Subject: Technical Illustration FAQ (v 1.0.6)
Supersedes: <graphics/Techill-FAQ_824820341@rtfm.mit.edu>
Date: 21 Mar 1996 14:38:37 GMT
Summary: Technical Illustration Frequently Asked Questions.
X-Last-Updated: 1996/02/08

Posting-Frequency: monthly
Version: 1.0.6

TECHnical ILLustration Frequently Asked Questions
---------
<richard@rfitech.com>

Please forward any comments, suggestions, additional information and so
forth, I will endeavour to include them in future versions of this
continously updated FAQ.
More FEEDBACK equals more USEFUL!

---------
SECTIONS:

1.      Where to get this FAQ.

2.      What, Why, Where?

3.      Programs for technical illustration

4.      File formats

5.      Internet related information, other useful resources

6.      Disclaimer and Credits



-----------
~ SECTION 1.
This latest version of this FAQ may be retrieved from the following sites:

The Technical Illustration Web Site at:
        http://splatter.uplex.net/~mdf/techill/

The RFI web site:
        http://www.rfitech.com/index.html

By email request from myself at:
        richard@rfitech.com

By subscribing to the Technical Illustrators Mailing List:
        techill-request@uplex.net

The central FAQ site:
        ftp to rtfm.mit.edu as
        /pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/Techill-FAQ

The following newsgroups:
        comp.graphics.misc,comp.answers,news.answers

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~ SECTION 2.
Q.      What programs should I use for technical illustration?
A.      Check out Section 3 below, for suggestions.

Q.      Should I use a Mac or an ibmPC or?
A.      People have been debating this one for a decade or more.  Without
wishing to start a flame on the subject; if the people you deal with use
imbPC's, get one, if they use Mac's, get one.  If you can afford it, get
both and experiment!  (I use a PowerMac with a DosCard in it for
beta-testing and variety!)
You might find youself running on a Sparc or something else I know nothing
about, please inform this FAQ if we can usefully add something on the
subject.  Having said that, this FAQ is aimed more at the individual than
the industrial giant.

Q.      I'm told computers can't do 'Thick & thin'?
A.      This is like saying, "Cars can't do more than 30-miles/per/hour",
these days they can!  Each program will have it's own way of doing it,
RTFM, experiment.
Further, in Illustrator, for example, a satisfactory method is to take an
object with a fill, and 'paste behind' the same object with a line weight
twice the width you require.  So where you need a 2pt line, give the
rearmost object a 4pt line.  (Try it). This is also a good way of
'outlining' letters, the true character of the frontmost letter is then
retained.  An additional advantage to using 'filled' objects in certain
programs, is that it is easier to 'colour' them later, than if you only
have 'unfilled' lines everywhere.
IsoDraw, with a different approach, now has a command to switch the line
weight from one side to the other.

Q.      I'm told computers can't do 'perspective'?
A.      Similar to above quote, they can do perspective "IN SPADES".
Adjustable perspective, turn on, turn off, fly-throughs...  Technical
shapes can be drawn with no foreshortening, perhaps using 'x' & 'y' & 'z',
or 'plan' & 'elevation' & 'rear' views, then adding appropriate, mild,
perspective later.

Q.      What is a typical 'drawing standard' on a computer in the US or UK
or elsewhere?
A.      Inking 'on the board', usually requires a 0.25mm or 0.3mm pen
alongside between 0.5mm & 0.7mm for the heavier line weight.  This is
equivalent on the computer to between 0.35pt & 0.5pt for thin, with between
1.0pt & 2.0pt for thick.  There may be a 'house-style' which will dictate
the actual line weights used.
Otherwise the following is a reasonable middle-ground to tread: Thin =
0.5pt, Thick = 1.0pt, Annotation lines = 0.7pt

Q.      How do I 'thicken up' a colour rendering?
A.      Generally colour illustrations do not use edge shadings as used in
traditional black & white illustrating.  The colour and shade is enough to
form the shape and 'feel' of depth.

Q.      Computers are cheating surely?
A.      That's what they said about photography back in the 1840's, "Art is
dead!" Probably what those old guys with brushes and ink said about
technical pens and ellipse guides!

Q.      How on earth do I draw with a mouse?
A.      Don't! (another area of debate)  ;-)
Seriously, there are 3 prime methods of digitising by hand; mouse, puck,
and pen.  The good ol' MOUSE has it's limitations but if you get an
ergonomical (hand-shaped) one, it will be quite sufficient.  The PUCK is
more accurate with a cross-hair on a magnifying glass and particularly
suited to tracing and plotting.  The PEN, usually pressure sensitive, has a
more natural feel and is probably less likely to promote RSI.

Q.      What is RSI?
A.      Repetitive Stress Injury. Incurred by (in this case) computer usage
with too much keyboard and mouse operation and unsupported wrists.  I wear
a fingerless glove to keep the wrist warm, and give a soft contact with the
desk area.  Try it before you dismiss it giggling, you may look stupid, but
your hand may last longer!
See also "RSI Newsletter", contact Caroline Rose (crose@applelink.apple.com)

Q.      Why are my straight lines jagged when printed?
A.      Sometimes the lines on the screen look straight until printed.
This is because the screen resolution is 72dpi (dots per inch), which is
quite coarse and the screen is incapable of showing the detail, so it
approximates the line.  Usually there are constraining key/s in a program
to ensure the cursor is 'snapped-to' a grid, to ensure they are 'true'.
Also your printer might not have the resolution to print fine lines.
300dpi is a minimum, 600dpi is usually OK, imagesetters at 2400dpi are of
course, the best.

Q.      How do I set the transparency bit on my web page?
Q.      How do upload my illustrations to the 'net?
Q.      How ... ?
A.      These and all other Internet related questions can be answered by
ferreting about in the appropriate FAQ, or asking in  a pertinent
newsgroup, see section 5 below.


-----------
~ SECTION 3.
There are several different 'types' of program used for technical
illustration, which you use will depend on how you are going to construct
your drawings.  2D, 3D, CAD:

2D:  Illustrator and Freehand type programs are 2-dimensional, they can be
treated a bit like the 'inking' of a traditional pencil drawing, and are
responsible for much of the technical illustration done on the computer to
date.

3D:  A program typically working with a 'wireframe' or block shapes to
construct a 'working model'.  Dimensions can produce a 3D framework and
simple renderings which may be manipulated further in the 2D programs
above.  You might for example produce a basic shape, export it and add
colour or 'thick & thin' techniques.  Complex rendering within Dimensions
alone can produce unwieldy (big) files.
Form-Z is an example of several programs which can 'draw anything', from a
simple unfolding box, to a complex organic shape, and then animate it in
fully rendered 'spectacucolour'.  Several CD-rom games (eg: Journeyman
Project) have been drawn in  Form-Z.
IsoDraw is a program designed specifically to replace the board, and will
tend to be more familiar for traditionally trained illustrators, who may be
unused to the 3D modelling world or 'virtual-reality' style programs.

CAD:  For example: AutoCad & MicroStation, the 'big boys', are designed for
2D drafting and producing blue-prints.  These are now able to automatically
generate complete 3D perspective and rendered views of the objects, based
purely on the CAD drawings.  There is a full range of CAD programs from
these 'high-end' to simpler pixel based versions, the latter working purely
in 2D.

These applications will NOT replace illustrators until companies are
prepared to pay engineers, (rather than illustrators), to 'visualise' the
item 'in-situ', and in colour with appropriate cutaways, and so on.  Even
though different skill bases are bound to overlap, engineers or draughtsmen
are _not_ graphic designers, or technical illustrators.

The following are programs that might be used for technical illustration.
Program name with current version number in brackets; company; typical
usage; typical output file formats.

APPLE MACINTOSH:
AUTOCAD* (v11) from AutoDesk; 2D drafting & 3D modeling; DXF & DWG.
DIMENSIONS* (v2) from Adobe Systems; 3d Graphics; Illustrator & Freehand.
FORM-Z (v2.7) from Alt-Sys-Desk; 3D modelling/rendering; DXF & EPS.
FREEHAND (v5) from Macromedia; 2D illustration; EPS
ILLUSTRATOR (v6.0) from Adobe Systems; 2D illustration; EPS & PDF & TIFF
ISODRAW 3.0 from ITEDO; 3D Illustration; EPS & CGM
MICROSTATION (v5.5) from Bentley; 2D drafting & 3D modelling; DXF & EPS &
DWG & DGN & CGM & IGES
PHOTOSHOP (v3) from Adobe Systems; Image manipulation; EPS & TIFF & GIF &
PICT & JPEG etc. (most formats)


IBM/PC COMPATIBLE:
AUTOCAD* (v13) from AutoDesk; 2D drafting & 3D modeling; DXF & DWG
CORELDRAW (v4.0) from Corel; 2D illustration; EPS & TIFF
FREEHAND (v3.1,) from Macromedia; 2D illustration; EPS
ILLUSTRATOR v(5.0) from Adobe Systems; 2D illustration; EPS & PDF
MICROSTATION (v5.0) from Bentley; 2D drafting & 3D modelling; DXF & EPS &
DWG & DGN & CGM & IGES
PHOTOSHOP (v3) from Adobe Systems; Image manipulation; EPS & TIFF & GIF &
PICT & JPEG etc. (most formats)

OTHER PLATFORMS:
Catia (v4) from Dassault (fr); 2D drafting/3D modelling; IBM6000
MicroStation (v5.0) from Bentley; 2D drafting & 3D modelling; DXF & EPS &
DWG & DGN & CGM & IGES; IBM/RS 6000, Sparc, SGI

Further 3D drawing programs (Mac/PC):
3DStudio
Infini-D
RenderCadPro
StrataStudioPro
Truespace
Vision3D
Mechanisto

Further 2D drawing programs (Mac/PC):
Clay
DanCad
CadKey
TurboCad
GammaCad*
BluePrint
MiniCad
Tk316e

Of the above program, those marked with an asterisk (*), have a review
uploaded on the Technical Illustration Web Site;
        http://splatter.uplex.net/~mdf/techill/index.htm

-----------
~ SECTION 4
Typical file formats:
(For an extensive explanation of image file formats see the FAQ available
from the comp.graphics.misc newsgroup and from rtfm.mit.edu as
/pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/fileformats-faq)

.CGM = Computer Graphics Metafile, vector/bitmap

.DWG = AutoCad DraWinG file, vector/bitmap

.DXF = Digital eXchange Format, vector

.EPS = Encapsulated Postscript, vector

.GIF = Graphics Interchange Format, bitmap

.IGES = International Graphics Exchange System, vector/bitmap

.JPG = Joint Photographic Group format, bitmap

.PDF = Portable Document Format, bitmap

.PICT = Macintosh PICTure file, bitmap

.TIFF = Tagged Image File Format, vector/bitmap


-----------
~ SECTION 5
Related newsgroups and mailing lists, web sites etc.

MAILING LISTS:
Technical Illustrators List; send an email message to Mark Foster,
(techill-request@uplex.net) and type "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line, leave
all other lines blank.

Technical Writers List; send an email message to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU, don't put anything in the subject field, put
"SUB TECHWR-L _firstname _lastname" in the body field.  ie; SUB TECHWR-L
John Smith


NEWSGROUPS:

        alt.cad
        alt.industry
        alt.sys.intergraph
        bit.listerv.techwr-l
        comp.cad.i-deas
        comp.cad.microstation
        comp.graphics.apps.freehand
        comp.graphics.apps.photoshop
        comp.graphics.apps.pagemaker
        comp.graphics.misc
        comp.graphics.rendering
        comp.graphics.visualisation
        comp.sys.mac.graphics
        comp.prepress.electronic
        comp.publish.electronic.end-user
        comp.publish.prepress
        news.answers


WORLD WIDE WEB SITES:
        The Technical Illustrators Resource Page;
        http://splatter.uplex.net/~mdf/techill/index.htm

        Technical communicators resource site;
        http://www.rpi.edu/~perezc2/tc/

        The International Society for Technical Illustrators
        http://www.epic-isti.com/epic

        Technical Communicators site;
        http://www.in.net/~smschill/techcomm.html

        3D ray-traced site;
        http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/users/bsteuer/

        A useful Graphics page;
        http://www.best.com/~bryanw

        DTP tips & tricks;
        http://www.winternet.com/~jmg/GetInfo.html

        CAD related web site listings
        http://www.webcom.com/~imt/other.html


FAQ's, (Frequently Asked Questions):
        TechIllFAQ;http://splatter.uplex.net/~mdf/techill/index.htm
        TechWrFAQ; http://www.best.com/~miket/TECHWR.FAQ.html
        Usenet FAQ's (central site); ftp to: rtfm.mit.edu
        Scanning FAQ; http://www.dopig.uab.edu/dopigpages/FAQ/the-scan-FAQ.html
        Computer Graphics Journals; email kouhia@ftp.funet.fi
        WWW info FAQ; http://www.boutell.com/faq/
        Comp.Graphics FAQ, ftp from;
rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/grahics/faq
        Graphic File Formats FAQ; by ftp at rtfm.mit.edu
/pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/fileformats-faq

For a really good place to start with Internet info try looking at "The
Internet and Computer-Mediated Communication" authored by John December
(decemj@rpi.edu), ftp to "ftp.rpi.edu".

~ SECTION 6
This FAQ is the product of it's lack elsewhere coupled with a percieved
need.  Thanks in particular to Mark Foster <mdf@uplex.net> and various
other people for their encouragement.  I am not affiliated to any group or
company (except my own) ;-) and all comments are mine, and should be
treated with caution, unless expressly stated otherwise.  This document may
be distributed freely so long as it is unaltered in any way.   All comments
welcome, (within reason)!
;-)

Technical Illustration FAQ
--------------------------
Copyright RFI

richard@rfitech.com

End

Richard Foley, RFI     Ingleton, UK    richard@rfitech.com
Maintainer of the Technical Illustration FAQ; "Techill-FAQ"
http://www.rfitech.com/index.html


