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CVNG 1009 ENGINEERING GRAPHICS L7

1.
Paper Size
Common conventions for paper size are the ISO (ie. sizes A0, A1, etc), the American National
Standards Institute, ANSI (i.e. sizes A, B, C, etc) and the American architectural (i.e. Arch A, B,
etc). The significance of the paper size will become more apparent when CAD is discussed.

ISO Paper Sizes (credit User.Bromskloss)

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ANSI Paper Sizes (credit User.Nakamura2828)

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Arch Paper Sizes (credit Schmidt455)

2.
Note that for the ISO paper sizes, the aspect ratio (i.e. ratio of the lengths of the sides) is always
√2 or 1.414. For the ANSI paper, as it is based on the letter size paper, the aspect ratio
alternates between 1.2941 and 1.5455 and back to 1.2941 as you alternate from sizes A to B to
C, etc. The Arch series have aspect ratios that alternate between 3:4 and 2:3. Also, notice that
for the ISO, ANSI and Arch series, the lower size can be obtained merely by folding the higher
size.

3.
ISO sheets are typically used as follows:-

SHEET USE
A0 Arrangement drawings (plans,
elevations)
A1 Details
A3 Sketches
A4 Sketches
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4.
Lettering
No particular style of lettering is recommended. For freehand lettering, faint guide lines should
be used and not erased. The following letter sizes are recommended.

SIZE (I.E. HEIGHT) USE

2.5mm Notes
3.2mm Special notes
6.3mm Titles

Only drawing titles should be underlined, unless where special emphasis is required.

The art of printing should be adopted and is described as follows.

- Use a triangle to guide vertical strokes of letters. Place the triangle on the left side
of the pencil and along the bottom edge of the T-square (for right-handers).
- Give horizontal strokes of letters a slight upward angle.
- Make vertical strokes lighter than horizontal.

EXAMPLE OF PRINTING (credit: Triton College Drafting Standards Manual 2005)

5.
Title Block
A “Title Block” is required on each drawing. It is a rectangular portion of the sheet reserved for
stating the name of the project, the name of the drawing, the name and address of the
company, etc. All the sheets for a project should have their title blocks at the same location on
each sheet. This gives a neat and professional look hence the impression of a well-organized
and thorough presentation. There is some flexibility on the design of a title block so this is an
area that companies use for individual expression.

EXAMPLE OF A TITLE BLOCK

6.
Scales
Considering the Metric Scale, a scale is written as, for example: 1:100, 1:2, etc. These are ratios
and do not represent any particular units. The former means that 1 unit of linear measurement
on the scale represents 100 units on the actual object. When using the metric system it is
common to use units of millimeters and meters. The draftsman must also state the units used
when the scale is stated on a drawing.
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7.
A triangular scale ruler is a common draftsman’s tool. Each face accommodates 2 scales so
such scale rulers are called paired scales. Typical paired scales on a triangular scale ruler are:

• 1:1/1:100
• 1:2/1:20
• 1:5/1:50
• 1:20/1:200
• 1:500/1:1000
• 1:1250/1:2500

Of course, a smaller scale enables more detailed information to be drawn. Typical uses for
some of the scales are as follows, though for economy, since it is preferable that as much of the
paper is used as possible, there can be significant variation.

SCALE USE
1:50 Floor plans
1:25 Details
1:200 Site plans
1:100 Site plans

8.
Line types
A “line type” refers to a particular way a line is drawn using spaces between, or repeating
strokes of short and long lines. Each pattern has a particular meaning. Common line types and
their uses are as follows.

• visible – are continuous lines used to depict edges of an object directly visible from a
particular angle.
• hidden – are short-dashed lines that may be used to represent edges that are not directly
visible.
• center – are alternately long- and short-dashed lines that may be used to represent the axes
of an object.
• cutting plane – are thin, medium-dashed lines, or thick alternately long- and double short-
dashed that may be used to define sections for section views.
• section – are thin lines in a pattern (pattern determined by the material being "cut" or
"sectioned") used to indicate surfaces in section views resulting from "cutting." Section lines
are commonly referred to as "cross-hatching."
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9.
Examples of line types are:

Common Line types (credit: BAxlerod)

10.
Line Weights
As shown in the above examples of line types, each line has a particular relative thickness or
width compared with the other lines. When drawing with lead pencils, different types of pencil
can be used to get lighter or darker lines. H is darker than 2H which is darker than 3H, etc. The
entire range is shown below.

To get thicker lines with a lead pencil, you “chamfer” the point of the pencil. This is done by
using a razor blade and shaving the point of the pencil at an angle.

When drawing with technical pens, they are available in widths measured in mm. Frequently
used sizes are: 0.13, 0.18, 0.25, 0.35, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0mm.

11,
Dimensioning
Dimension lines are used to indicate the dimensions of an object. An example of a linear
dimension line is as shown in the list of line types above. The two short vertical lines are called
the “extensions” and the line with the arrows is called the dimension line. Sometimes the
numerical value of the dimension is not placed as shown, but rather above the dimension line.
Linear dimension lines can also be vertical.
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12.
Abbreviations
Some of the most commonly used abbreviations are as follows.

DESCRIPTION ABBREVIATION ON DRAWING

Overall length O’ALL
Unless otherwise stated UOS
DIA or 
Diameter
Long LG
Radius r or RAD
Vertical VERT
Mark MK
Dimension DIM
Near side, far side N SIDE F SIDE
Opposite hand OPP HAND
Center to center C/C
Horizontal HORIZ
Not to scale NTS
Typical TYP
Nominal NOM
Floor level FL
Section A-A A-A
Each face EF
Each way EW
Top and bottom TB

13.
Other Best Practices
• Plan views must have north arrows
• Every drawing on a drawing sheet must have the name of the drawing and scale
centered under the drawing
• Every set of drawings must have a Title Sheet comprised of:
o Name and address of project
o General Notes
o Revisions
o Index of drawings
o Material symbols
o Legend of symbols
o Abbreviations