Pro tip: An old guy at the Denver blueprint shop told me my line weights were a mess

He pointed out my hidden lines were way too dark, basically the same as my object lines. I switched to a 0.3mm for object and a 0.1mm for hidden, and my drawings got way clearer overnight. Anyone else have a simple rule that cleaned up their work?

4 comments

4 Comments

ray6132mo ago

Honestly, my early drawings looked like a toddler attacked them with a sharpie. I used the same pencil for everything, so my dimensions and center lines were thick black trenches. It was a mess until a teacher made me trace over my own lines with three different pens to feel the difference.

the_faith8d ago

That teacher's method sounds BRUTAL but honestly kind of genius. @carr.luna mentioned the thick/medium/thin rule, but did you actually change your hand pressure after that exercise or did you just switch to different pens permanently? I'm wondering because I still see people who rely on Fine liners but their line work looks so stiff from gripping too hard, like they're trying to carve the paper. Tracing over your own bad lines with three pens seems like it would force you to FEEL where the weight belongs instead of just following a rule. Did it stick with you or did you eventually go back to old habits?

carr.luna2mo ago

Yeah, line weight is everything. I used to just grab whatever pen was closest, and my sections were a total nightmare to read. Now I keep it stupid simple: thick for cut lines, medium for visible edges, thin for everything else like dimensions and hatching. Sticking to that three-tier rule forces you to think about what you're actually showing.

riverb132mo ago

My old boss used to make us draw the same part with just line weight changes, no labels. You could still tell a bolt from a hole just by looking.