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Engineering and technical

AI image models produce convincing photographs of machinery but cannot generate a technical drawing with correct dimensions, tolerances or thread specifications, so they belong on the cover of the document rather than inside it.

Engineering divides the same way chemistry does. A photograph of a machined part, a workshop, a bridge under construction — all strong. A dimensioned drawing, an exploded assembly with callouts, a wiring diagram — all confidently wrong, and wrong in ways that would be expensive to act on.

What this cannot do

Nothing generated should reach a workshop. Dimensions, tolerances, thread pitches, fastener sizes and load ratings are invented, and a drawing that looks like a drawing invites somebody to use it. Real technical drawings come from CAD, where the geometry is the source of the image rather than the other way round.

4 prompts

Machined part, product macro

Manufacturing and materials article headers.

Macro photograph of a precision-machined aluminium component on a dark surface, visible tool marks catching a single raking light, extremely shallow depth of field, industrial product photography, no dimensions or annotations

Things to change

  • — "brass" or "stainless steel" changes the whole feel
  • — "worn and oil-stained" for something less pristine

Workshop, documentary

Manufacturing, operations and trade content.

Wide documentary photograph of a working machine shop, lathes and benches receding into depth, dust visible in shafts of window light, muted industrial palette, no people, slight film grain

Things to change

  • — "a single figure working at a bench" adds human scale
  • — "clean modern facility" versus "old workshop"

Blueprint texture, decorative

Backgrounds and section dividers. "No legible text" is what keeps it usable.

Abstract blueprint texture, fine white technical linework on deep cyan, overlapping geometric construction lines and arcs, no legible text and no numbers, decorative rather than readable, subtle paper grain

Things to change

  • — "white on charcoal" for a modern CAD feel
  • — "aged paper, sepia" for a heritage look

Structure under construction

Civil, structural and project content.

Steel frame of a large structure against an overcast sky, strong repeating geometry, cool desaturated palette, low viewpoint emphasising scale, architectural photography, no signage or text

Things to change

  • — "golden hour" warms it dramatically
  • — "bridge" or "warehouse frame" for specific subjects

Common questions

Can AI generate a technical drawing?
No. Dimensions, tolerances, thread specifications and load figures are all invented, and the drawing convention itself is imitated rather than followed. Use CAD, where the drawing is generated from real geometry.
What engineering imagery generates well?
Photographic subjects: machined parts, workshops, structures, materials, surfaces and textures. Anything where the value is in how it looks rather than in a number written on it.
Why does the model add fake annotations?
Because technical drawings in its training data have annotations, so it reproduces the appearance of labelling without any content behind it. Asking for "no dimensions or annotations" removes the temptation to trust them.

Get the numbers right too