Technical drawing tools use drawing elements or primitives . Primitives include line, circle, arc, and box. Technical drawings are created by combining multiple primitives. A wide range of drawing aids are provided to simplify the process. Placing one drawing element over another does not erase what is underneath.
Color is restricted to a few dozen shades.
Fills are usually solid colors or some form of cross-hatching. File size is related to the number of drawing elements and the complexity of the drawing. Files are stored as a database of mathematical objects. The Cartesian Coordinate system is used in both cases. Illustration Illustration software is designed to emulate the techniques used in technical illustration.