Types Of ScaleĬertain scales are used to produce different drawings.

When a mass or a volume (length x width x height) is either drawn three-dimensionally or created as a physical model, the real-life volume is twenty times the length and twenty times the width and twenty times the height, so 8,000 times larger. When a square or an area (length x width) is drawn on a page, the real-life area is twenty times the length and twenty times the width, so 400 times larger. What is important to note is that when a single line or length is drawn on a page the real-life line is twenty times longer.

The number on the right of the colon refers to how many time larger the real-life measurement is.įor example, a scale of “one to twenty” means that one millimetre on a page represents twenty millimetres in real life.

The number on the left of the colon refers to one unit on the page as a representation of real life.

With metric scale, we pronounce scale as “one” which is the number on the left, “is to” which is the colon “fifty” which is the number on the right. It is important to note that architects generally use millimetres when developing their drawings, not centimetres or metres. We can either work in metric (metres, centimetres, millimetres) and imperial (feet and inches). A scale drawing or model is like taking the original and shrinking it down proportionally. In architecture, we generally reduce the scale rather than enlarge it.

Scale in design refers to the enlarged or reduced representation of a real, full-size object in a drawing or physical model while retaining the proportions of the original.

Metric scale ruler pdf