PAPER, FILM & BOARDS
The transparency of tracingpapers and
films makes themeffective for overlay work,
allowing the selective drawing or tracing on one
sheet and theability to see through to an
underlying drawing.
Tracing Papers
Tracing p
apersare charact erized by
transparency, whiteness, and tooth or surface
grain. Fine-tooth papers are generally better for
inking, w
hereas m
edium -toothpapers are m
ore
suitable for pencil work.
Sketch-Grade Tracing Paper
• Inexpensive, lightweight tissue isavailable in
white, cream, and yellow or buff colors in rolls
12", 18", 24", 30", and 36" wide.
• Lightweight trace is used for freehand
sket ching, overlays, and studies.
• Useonly soft leads or m
arkers; hard leads
can tear the thin paper easily.
Vellum
• Vellum isavailable in rolls, pads, and individual
sheets in 16, 20, and 24 lb. weights.
• Mediumweight 16lb. vellumis used for
general layouts and preliminary drawings.
• 1 or 20 lb. vellum with 100% rag content is a
6
stable, translucent, and erasable paper used
for finished drawings.
• Vellum isavailablewith non reproducible blue
squ grids, subdivided into 4 x4, 5 x5,
are
8 x8, or 1 x10 parts to the inch.
0
• CAD and 3D-modeling programs have the
ability to organize sets of information in
different layers. W these levels or
hile
categories can be thought of and used as the
digital equivalent of tracing paper, they offer
more possibilities for manipulating and
editing the information they contain than do
the physical layersof tracing paper. And once
entered and stored, digital inform
ation is
easier to copy. transfer, and share than
traditional drawings.
12 /ARCHITECTURAL G APH ICS
R
D
rafting Film
Drafting filmis aclear polyester filmthat
isdurable, dimensionally stable, and
translucent enoughfor clear reproductions
and overlay work.
• Drafting film is 3 to 4 m thick and
il
available in rolls or cut sheets.
• One or both sides may have a nonglare.
matte finish suitable for pencil or ink.
• Use only with compatible leads, inks, and
erasers.
• Ink lines are removable w erasing fiuid
ith
or avinyl eraser saturated witherasing
fluid.
Illustration Boards
Illustration boards have a paper facing
laminated to a cardboard backing.
• Illustration boards areava ilable in
single(1!,0" thick) and double
(3/32" thick) thicknesses.
• 100% rag paperfacings are
recommended for finish presentations.
• Coldpress boards h adegree of
ave
texturefor pencil work; hotpress
boards have relatively sm surfaces
ooth
more suitablefor inking.
• Some brands of illustration boards
have white facing papers bonded to a
middle coreof white stock. Cut edges
are therefore consistently whit ein
color, making themuseful for
constructingarchitectural models.
• Theopacity of illustration boards
requires that drawings be laid out
directly ontheboard surface.
• Drafting tape or dots are required to fix
a sheet of vellum or film to the drawing
board. Do not use normal masking tape.
w can tear the paper surface upon
hich
Thefollowing may be used to cover
drawing b
oards:
• Vinyl covers provide a smooth, even
drawing surface; tack holes and cuts
heal themselves.
• Cellulose acetate film laminatedto a
tough paper base provides a smooth,
nonglare surface.
• Adense, w illustration board
hite
provides an inexpensive drawing
surface.
removal.