Skip to content
Lineplate
System theme · click for light themeOpen the studio

Guides

How to get from a CAD assembly to drawings and instructions people can use, with free tools as well as ours. Every guide lists the sources it relies on.

  1. 01How to make an exploded view from a STEP fileYou have a STEP file from a supplier or a colleague and need an exploded view for a manual or a parts list. Here is how to do it with tools you can get today, and what to plan before you start.
  2. 02How to turn a STEP file into an SVG line drawingA line drawing is a projection with hidden-line removal, not a file conversion. Here is how to make one that a manual or a vector editor can use, with free tools.
  3. 03How to make assembly instructions from CADThe CAD model already knows every part and where it goes. Turning that into instructions someone can follow at a bench is mostly about order, one action per step, and drawings that show only what changed.
  4. 04How to make IKEA-style assembly instructions from CADInstructions with no words in them work in every language and suit anything sold flat-packed or as a kit. They are harder to draw than they look: every picture has to carry the whole step on its own.
  5. 05How to make a parts list and balloons from a STEP assemblyA ballooned drawing with a parts list is the page a fitter, a buyer and a spares desk all use. A STEP file holds everything needed to make one, if you deal with its quirks first.
  6. 06How to make an illustrated parts catalogue from CADAn illustrated parts catalogue is a set of pages a customer uses to order the right spare: a picture with numbers, and a table that says what each number is. The CAD assembly already holds both halves; the work is making them agree.
  7. 07Hidden lines in technical illustration: when to show themEngineering drawings show hidden edges by convention. Illustrations for manuals usually shouldn't, with a few exceptions worth knowing.
  8. 08Line weights for technical illustrationOne weight for every line makes a drawing flat and hard to read. A few weights, chosen from the standard series and used consistently, do most of the work.
  9. 09What the EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 changes about instruction manualsThe Machinery Regulation replaces the Machinery Directive from 20 January 2027. Here is what its text says about instructions for use, quoted from the Official Journal, with pointers to the rest.