How Was Engineering Drafting Done Before AutoCAD? Explore 20 Photos From 1950 To 1980

Before the invention of CAD, drafting was a laborious and time-consuming process. Engineers spent countless hours manually drawing plans, a practice that involved meticulous attention to detail and physical effort.

Photos from this era often evoke the rustling of paper and the intense focus of draftsmen on their drawing boards.

Before the advent of AutoCAD

Technical drawing, or drafting, is the discipline of creating drawings that visually communicate how something works or is built.

Before the advent of AutoCAD and other drafting software, engineering drawings were crafted meticulously on large sheets of paper using drawing boards.

These early drafts required an array of specialized equipment: drawing boards, various grades of pencils, erasers, T-squares, and set squares. The process was labor-intensive and required a high degree of skill and precision from the draftsman.

One significant drawback of paper-based design was the inability to make changes easily. Once a drawing was on paper, making changes meant starting over from the beginning and creating new sketches.

This process was very time-consuming and often frustrating for engineers and designers.

Technical drawing differs from expressive visual arts in that it focuses on precise communication for functional documents.

Exploring the history of engineering drafting and design is essentially delving into the history of human innovation and construction. Drafting and design practices have been integral to building infrastructure since ancient times.

The earliest known record of engineering drafting dates back to 2000 B.C., with a fossilized aerial view plan of a Babylonian castle. This ancient example underscores how essential drafting has been throughout human history.

For much of its history, drafting was considered an art form, perfected by skilled designers whose work was crucial to the development of societies.

The basic drafting procedure involves placing a piece of paper (or other material) on a smooth surface with right-angle corners and straight sides, typically a drawing board.

Engineers would spend countless hours hunched over their drawing boards, manually creating the blueprints for everything from bridges to buildings, relying solely on their tools and expertise.

For centuries, people have created hand-drawn plans meticulously. This method continued until the late 20th century when AutoCAD and other computer-aided design software were introduced, dramatically changing the process.

These innovations led to more efficient and flexible design methods that are widely used today.

The modern age of engineering drafting

The modern era of engineering drafting began in 1963 with the invention of Sketchpad by Ivan Sutherland. This groundbreaking program was the first to use a graphical interface that allowed users to create x-y plots.

Although engineers of the time did not use Sketchpad regularly, it laid the foundation for the burgeoning computer-aided design (CAD) industry.

Throughout the 1960s, engineering giants like Boeing, Ford, Citroen, MIT, and GM made significant investments in CAD programs. These companies saw the potential of CAD to simplify complex automotive and aerospace designs.

However, the limited processing power of early computers required substantial financial and engineering resources to develop effective CAD systems.

The growth of CAD capabilities over the next half-century was propelled by Moore’s Law and advancements in electronics. A pivotal moment in this evolution was the founding of Autodesk, which played a crucial role in advancing CAD software.

AutoCAD’s Drawing History Feature in Action

Despite the early efforts in the 1980s, it wasn’t until the late 1980s and early 1990s that CAD software became practical for everyday engineering design.

Today, the process of drafting has been revolutionized. Architects, electrical engineers, and other drafters now rely on the ease of clicking their mouse and keyboard, creating detailed designs with speed and precision.