Evidence of drafting exists everywhere people have left their historical mark. The oldest piece of drafting supplies that has been discovered is a drawing board with a technical plan for a temple in Lagash, Babylon dating from 3,000 BCE.
The Chinese revolutionized drafting when they invented rice paper, which made drawings portable. During the renaissance architects, including Filippo Brunelleschi, used geometry to paint building plans on mirrors to create perspective. During the same period, Leonardo da Vinci studied the geometric theories of Pythagoras and Euclid.
A major innovation in physical drafting supplies was using animal skin to record drawings, which was the dominant medium until the nineteenth century when synthetic vellum was created. In the 19th century, wooden models were used to build prototypes of buildings from basic artistic sketches. Plans were then created based on the wooden structures. The industrialization of paper making during the industrial revolution brought drafting back to paper rather than skins. During the 1980s, computers overhauled drafting supplies into the process of drafting that we have come to know today.
Many innovations have been made over time to make drafting easier and more accurate. Aside from the straight edge, the protractor, compass and T-square are the most commonly used drafting tools. Drafters also require tools to create curves. Among these tools is the French curve, attributed to Thomas French, in the early twentieth century, of Ohio State University.
Technical pens are used by many drafters because they can consistently create lines of the same thickness, depending on the pen. The first technical pens were actually a pair of calipers: the width of the lines could be controlled by adjusting the caliper. The Graphos technical pen, created in 1934, was easier to use than calipers. In the 1950s specialized fountain pens were used for drafting.
In 1842, the process of creating a blueprint was invented by Sir John Herschel. This processes greatly simplified duplication of drawings. The blueprint remained the most effective and popular method of transferring drawings until whiteprinting methods (Diazo printing) were developed in the 1930s. By using the Diazo process, drafters could create a plan once on a translucent material. This material would be coated with a transferring chemical and pressed with another sheet of paper onto which the design was transferred. White printing is still used today when digital printing is not practical.
The computers used for drafting in the 1960s look a great deal different than the desktop and laptops used today. In 1982, Autodesk created the program Automated Computer Aided Design (AutoCAD) which transformed the process of drafting by making it accessible to more people. Condensed into a manageable size, AutoCAD allows users to create accurate technical drawings and combines several types of drawings into one. For example, with AutoCAD users can essentially build drawings in which basic designs, dimensions, specifications, cutaways and animations showing how parts work together are all accessible in one file.
Computer technology has also revolutionized drafting in terms of surveying an area. AutoPlotter was invented in India by the company Infycons in 2002. AutoPlotters are able to survey an area and aid in creating plans for that space. AutoPlotter uses computerized technology rather than traditional measuring methods. AutoPlotter has made surveys much more accurate and complete.
Drafting is an essential part of human heritage because it is the process through which we design the tools and structures that make up the manmade world. Drafting supplies used to be used to create one of a kind structures one at a time. However, with the advent of duplication machines, more advanced mathematics, and new measurement and surveillance tools, drafting has become the art of creating interchangeable parts and reproducible buildings and structures.
The modernization of drafting has made it more accessible to a greater number of individuals. With the creation of computerized design tools a draftsmen no longer needs to have a studio, know the advanced mathematics of drafting, or even be able to draw well. It has also opened up the field to physically handicapped individuals. Programs such as AutoCAD allow users to focus on design rather than the mechanical processes it takes to make their structures and components a reality. Further, computer programs test the viability of a new design to make sure that it will be safe to build.