Tracing?!!!

Ok, I've got to post this here, cuz it's driving me batty, and I wanted other's opinions on it.

I've recently been "gifted" with a set of existing plans in .TIF format. Since the project I'm working on is only a replacement of units in the building, the designer & engineer decided I should "trace" the images that were given to me for this project.

Now, I have several issues with this, and as a drafter, the only say I get in this is to say "Ok". However, for you guys here, I would like to know your thoughts on it. The existing plans were hand drawn back in the day and so the copies that the designer received were already mildly warped. And when the repro company scanned them, they skewed the image slightly even more. And I'm supposed to trace these pictures and have them look nice for a set of drawings that will be published for bid.

They look horrible to me. And I've had to decide if I was going to scale the image so that the drawings were to their original 1:1 scale or leave it with the different scales.

Has anyone else had to do this? And was it as painful for you as it is for me?!

Oh and for the record. We're discussing HVAC drafting, in case anyone is curious.

I have the advantage. I've got a digitizer that I've used to "trace" drawings with. Ortho and Pline were my two best friends. And don't forget Oops!

I have the advantage. I've got a digitizer that I've used to "trace" drawings with. Ortho and Pline were my two best friends. And don't forget Oops!

Yeah, digitizer would be perfect. Which reminds me, one of the designers was asking if he could have one. Do you have any suggestions on a decent digitizer that isn't insanely expensive?

LOL My digitizer is about as old as I am or pretty darn close to it.

I started out using Summagraphics but because they were so pricey I switched later on to Calcomp. Calcomp was bought out by a company called GTGO. They now sell their digitizers under the name GTGO-Calcomp. My current digitizer is a Calcomp DrawingBoard III that comes in at approximately 12" square. The active area is just a bit smaller than that. When it comes time to electronically trace a drawing or a cut sheet or a diagram of some sort I use the entire active area as my digitizing window. All it takes is a moment to calibrate the board and away I go.

GTGO Calcomp Digitizers:

http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/

GTGO Calcomp Digitizers:

 

http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/

Thank you kindly ReMark. I'll get the information on to my co-worker and to the business office for a possible option.

The newer Drawing Board VI(?), small format, will cost between $349 and $629 depending on the size. And yes, it is possible to digitize a drawing that is larger than the board itself. Tip: divide the drawing into squares equal to the overall height x width of the active area of the digitizer. The user must make two picks and enter a coordinate for the lower left hand corner and the upper right hand corner to calibrate the tablet. Keep track of your coordinates for each section of the drawing and it will all match up perfectly.

this'll be of no help to you, but yes, I've had a set of the blurriest ever blueprints to 'copy' - of a full manufacturing plant layout

I gave up scratching my head, worrying about the clients, and grumbling at my boss, and instead decided that there isn't much difference between cement and potato pulp, so swiped a whole load of pre-drawn bits from other drawings

The client loved the drawings, and had no idea how I'd produced something so 'accurate' from such horrible 'originals'

I think I wore out my 'stretch' and 'scale' buttons that week

You have my deepest sympathy GQ :wink:

If they were properly dimensioned you should be fine just redrawing them also. I prefer to trust myself with a bith of mental math and figurative geometry over guessing where axactly that point is to intersect that line anyday. Especially if there are any curves.

If they were properly dimensioned you should be fine just redrawing them also. I prefer to trust myself with a bith of mental math and figurative geometry over guessing where axactly that point is to intersect that line anyday. Especially if there are any curves.

From what I can tell of the copies, the smaller sections I'm working from were supposed to be a 1/4" = 1'-0" scale, however, they seemed to have "eyeballed" a lot of items within it. Either they were rushed near the end of the job, or just plain lazy.

I'm almost done with them. I've just said.. "to heck with it all" and doing it my way.

"to heck with it all" and doing it my way.

Best Quote I've heard in AGES! LOL

Best Quote I've heard in AGES! LOL

Thanks Skips!

And I would like to follow up for the record that I've told the designer, next time if he wants me to reproduce existing drawings, to just let me do it my way. After explaining to him what all has gone on (he wasn't aware because he only spends 1 day a week in this office) he conceded that we shall draft the way I'm comfortable doing it and not the way he "thinks" it might go.

It's like I'm dreaming. Someone in my company actually agreed with me about my drafting.