charliep79•1mo agoProlific Poster

Tried drafting a whole site plan by hand versus letting the software do the math

I had this job for a new house plot out near the edge of town, maybe six months back. The client wanted a quick site plan and I thought, you know what, I'll just do it the old way with my drafting board and a scale. Big mistake. I spent a whole day just on the lot lines and setbacks, sweating over every angle and measurement. Then I opened up the CAD software and let it handle the same thing. It took about twenty minutes, and the angles were perfect. The difference was not having to double-check my own math every five minutes. I felt pretty silly staring at the two prints side by side. Has anyone else gone back to manual drafting for something and instantly regretted it?

3 comments

3 Comments

max8081mo ago

Tried sketching a concept for a garden layout on graph paper last week. Wanted to get a feel for the shapes before going digital. Ended up with a mess of eraser marks and my scale ruler slipping all over the place. Pulled up the basic drawing app on my tablet and had a clean version done in like ten minutes. I mean the hand drawing had soul or whatever, but it was also just wrong.

abby8361mo ago

Can't believe @max808 even tried a scale ruler on paper.

ivangrant1mo ago

Honestly, do you think maybe the paper itself is part of the problem? Tbh cheap printer paper is way too slick for pencils and rulers. I tried drafting something on nicer, thicker sketchbook paper once and it was a totally different feel, the tools didn't slide around as much. Ngl though, it still feels like a fight compared to just tapping undo on a tablet. That undo button ruins you for ever going back to erasers.