A drawing is a contract between design and manufacture. This module teaches you to read one fluently and to produce one a checker will sign.
6 lessons, about 90 minutes in total, each with a self-check quiz.
The six lessons follow the order in which you meet a drawing. They start with the sheet and its title block, then cover the views, the lines and sections, the dimensions and their tolerances, and the symbols for finish, threads and welds. The last lesson reads a complete part drawing end to end. ISO practice (used across the UK and Europe, and by BS 8888) and ASME practice (used across the US) are taught side by side.
You need no prior knowledge beyond school geometry. If you already use CAD, the module explains what the software is doing on your behalf and where its defaults can catch you out. The dimensioning lesson leads straight into the tolerance stack-up calculator.
How to read an engineering drawing title block, sheet sizes, grid zones, revision block and notes, with the ISO 7200, ISO 5457 and ASME Y14 standards compared.
15 min · 5 outcomes · 5-question self-check
Third angle and first angle projection explained: where each view goes, how to read the truncated cone symbol, and how to tell which method a drawing uses.
15 min · 5 outcomes · 5-question self-check
Learn the ISO 128 line types and widths, how to read and draw a section view, which parts are never hatched, and how to label a detail view with its scale.
15 min · 6 outcomes · 5-question self-check
ISO 2768 general tolerance tables for classes f, m, c and v, what ISO 2768-mK means today, chain vs baseline dimensioning, and ISO 8015 versus ASME Rule #1.
15 min · 5 outcomes · 5-question self-check
Read and specify surface finish symbols and Ra values, metric and UN thread callouts, and ISO 2553 or AWS weld symbols, including the fillet a versus z trap.
15 min · 5 outcomes · 5-question self-check
How to read an engineering drawing in a fixed order, from title block to feature control frames, with an interactive example part and a drawing checklist.
15 min · 5 outcomes · 5-question self-check
| Standard | Edition | Title |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 5457 | 1999 + Amd 1:2010 | Technical product documentation: sizes and layout of drawing sheets |
| ISO 216 | 2007 | Writing paper and certain classes of printed matter: trimmed sizes, A and B series |
| ASME Y14.1 | 2020 | Drawing Sheet Size and Format |
| ISO 7200 | 2004 | Technical product documentation: data fields in title blocks and document headers |
| ISO 5455 | 1979 | Technical drawings: scales |
| ISO 128-1 | 2020 | Technical product documentation: general principles of representation, Part 1: introduction and fundamental requirements |
| ISO 5456-2 | 1996 | Technical drawings: projection methods, Part 2: orthographic representations |
| ASME Y14.3 | 2012 (R2024) | Orthographic and Pictorial Views |
| ISO 129-1 | 2018 + Amd 1:2020 | Technical product documentation: presentation of dimensions and tolerances, Part 1: general principles |
| ISO 8015 | 2011 | GPS: fundamentals, concepts, principles and rules |
| ASME Y14.5 | 2018 (R2024) | Dimensioning and Tolerancing |
| ISO 2768-1 | 1989 | General tolerances: tolerances for linear and angular dimensions without individual tolerance indications |
| ASME Y14.35 | 2025 | Revision of Engineering Product Definition Datasets and Associated Documents |
| ASME Y14.24 | 2020 | Types and Applications of Engineering Drawings |
| ASME Y14.34 | 2013 (R2024) | Associated Lists |
| ASME Y14.100 | 2017 | Engineering Drawing Practices |
| BS 8888 | 2025 | Technical product specification and documentation |
| ISO 16792 | 2021 | Technical product documentation: digital product definition data practices |
| ASME Y14.41 | 2019 | Digital Product Definition Data Practices |
| ISO 128-3 | 2022 | Technical product documentation: general principles of representation, Part 3: views, sections and cuts |
| ISO 128-2 | 2020 | Technical product documentation, General principles of representation, Part 2: Basic conventions for lines |
| ISO 2768-2 | 1989 (withdrawn) | General tolerances, Part 2: Geometrical tolerances for features without individual tolerance indications |
| ISO 22081 | 2021 | GPS, Geometrical tolerancing, General geometrical specifications and general size specifications |
| ISO 14405-1 | 2025 | GPS, Dimensional tolerancing, Part 1: Linear sizes |
| ISO 1101 | 2017 | GPS, Geometrical tolerancing, Tolerances of form, orientation, location and run-out |
| ISO 21920-1 | 2021 | Geometrical product specifications (GPS), Surface texture: Profile, Part 1: Indication of surface texture |
| ISO 21920-2 | 2021 | GPS, Surface texture: Profile, Part 2: Terms, definitions and surface texture parameters |
| ISO 21920-3 | 2021 | GPS, Surface texture: Profile, Part 3: Specification operators |
| ISO 1302 | 2002 (withdrawn) | Indication of surface texture in technical product documentation |
| ISO 4287 | 1997 (withdrawn) | GPS, Surface texture: Profile method, Terms, definitions and surface texture parameters |
| ISO 4288 | 1996 (withdrawn) | GPS, Surface texture: Profile method, Rules and procedures for the assessment of surface texture |
| ASME Y14.36 | 2018 (R2024) | Surface Texture Symbols |
| ASME B46.1 | 2019 | Surface Texture (Surface Roughness, Waviness, and Lay) |
| ISO 6410-1 | 1993 | Technical drawings, Screw threads and threaded parts, Part 1: General conventions |
| ISO 965-1 | 2026 | ISO general purpose metric screw threads, Tolerances, Part 1: Principles and basic data |
| ASME Y14.6 | 2001 (R2025) | Screw Thread Representation |
| ASME B1.1 | 2024 | Unified Inch Screw Threads (UN, UNR, and UNJ Thread Forms) |
| ISO 2553 | 2019 | Welding and allied processes, Symbolic representation on drawings, Welded joints |
| AWS A2.4 | 2020 | Standard Symbols for Welding, Brazing, and Nondestructive Examination |
| ISO 286-2 | 2010 | GPS: ISO code system for tolerances on linear sizes, tables of standard tolerance classes and limit deviations |
| ISO 5459 | 2024 | GPS: geometrical tolerancing, datums and datum systems |
Editions were checked on the date each lesson was last updated. Standards are copyright documents: the lessons explain them, but buy or borrow the current edition before relying on a value.