Traces

• When a line is inclined to a reference plane, it will intersect the

plane (sometimes extension may be necessary)
• The point of intersection of the line and the plane is called the Trace

• Horizontal Trace (H.T): Point of intersection of line with HP. It is

marked on the top view (front view will lie on XY, marked as h’)

• Vertical Trace (V.T): Point of intersection of line with VP. It is marked

on the front view (top view will lie on XY, marked as v)

If a line is parallel to a plane, it will not have a trace on that plane

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Lines Parallel to both HP and VP
• The line intersects neither HP nor VP
• H.T and V.T don’t exist

30

a’ b’

40
x y

25
a b
NO TRACES

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 Lines Perpendicular to VP
(and Parallel to HP)
• Line meets VP when extended
• V.T will coincide with front views a’ and b’
• No H.T as line is parallel to HP
b’ (a’), V.T
V.T

20
90o
x y
v
90o

10
a

25
b
NO H.T
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Lines Perpendicular to HP
(and Parallel to VP)
• Line meets HP when extended
• H.T will coincide with top views a and b
• No V.T as line is parallel to VP
a’

25
b’

10
90o
h’ y
H.T
x
90o

20 a(b) , H.T

NO V.T
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 Lines Parallel to VP, Inclined to HP
• Line meets HP when extended
• No V.T as line is parallel to VP

b’

30o
a’

15
h’
x y

20
H.T a b
H.T
NO V.T

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Lines Parallel to HP, Inclined to VP
• Line meets VP when extended
• No H.T as line is parallel to HP

V.T
a’ b’

20
x v y
V.T

15
a 35o

NO H.T

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 Lines Inclined to Both HP and VP
• Both traces exist
• Extend front view (c’d’) to meet XY at h’
• Draw projector of h’ to meet extended top view (cd) at H.T
• Extend top view (cd) to meet XY at v
• Draw projector of v to meet extended front view (c’d’) at V.T d’

c’
h’
x v y

V.T H.T
c

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 Lines on Auxiliary Planes
b’

• Case 1: Line AB lies on an Auxiliary Inclined

Plane (AIP), inclined at angle a with HP a’ a
and | to VP
• FV (a’b’) will be inclined to xy at angle a a

• Case 2: Line AB lies on an Auxiliary Vertical

Plane (AVP), inclined at angle b with VP b
A A.V.P.
and | to HP
• TV (ab) will be inclined to xy at angle b B

b
a b

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 Lines on Profile Plane
For T.V. ORTHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION OF LINE IN PROFILE PLANE
VP VT v PP
a’ a”
A a’
f
FV LSV

b’ b’ b”
x q y
h’
a
B
TV
a
b
b HP HT

• TV & FV both are vertical, hence they fall on a single projector

• Side View shows True Length ( TL)
• Line forms a right triangle with HP and VP, i.e. sum of the inclinations with HP & VP equals 90o
• i.e. q + f = 90o
• HT and VT lie on the same projector and can be located on the Side View.
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 Trapezoidal Plane Method
• To determine TL, q, f, traces
• From a’, draw a line | to a’b’ and mark a’A =
distance of a from XY B
• Similarly, from a, draw a line | to ab and
mark aA = distance of a’ from XY b’
• Repeat the procedure at b’ and b to get B
A
• Join AB in the front view. This gives TL
a’
• The angle between AB and a’b’ is f
• Join AB in top view to get TL and q x y
H.T a
• The intersection of AB and a’b’ is V.T
V.T
• The intersection of AB and ab is H.T A b

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 Obtaining Projections using Traces
A line AB is 75 mm long. Its FV and TV make 45o b’ b2’
and 60o angles with XY respectively. End A is 15
mm above HP and VT is 20 mm below XY. The line FV
is in first quadrant. Draw its projections, find
inclinations with HP & VP and locate the HT.
Locus of a’ a’ a2 ’

15 x v h’
y
20 600
q
450 a1 ’
VT
HT
Steps: a a1
• Draw a line connecting the trace to the given
point (in this case, VT to A)
• Draw the true length line connecting VT to A and TV
extend it by 75 mm to get B (TL position)
• Get projections of B
• Find inclinations as before
ZZ1002D Engineering Graphics b Locus of b b1
• Find HT
 Projections using Traces
The top view of a line AB measures 60 mm and makes
an angle of 45o with XY. A is in the VP and HT of the line
is 15 mm above XY. The line is inclined at 30o to HP.
Draw the projections of AB and find its true length, and
inclination with VP.
Also locate VT.

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 Important Points – Projection of Lines
• If a line is parallel to VP:
View Length Inclination to XY
Front True length (TL) q (true angle with HP)
Top Length of actual top view 0 (parallel to xy)

• For finding TL, q, first make the line parallel to VP

– Rotate about 1 end (say A) with axis | HP
– a, a’ are fixed b’

– In top view, end b traces an arc (centre a, radius ab)

a’ q
– In front view, end b’ moves horizontally x y
• FV, TV (e.g. a, a’) always lie along the same projector a
• Use the reverse technique for getting the projection
b
of the line, when TL, q are known
• When q + f = 90o, the line lies on a PP. Both FV, TV are | XY
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 Important Points – Projection of Lines
• Sometimes the information of both end points may not be given
• But some other point on the line (or its extension) will be given:
– e.g. midpoint N
A B
– traces
HT A B
• In this case, start by drawing the projections of the known portion
d’
of the line (e.g. NB, HT-A) and then produce it to get the full line
• Horizontal trace : Intersection of line with HP
– First find intersection of FV with XY  h’ c’
– Locate HT on TV x v h’ y

• Vertical trace : Intersection of line with VP

– First find intersection of TV with XY  v V.T H.T
– Locate VT on FV c

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d