drafter

thumb|upright|Traditional drafter at work thumb|A drafter in Portugal in the 1970s, using a drafting machine A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or CAD designs for machinery, buildings, electronics, infrastructure, sections, etc. Drafters use computer software and manual sketches to convert the designs, plans, and layouts of engineers and architects into a set of technical drawings. Drafters operate as the supporting developers and sketch engineering designs and drawings from preliminary design concepts.

== Overview == thumb|A drafter at work on a drawing of a Ordnance QF 25-pounder|25-pound gun, 1942 In the past, drafters sat or stood at drawing boards and used pencils, pens, compasses, rulers, protractors, triangles, and other drafting devices to prepare a drawing by hand. From the 1980s through 1990s, board drawings were going out of style as the newly developed computer-aided design (CAD) system was released and was able to produce technical drawings at a faster pace.