Talked to an old surveyor who made me rethink my whole layering system

Last week I was out on a site near an old railroad spur and this retired surveyor wandered over to see what I was doing. He watched me set up my layers and said 'you're stacking roads like you're drawing for a printer, not for the guys in the field.' It hit me that I've been using the same color and line weight hierarchy for years without thinking about who actually reads the prints. He showed me how he used to separate utility lines by dashed patterns instead of colors so they'd still work in black and white copies. Made me wonder how many of my old drawings confused the crews even if they looked clean on screen. Anyone else ever get feedback that made you question your whole drafting approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera22d ago

Ugh, that's a gut punch but the good kind. I had a similar moment when a pipe fitter told me my callouts were too small for anyone wearing bifocals. Now I blow everything up to like 1/8" minimum and use way bigger text for field dimensions. It's wild how we get stuck in our own screen-first bubble.

marymorgan22d ago

Does your office have a standard sheet now that everyone uses for field dimensions, or is it more of a personal preference thing? I've seen some firms try to enforce a template but then people just ignore it anyway... Kind of curious how you handle it when someone new comes in and automatically shrinks everything back down. It's gotta be tough keeping everyone on the same page once you realize your drawings actually need to work in the real world.