Drawing Notes Database

[Lomarandil]

I've taken on the task of moving several parts of our drafting process into.. well, I don't know when. Modernizing it.

As part of that, I'd like to set up a notes database which we can use to validate and quickly generate note sets for our drawings. I'd like it to be at least searchable and taggable. If it has some functionality to quickly input/parse/tag those notes (can be manual, just not tedious), all the better.

I'd imagine there must be some known solutions to this problem. Maybe borrowing from specification writing. Is anyone using something they like?

 

[ilovechickens]

I am a firm believer in standardizing as much as possible. The difficult thing with standardization is that often things need a small change for each different project, client, etc, so having a truly standard set of notes may be difficult.

I would say whatever you do keep it simple and straightforward - do not get too complex and too fancy.

I have in the past kept an excel file of all the notes I typically use and then I can sort through that list for each job and give the CAD staff and excel sheet with all the notes and they can quickly copy and paste those across into their drawings. Takes not long at all. The drawings may be prepared in another country by someone who English is not their first language, so this is really helpful and works well for CAD and engineering.

Why do we like capital letters on our drawings? It makes things much easier to read.

 

[dik]

I edit my notes for each project, and bring them up to date in the process... it's no trouble.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Euler07]

Why do we like capital letters on our drawings? It makes things much easier to read.

Is there any evidence to support this? All the evidence is to the contrary, which is why all of media have stopped using all caps and switched to lower case. Is there any industry that uses all caps for ease of reading? Why did you use lower case in your post?

Increasing the font by 1.4 would mean the number of drawing note pages would increase from 4 to 7, or 3 to 6, or whatever... seems a little much.

You misunderstand me. Changing to lower case and increasing font size by 1.4 times keeps the text in the same area so the drawing note pages would remain the same, except the font would be 1.4 times larger. This sizing is of course different for different fonts and cad programs.

Even architects in my area have switched to lower case. Of all the industries, as far as I can see only engineers remain using all caps. Even the fine print in receipts/contracts is lower case. Seeing a page of notes in upper case is very difficult to read, even for an engineer.

 

[dik]

Sorry, Euler... I didn't know that.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[dik]

I just checked my Project Notes *.txt file converted to a *.doc. Changing the font from upper case to sentence style reduces the number of pages from 302 to 268 (I said it was big)... so there's a reduction of 89% in changing... I still prefer UC for drawings. I can go from 11 pt in UC to 12 pt in sentence case and end up with nearly the same number of pages. Increasing the size by 1.4 will make a larger increase in the number of pages. Based on font size, there's an increase in height of 1.09 going from 11 pt to 12 pt.

Increasing it by 1.4 would be roughly changing from 11 pt to 15 pt, both sentence case, and the file size now has 363 pages, or from 268 pages to 363, or about 135%, slightly less than 1.4.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[CWB1]

Is there any industry that uses all caps for ease of reading?

Block lettering is standard practice when writing on a white/chalk board, manually completing govt forms, drafting, or completing quite a few other tasks. My folks are retired teachers, block lettering is their default handwriting style. Block lettering was created literally bc its easier to read than standard capitalization due to having fewer and less similar characters.

I generally urge juniors and customers to follow standard industry practices bc failing to do so creates serious doubt about your competency. Prints are a reflection of the company and oddities end up filed in the landfill without payment.

 

[looslib]

The actual ASME standard that covers lettering on drawings is Y14.2. Section 6 governs lettering on engineering drawings.

From the standard:
6 LETTERING
For clarity within this Standard, lettering means both letters and numerals. Paragraphs 6.1 through 6.6 identify
the type and style of lettering for use on drawings.
6.1 Lettering Type
Lettering should be single stroke gothic, opaque, and well-spaced characters as shown in Figs. 6-1 and 6-2. When
additions or revisions are made to a drawing, the original style of lettering shall be maintained.
6.2 Letter Style
Either inclined or vertical lettering is permissible. Only one style of lettering shall be used throughout a drawing.
The preferred slope for the inclined characters is approximately 68 deg from the horizontal. See Fig. 6-1.
6.3 Letters — Uppercase and Lowercase
Uppercase letters shall be used for all lettering on drawings unless lowercase letters are required. See Figs. 6-1
and 6-2.
6.4 Letter Height
The minimum letter height proportions for various size drawings are shown in Table 6-1. A minimum letter
height (h) of 3 mm or .12 in. is recommended.
6.5 Letter Spacing
Letters in words should be spaced so the background areas between the letters are approximately equal, and
words are clearly separated. The space between two numerals having a decimal point between them is to be a
minimum of two-thirds the height of the lettering. The vertical space between lines of lettering shall be no more
than the height of the lettering, or no less than half the height of the lettering.
6.6 Legibility
The lettering heights, spacing, and proportions in Figs. 6-1 and 6-2, and also Table 6-1, normally provide acceptable
reproduction. If the recommended letter heights or proportions are not able to be met, the lettering is acceptable
when the minimum legibility and reproduction requirements of the accepted industry or military reproduction
specifications are met. Therefore, the basic requirement for lettering on a drawing is to produce fully legible copies.


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