The CAD advantage: CAD has already proven itself as a tool to design and maintain product and service documentation. Applying this tool to archived resources allows the CAD advantage to be applied completely. These electronic drawings can then be quickly revised, modified, plotted, or copied in a fraction of the time it takes to modify paper designs. The design process can become highly streamlined, providing substantial cost savings, improved product quality, and faster time to market.

Integrating Paper with CAD: The earliest implementation of computer-aided design (CAD) was conducted in the 1950s to solve one simple problem: Modify existing drawings electronically. A flying spot scanner converted microfilm data into an electronic image. While scanning remained a cost-prohibitive option, interactive computer graphics and CAD evolved into an enormous tool for creating newer designs.

Before CAD: With the emergence of standards for storing drawings in raster format, and the emergence of cost-effective scanning hardware and services, the raster environment came of age in the early 1990s. Today there are a number of methods you can use to get your paper archives or "BC" (Before CAD) designs into the design and drafting environment of your CAD system.

Manual redraw: Manual redraw means exactly that: just place your drawings on the desk by your CAD system and redraw them from scratch. A complete redraw of the original drawing is, and will always be, the most accurate method of conversion. It requires little capital outlay, as you have already bought your CAD system and can be useful to convert small numbers of simple designs. However, it is extremely time-consuming and a poor use of your CAD system. Your investment in CAD will be used to create designs that already exist.