From Paper to CAD Conversion

To understand what a paper(blueprints) to CAD conversion is you must first understand what CAD is. These three letters represent Computer Aided Design or Drafting. In the past about ten or more years ago the main form of technical drawing or drafting was done with several different instruments that would perform task like measuring, creating arcs and circles, offsetting lines that are parallel and perpendicular, and creating any type of line you can imagine. Nowadays we use CAD to handle all of this work due to the precision, accuracy, and general ease of design it allows. In the past all of the designs whether architectural, mechanical, civil and a number of other technical drawings would be drawn by hand on a set of blueprints or paper. These blueprints entail all the necessary information to correctly design the intended project, but nowadays the industry standard is CAD. So in other words this means there is a lot of blueprints that need to be updated, and this is where you get the phrase paper to CAD conversion. When a drafter gets a set of blueprints to be converted to a CAD file he or she will go about designing the technical drawing like they normally would. A correct set of blueprints should contain a top, front, left, right, back, and bottom view along with an orthographic view or in other words a 3D perspective drawing which gives the object depth and a sense of reality. In some cases all of these views are not used primarily because all the necessary information can be found without one of the views. Special notes are also part of the blueprints and provide information to the designer or draftsmen that cannot be seen by just looking at the different views. When working with CAD software it will design the old boring 2D line and give them the 3D features you need to fully understand the object. This software is widely used in CNC machines where the information provided within the CAD drawing file will tell the CNC software how to design the part it’s working on. The ability to simply upload a file and have a mold making machine develop a mold for production is very useful. A good advantage for CAD compared to a 2D Blueprint is that changes can be made at anytime throughout the design process in case a mistake is made, or the design changes from something like the allotted tolerance, width of a casing, or size of a screw. When a Draftsmen works with paper or blueprints they have to give it a rub with a good old eraser to correct any mistakes, and they still can’t go back and fix one view and have them all update instantly. There are a number of reasons why companies are throwing out the old blueprints and investing in updated CAD files. Paper to CAD conversion will remain to be a part of the drafters duties well into the future until every design is finally updated, and no paper blueprints remain. The fact that most production machinery gathers it’s design information from CAD is another contributing factor to these paper to CAD conversions. If you would like to visit a company that produces paper to CAD converting please visit CAD Drafting Service-3D Modeling CompanyThank You