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It argues tracing is under-theorised in architectural drawing scholarship because attention often focuses on marks rather than on supports such as paper. Through historical discussion, including Renaissance descriptions of tracing paper production and use, the work connects tracing to copying practices, interpretive invention, and the guidance role of master draughtsmen, and relates analog techniques to contemporary CAD layer methods.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-discipline-of-tracing-in-architectural-drawing-dr-ray-lucas-introduction/664223/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-discipline-of-tracing-in-architectural-drawing-dr-ray-lucas-introduction/664223.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"\tJames","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is tracing in architectural drawing, according to the paper?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Tracing is the act of drawing with or on tracing paper (or similar transparent papers), distinct from the broader concept of a “trace” as discussed by writers such as Ingold.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the paper claim tracing has been under-theorised in architectural drawing literature?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Because scholarship tends to focus on lines and marks that constitute drawing, while paying insufficient attention to the support surface—most often paper—where marks are made.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the paper relate Renaissance tracing practices to architectural design today?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It uses historical descriptions of tracing paper’s production and use to show how tracing enables copying while also supporting interpretative intervention, linking these functions to iterative architectural design and to modern CAD practices that mimic layered translucent media.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},664223,1793246138,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":36},2336474466412,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","The University of Manchester Research  \nThe discipline of tracing in architectural drawing  \nDocument Version  \nAccepted author manuscript  \nLink to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer  \nCitation for published version (APA):  \nLucas, R. (2017) . The discipline of tracing in architectural drawing. In C. Johannessen, & T. Van Leeuwen (Eds. ), The Materiality of Writing: A Trace Making Perspective (pp. 116-137) . (Routledge Studies in Multimodality) . Routledge.  \nPublished in:  \nThe Materiality of Writing  \nCiting this paper  \nPlease note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version.  \nGeneral rights  \nCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.  \nTakedown policy  \nIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s Takedown Procedures [[http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo](http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo)] or [contact openresearch@manchester.ac.uk](contact openresearch@manchester.ac.uk) providing relevant details, so  \nwe can investigate your claim.  \nDownload date:29 . Oct. 2026  \nThe Discipline of Tracing in Architectural Drawing  \nDr Ray Lucas,  \nUniversity of Manchester, Manchester School of Architecture  \nINTRODUCTION  \nThis paper considers the nature of tracing 1 in architecture, a fundamental drawing practice which relies upon transparent paper, allowing lines from one drawing to be selectively re-used in subsequent inscriptions. Whilst not unique to architecture, tracing paper found prominence in the discipline and embedded itself as a key technology within the design process. The use of tracing paper is replicated by contemporary CAD software, where layers mimic stacks of translucent paper and allow copying, iterative designs, and cross-referencing of alternative projections. Tracing is under-theorised within the body of literature on architectural drawing. This is due in part to the focus on lines and marks which constitute drawing, and insufficient attention paid to the support, most often paper, upon which the marks are made. Drawing can be said to consist of the contact between mark and surface, however, and by ignoring the support we are missing a large part of the story.  \nWriting at the turn of the 15th Century, the Florentine artist Cennino d'Andrea Cennini described many practices and processes of Renaissance art. One such process was the production and uses of tracing paper:  \n'You should be aware that there is also a paper known as tracing paper which may be very useful to you. To copy a head, or a figure, or a half figure, as you may find it attractive, by the hand of the great masters, and to get the outlines right, from paper, panel, or wall, which you want to take right off, put this tracing paper over the figure or drawing, fastening it nicely at the four corners with a little red or green wax. Because of the transparency of the tracing paper, the figure or drawing underneath immediately shows through, in such shape and manner that you see it clearly. Then take either a pen cut quite fine or a fine brush of fine miniver; and you may proceed to pick out with ink the outlines and accents of the drawing underneath' and in general to touch in shadows as far as you can see to do it. And then, lifting off the paper, you may touch it up with any high lights and reliefs, as you please. ' (1960:13)  \nThis is accompanied by a detailed account of how to make tracing paper (through various processes such as scraping or applying glues & oil) and parchment, but it is notable that this brief discussion of tracing paper moves quickly from replicating ","cbCaisVF95rStsig","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisVF95rStsig","pdf",261733,16,"English","# Introduction\n## Traced Drawings as Knowledge Production","[{\"question\":\"What is tracing in architectural drawing, according to the paper?\",\"answer\":\"Tracing is the act of drawing with or on tracing paper (or similar transparent papers), distinct from the broader concept of a “trace” as discussed by writers such as Ingold.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper claim tracing has been under-theorised in architectural drawing literature?\",\"answer\":\"Because scholarship tends to focus on lines and marks that constitute drawing, while paying insufficient attention to the support surface—most often paper—where marks are made.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper relate Renaissance tracing practices to architectural design today?\",\"answer\":\"It uses historical descriptions of tracing paper’s production and use to show how tracing enables copying while also supporting interpretative intervention, linking these functions to iterative architectural design and to modern CAD practices that mimic layered translucent media.\"}]","The Discipline of Tracing in Architectural Drawing - Dr Ray Lucas - INTRODUCTION | PDF"]