finish requirements, or a projection symbol. A material field may refer to a separate specification; read that reference rather than guessing from the appearance of the model.

A tolerance states the permitted variation from a requirement. Read the scope of the general tolerance note and any specific tolerances at features. Displaying more decimal places is not, by itself, a complete tolerance instruction. See Dimension Anatomy and Placement, Choosing Dimensions, and Hole and Feature Callouts.

Drawn and checked entries record responsibility. They do not replace the organization's approval or release process. Missing or conflicting requirements need clarification before the drawing is used.

Locate a material requirement

Match the revision record to the drawing being used; Checklist; Practice

Match the revision record to the drawing being used

The title block commonly shows the drawing's current revision identifier. A revision block or associated change record explains changes, often with a description, date, and authorization. Exact fields and identifier sequences depend on the organization's system.

A new file date alone does not prove that a drawing is the authorized revision. Match its number and revision to the release record for the job. Related parts may legitimately have different revision identifiers; they must be the approved combination.

  • Match the drawing and part identifiers to the item you need.
  • Confirm the required revision and approval status.
  • Confirm that every referenced sheet, note, and parts list is available.
  • Read change descriptions and inspect affected views and requirements.

Check a revision

Engineering Graphics and CAD/CAD Modeling

Creating Drawings from CAD Models

Set up a sheet, place linked model views, add requirements, and check the drawing after every design change.

Choose the model and sheet settings before placing views

Choose the model and sheet settings before placing views

Start with the intended part or assembly and confirm its configuration or version: the selected design variant or saved design state. A drawing of the wrong variant can look convincing and still describe the wrong product. See CAD Files and Documents and CAD History, Versions, and Sharing.

A drawing template supplies starting settings. A sheet format supplies the border and title-block layout. CAD systems package these differently, so inspect the resulting sheet: size, units, projection method, scale, and dimension style all matter.

Use the workflow below as a sequence of tasks. Interface names vary by product and release; these are generic descriptions rather than menu instructions for SOLIDWORKS or Onshape.

Place a base view, then derive aligned projected views; Practice

Place a base view, then derive aligned projected views

Insert a base view from the model, choosing an orientation that communicates the shape clearly. Create projected views from that parent view, maintaining the required alignment and projection arrangement. Leave room for dimensions and notes.

A rectangular block model supplies a drawing with a front base view, aligned top projected view above, and right projected view beside it in third-angle arrangement. The front and top share width, and front and right share height.

The figure uses third-angle placement only as an example. Follow the drawing's declared projection method. Choose enough views to define the shape; three views are not a requirement for every part. Use Choosing Drawing Views, Section Views, and Auxiliary and Detail Views when ordinary views do not explain a feature clearly.

Choose how to add a related view

Distinguish dimensions that control geometry from dimensions that report it; Practice

Distinguish dimensions that control geometry from dimensions that report it

A driving model dimension controls geometry, such as the length of an extrusion. A dimension created by selecting drawing geometry usually reports that geometry. Changing a displayed label is not a sound way to change the part.

Some CAD workflows import model dimensions into drawings and allow linked edits to affect the model. Check the dimension's type and behavior before editing. Do not assume that all drawing dimensions are editable model controls, or that all are independent annotations.

Select dimensions to communicate manufacturing and inspection requirements, not merely every value used while modeling. Add needed tolerances, material information, and feature notes; CAD does not infer all design requirements from shape. Use Choosing Dimensions and Dimension Anatomy and Placement for the dimensioning method.

Distinguish a dimension from a label

Update linked views and inspect the sheet before release; Checklist; Practice

Update linked views and inspect the sheet before release

Associativity is the connection between a model and the drawing information derived from it. When referenced geometry changes, linked views and dimensions can update to reflect it. Depending on the CAD system, update settings, and referenced version, an explicit update or reference change may be needed.

An update is not a completed review. Deleted or replaced edges can leave dimensions detached from their intended features. Notes can become obsolete. A previously exported PDF stays a snapshot; generate and check a new export after approved changes.

  • Confirm the referenced model, variant, and version, then update or rebuild the drawing as needed.
  • Inspect every affected view for the intended geometry, alignment, and readable line display.
  • Resolve detached dimensions and check that each dimension still refers to the intended feature.
  • Review units, view scales, material, tolerances, and notes for completeness and conflicts.
  • Complete the title block and required revision information; obtain the required review.
  • Export the approved sheets and inspect the actual output for missing views, clipped text, and readability.

See Working Drawings and Title Blocks for identifying the released information.

Supporting detail: Addendum 3 — Find the commands in your CAD version.

Review a model change

Supporting detail

Addendum

Additional evidence, standards context, and background referenced from the main text.

  1. Engineering Graphics and CAD/Reading Drawings/Engineering Graphics in the Design Process

    Addendum 1. Why the process is a loop

    A model can reveal a space conflict that was hard to see in a sketch. A prototype can reveal a behavior that the model did not predict. These findings can send the team back to the geometry or even to the original concept. Sketches remain useful during refinement; drawings can be drafted before the design is final.

    Back to reference 1

  2. Engineering Graphics and CAD/Reading Drawings/Engineering Graphics in the Design Process

    Addendum 2. Does every design require a separate drawing?

    Some workflows communicate requirements through an annotated model and associated data. Others use drawings as the controlling documents. Follow the agreed deliverables and identify which information governs. A plain shaded model does not automatically communicate material, tolerances, or approval status.

    Back to reference 2