Technical Illustrators.org Forum

I'd like to get into the illustration field (technical and otherwise) and have some questions regarding CAD. Right now, I'm employed as an engineer, and have experience using solidworks, microstation, and autocad, in addition to photoshop and gimp.

I was wondering what kind of crossover, if any, exists between CAD drafting and technical illustration? it seems like a lot of the illustration work i've seen is done in illustrator/photoshop, but there are a lot of CAD programs that can produce exploded diagrams, cutaways, details, and other views as well. is there an advantage/disadvantage to using a program like solidworks in the illustration field?

I was using autocad for about 12 years in my illustration job. autocad is great for creating isometric illustrations and doing all of your layout work. Most of the time if I wanted something to look really good I would export a .dxf and do all my line work and color in illustrator. For technical stuff, autocad is great.

thanks for the info.

i'm wondering, though, where the line is, if any, between the drafter and illustrator. for instance, if an sectional view can be produced in a drafting program, is the CAD operator performing work that should have gone to an illustrator? conversely, is it out of place to have an illustrator use client specs to produce engineering drawings?

I'm not sure if it's simply a difference in intended audience, or versatility, or training, or something else entirely.

You got it, the difference is audience...
If the audience is technical and familiar with the subject matter, a CAD drawing is suitable.
If not, an illustrator can interpret and simplify the information.

There is definitely some overlap... in fact I'd say CAD is a type/methodof technical illustration.

James is right on. I've also found lot's of overlap in my jobs. Many times I have had to use cad to create engineering drawings and dealt with engineers trying to create tech drawings. So much of the software out now can make it even easier for engineers to create their own illustrations. But as james said if it's going to the consumer they need us to make it easier to understand.