Ditched the drafting board for a tablet a year ago and never looked back

I used to swear by my old drafting board and parallel bar. Thought digital was just for architects who didn't know how to use a pencil. But after I got stuck on a project last January with a bunch of hand revisions that took me 6 hours, I borrowed my buddy's iPad Pro for a weekend. The undo button alone saved me from starting over three times. Has anyone else made the switch and found it weird going back to paper now?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jessica22d ago

The first time I went back to paper after switching was for a quick sketch at a coffee shop, and I realized my hand cramped up after 10 minutes. That never happened before. But the real game changer for me was when I did a full layer isolation on a complex floor plan in under 30 seconds on the tablet. On paper that would've meant tracing the whole thing onto vellum again. My old boss still refuses to try digital and says it kills the craft, but I think he's just scared of the learning curve. I've got a buddy who dual screens with a Cintiq and a drafting table, uses both depending on the mood, and honestly that feels like the sweet spot if you can afford it.

gibson.mark22d ago

Old boss still refuses to try digital and says it kills the craft" - I mean, is it really that deep? Sounds like you just traded one set of hand cramps for another, layer isolation or not.