By Brant Wilkerson-New
March 10, 2025
Have you ever noticed how easier it is to assemble a piece of furniture with clear images rather than following directions written in text? That’s how technical drawings help users.
Technical drawing is the universal language of design and engineering, presented in visual format. It translates ideas into visual representations that help users understand a topic, concept, or outline.
Technical writers often use technical drawings to bridge the gap between technical experts and end users. Visual representations are easier to understand and show the layout of an object or a building at a glance.
Technical drawing requires the right tools and know-how to make the representation clear enough to be understandable yet comprehensive enough to include all details and useful information.
Technical Drawing’s Focus
An organization creating information often needs to present it in a straightforward way. As a form of visual communication, technical drawing uses standardized graphical representations to show detailed information about physical objects, systems, or processes. You can picture it as a visual language that overcomes verbal barriers.
Unlike artistic detailed drawings, which prioritize aesthetic expression, technical drawing focuses on accuracy and precision. Electrical technical drawing, for example, must stick to established conventions where every line, part, symbol, and dimension serves a specific communicative purpose.
In the context of technical writing, these drawings act as visual aids that complement textual explanations. They provide detailed concepts, making them more accessible to readers. When words alone can’t effectively describe the details of a mechanism or the spatial relationships between components, technical drawings step in to provide that clarity.
Historical Evolution
The history of technical drawing goes back thousands of years, with evidence of engineering and architectural drawings found in ancient civilizations from Egypt to China. The modern approach to technical drawing dates back to the 16th century and the Renaissance, when artists and engineers like Leonardo da Vinci pioneered techniques for representing three-dimensional objects on two-dimensional surfaces.
The Industrial Revolution marked a turning point, as the need for standardized manufacturing processes required more precise and universally understood drawings. This led to the development of formal drafting techniques and, eventually, to the establishment of international standards that govern different types of drawing practices today.
Types of Technical Drawings
Technical drawing, used in various fields and industries, comes in many forms.
Orthographic Projections
Orthographic Projections is a type of drawing that presents objects from multiple viewpoints (typically front, top, and side) for a full view of their three-dimensional form. These projections are precise and detailed, maintain true measurements and proportions, and are used to create manufacturing and construction documentation.
Isometric Drawings
Isometric Drawings offer a three-dimensional view of an object and maintain true measurements along each axis. These technical drawings are used for installation or assembly instructions, as they provide a more intuitive visual representation than flat orthographic projections.
Exploded Views
Exploded Views separate and offset an object’s components and materials to illustrate their spatial relationships and assembly sequence. Technical writers use these in maintenance manuals and assembly guides to clarify complex procedures.
Schematic Diagrams
Schematic Diagrams focus on functional relationships rather than physical appearance. They use symbols and simplified representations to illustrate electrical circuits, electrical systems, plumbing systems, or process flows. These are used for troubleshooting guides and system documentation.
Section VIews
Section Views reveal an object’s internal features by displaying what would be visible if the object were cut along a specific plane. Imagine taking a knife and slicing through an object or a building. These views, also known for helping technical writers, explain internal mechanisms that would otherwise remain hidden.
Technical Drawing in Documentation
Technical writers incorporate drawings into documentation for many reasons beyond mere illustration. Let’s see how technical drawings improve technical text and help users better understand their purpose.
Reduce Language Barriers
Technical drawings reduce language barriers because visual information transcends verbal communication challenges. International users can often understand a properly constructed technical drawing regardless of their native language.
Improve Comprehension
Sometimes, technical writing can become complicated. Technical drawings simplify systems or procedures. Research consistently shows that combining textual and visual information improves understanding and retention, particularly for technical content.
Minimize Ambiguity
With technical drawing, there is little room for misunderstanding or ambiguity. Whereas words might be interpreted differently based on context or experience, technical drawings are concrete representations that are clear and universally understandable.
Simplify Complex Concepts
Technical drawing can break down concepts into visually digestible components. A well-structured architectural drawing can highlight fundamental elements in the most intricate system and show how they are related.
Technical Drawing Standards and Conventions
Like written language, technical drawing follows established conventions for consistency and clarity. This way, all technical writers who work with drawings use the same ‘visual language’ in their drawings.
Such standards include the ISO Technical Drawing Standards, that provide international guidelines for drafting practices, dimensioning, tolerancing, and graphical symbols.
A second set of standards is the ASME Y14, which is used in engineering drawings in many industries, particularly in North America.
Several other Industry-Specific Conventions exist as well, dictating specialized symbols or practices unique to fields such as electronics, architecture, or mechanical engineering.
These standards exist to make sure that technical drawings communicate effectively across organizational and international boundaries — something particularly important for technical documentation intended for global audiences.
Digital Evolution of Technical Drawing
The digital revolution has transformed technical drawing from a manual drafting process to a computer-aided discipline. Modern technical writers work with drawings created using specialized technical drawing software:
- Computer-Aided Design (CAD software) programs create and modify technical drawings, often with the possibility to generate different view types from a single 3D model.
- Diagramming Software provides simplified technical drawing tools to create flowcharts, network diagrams, and other schematic representations that frequently appear in technical documentation.
- Interactive Graphics let users manipulate views, zoom into details, or even explode assemblies on demand. They create a more hands-on and informative experience than static images could provide.
Best Practices for Technical Writers
What makes a good technical drawing? Here are our best practices:
Consistency
Consistency between textual descriptions and visual representations delivers good technical drawings. Labels, terminology, and component names should match across all forms of communication.
Right context
The context of each drawing explains its purpose and guides readers on how to interpret the information presented.
Audience-oriented
Technical writers write for a specific audience, and their technical drawings should reflect that audience. Different audiences may require different visual approaches to the same information.
Accessible
The technical drawing should include alternative text descriptions for readers using screen readers or other assistive technologies.
Collaboration
Technical drawing is most effective when it is developed in coordination with designers, illustrators, engineers, and architects for maximum technical accuracy and effective communication.
The Future of Technical Drawing in Documentation
As technology continues to evolve, so too will the role of technical drawing in documentation. What will technical drawing look like in the future?
Interactive 3D models are increasingly replacing traditional static drawings. Users can thus explore components from any angle and at any level of detail. That’s not all, though: with augmented reality integration, users could overlay technical drawings onto physical objects and have a real-time image for maintenance or assembly drawing tasks.
At the same time, automated drawing generation could be produced from natural language descriptions. This would streamline the creation of technical illustrations and make visual communication more accessible to writers without specialized drawing skills. Imagine asking your computer for a technical drawing and seeing it materialize in front of your eyes!
Technical Drawing for Technical Writers
Technical drawing makes technical writing more effective and engaging. Ultimately, it helps users understand how an object or concept functions and provides visual clarity where words alone might not be enough. With the right type of technical drawing, writers can thus improve the quality and accessibility of their documentation.
As technology advances, the integration of textual and visual technical communication will only grow more seamless. Users will demand drawings to accompany all types of size and shape documentation for better clarity. After all, a good drawing speaks a thousand words!
Documenting software interfaces, hardware components, or complex systems can benefit greatly from technical drawings accompanying the words. Your audience will thank you and your technical writing will be more effective.
Well-developed drawings speak volumes and overcome barriers of language and expertise. They provide a visual message with precision and impact and make you an excellent technical writer.
If you feel your organization could benefit from technical drawing, contact us today to share your project’s goals, book a free demo, and find out how we can help. TimelyText is a trusted professional writing service and instructional design consulting partner for Fortune 500 companies worldwide.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
I’m a storyteller!
Exactly how I’ve told stories has changed through the years, going from writing college basketball analysis in the pages of a newspaper to now, telling the stories of the people of TimelyText. Nowadays, that means helping a talented technical writer land a new gig by laying out their skills, or even a quick blog post about a neat project one of our instructional designers is finishing in pharma.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.