Drafting is a type of drawing that most people have only a small degree of familiarity with. While anyone who can lift a pencil can sketch out something, drafting is a far more exact science. When you draft, your intention is to make an object exacting and understandable from several different views. Upon viewing a well drafted object, an individual can theoretically construct a physical model of the object from the drawings themselves. This is crucial to the design of almost anything. The principles of drafting are not particularly complicated, but they are extremely useful.

The Basic Views

There are six basic views of any object, including the front, back, left, right sides as well as the top down view and the bottom up view. From these different drawings, a builder or craftsperson can then make the object real. The goal of the draftsperson is not to merely sketch out the design, which is loose and expresses only the gist of the object to be crafted. The draftsman's goal is to be as exacting as humanly possible. Every angle of the object is of equal importance to the finished product. Even if two views seem to be identical to one another, one may not take this similarity as meaning that one view is less important than any of the others.

Keeping Things in Perspective

Perspective is an essential component of drafting. When you draft an object, you aim to draw it from the position of dead center. Far too often, a novice draftsman will accidentally draw the object from an off center angle and throw off the design. The asymmetry of an off center design can be devastating to a finished product if the drawing is followed literally - which is how it should be followed. Any mistakes in the drafting phase will be extremely evident in the finished product, so exactitude is crucial.

The Ultimate Goal

The ultimate goal of drafting is to achieve a perfect schematic of a physical object that either currently exists or will subsequently exist. When you draft the six views and keep your perspective flawless, this allows a properly crafted object to be built according to the specifications in your drawings. When a design is very specific, such as in the automotive or aerospace industries, there is no room for chance and guessing. The goal is perfection of the design and perfect similarity between the design and the execution of same.