Technical drawings

[quabster]

Can someone help on how to draw something like this? It's a technical drawing of a latex plastic band. I looked hard and couldn't find a good YouTube video on this. Any help to get me started would be great!

 

[IamSam]

Hello and welcome to PSG.

The best tool for making this type of drawing would be the Pen Tool......


http://psd.fanextra.com/tutorials/become-a-master-of-the-pen-tool-in-under-30-minutes/

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photoshops-pen-tool-the-comprehensive-guide--psd-718

http://helpx.adobe.com/en/photoshop/using/drawing-pen-tools.html

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/custom-shapes/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9vUqFSH1lc#t=17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b86**M8HgtU

 

[Tom Mann]

That drawing is most likely from a patent, and very likely done old-school style using paper, india ink pen, T-square, triangles, plus a "Leroy lettering set" to do the numbers and other annotations.

If you need to reproduce that old school look *exactly*, IMHO, the best, but not easiest way is to use the same techniques. However, it takes quite a bit of training to get good at it. If the look doesn't have to be reproduced exactly, or if you are preparing figures for an actual patent application, the best thing is to use a 3d mechanical drawing program like AutoCAD or even something like Google Sketch-up. There are plenty of on-line articles about this. Just Google {preparing figures patent application} and you will find countless articles like:
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/patent-drawings-draw-own-30248.html

If none of the above sound appealing to you, and you already know PS, then you certainly can use the pen tool as Sam suggested, but it's a bit of a PITA compared to a real mechanical drawing program. Note, however, that all of the software based approaches will probably look a bit too perfect compared to the example you provided, e.g., lines won't have any slight imperfections, etc..

One final thought - I knew a guy who was good at software, but wanted the old-time look. He first produced a draft version in something like AutoCAD, and then traced the result using old-school techniques.

HTH,

Tom M

 

[Tom Mann]

BTW, if you are preparing an actual patent application, then you should be sure to check the requirements for figures of the patent office of the country in which you will be filing. There are differences from country to country.

Also, here's another nice article on the subject:
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2010/02/article_0008.html

HTH,

Tom M