Use of Colour on Drawings

[Jasonb]

As I'm working on a couple of sets of drawings that won't just be for my personal use I thought I would canvas opinion as to what people prefer in the way of colour on a drawing. I'm specifically talking about what is on the 2D print that you will be working from and even more specifically the shading of the part. I'm not thinking about the use of different colours of lines for things like dimension, ctr, hidden detail, etc which I personally don't like  or the use of a multitude of colours for each part during the design stage.

Below are 3 possible options

1 Just plain lines. No different to how drawings have been presented for years and how I have done the last couple of drawing sets shared here.



2. The 3D image has been coloured based on what I used during the 3D modelling which in the case of this part is a darkish grey for cast iron, steel would be a lighter grey, brass yellow etc. Uses a small amount more ink and I have kept the 3D image smaller than the scale of the actual part to reduce this.



3. Fully coloured. This would definately use up quite a bit of ink which some people prefer not to do and I tend to feel the same preferring to spend my money on metal rather than ink refills. The other downside is that the darker grey can obscure some of the lines and dimensions and may be worse if printed on basic paper as the ink can bleed a bit. Plus side it it can look nice.




Look forward to your thoughts and Comments

J

[b.lindsey]

If I were working from the drawings, I would be quite happy with option 1, just plain lines. Colors can be helpful in assembly drawings I think, where multiple parts are being shown, but for a working drawing of a single part, the color doesn't really add anything for me. Just my two cents.

Bill

[pgp001]

Jason

Just my 2p worth.

On Solidworks, I use option 2 with the addition of dimensions being in red.
I have good feedback from shop floor workers who actually use my drawings day in day out, and that is how they like them.

Sometimes on assembly drawings I use full colour which makes things look more realistic.

Phil

[glorfindel]

There is no standard for color on 2d drawing because no body is putting color on 2d drawing. You can have some color on your computer, but usually, they are converted in "lineweight" ( thickness) for printing.

Most standards have different line thickness for line type (doted line, center line, border line)


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[Stuart]

Jason
No.2

The isometric view give a better perspective

No. 3 ugggg👎👎👎👎
No.1 ok but no.2 is slightly better

Just a view of a old codgers eyes 


Stuart

[Vixen]

Jason

+1 for option 1

Keep it simple

Mike

[Dave Otto]

All of the drawings I have done recently including the two Morrison & Marvin vise projects, I use and prefer option 2

Dave

[glorfindel]

Just use an international standard like ASME and be done with it.

Home made standard are a plague.

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[Brian Rupnow]

I don't use colours on drawings. My first 32 years in design world was on a drafting board, and there was a definite difference in line weight so that people wouldn't confuse part outlines with dimensions. Now in 3D computer world, I use a lot of color in my models and assemblies, but mainly to make it easier to differentiate one part from another. A model where everything is uniform monochrome grey is much harder to tell where one part stops and another part begins. I still use only black lines on white backgrounds for all of my 2d drawings. I personally don't like colors on a 2D drawing.---Brian

[Xldevil]

Option 1 I would use.
Best visibility,in my eyes.

[ddmckee54]

I agree with Brian, colors are great on the screen for visual separation, but that doesn't always translate to the printed page.  Light colors, even something printed in greyscale, can be very difficult to see.  Most of the printed drawings that I do are printed in monochrome.

If you are going to print something in color, avoid light colors - particularly yellow.

Don

[steam guy willy]

Hi Jason,  I find putting a banana beside the drawing helps with the scale  !! but perhaps a greener one would show up better !!! ....sorry couldn't resist that !!!

willy

[steamer]

Hey Jason,

As the old saw goes, put whatever conveys the information the best on the print..and nothing more.   That said, for those of us in the first angle projection world, a crisp picture of the part is nice as in fig 2.  Otherwise figure 1.

Dave

[bent]

I usually have a 2D sheet in the shop with me when making parts, printed on the laser at work or at home.  On paper, colors don't always reproduce well, esp. on black+white printers/copiers.  So, I generally avoid colors for prints.  Also, I like to mark up prints with my red ink pen when working on prototypes, so having all the existing dimensions and lines in black helps differentiate (as drawn vs. as built) when I take the mark-up back to the office to redraw the parts.

On screen, or for 3d models in various outputs, I like colors.

[10KPete]

Black on white. Anything else can be hard to read.

I hate 'puter 2D drawings because they ignore the art of drafting. Biggest gripe is that extension lines should break when crossing object lines and should be of a lighter weight. Etc, etc.

Pete