Plans and Elevations provide an initial, or preliminary set of drawings showing layouts, elevations, and some configurations. These types of drawings are simplified versions that help visualize how the more detailed version might look.

A plan is a two dimensional view of a space. When too much information is shown on one plan it becomes confusing, so often several plans are used for one project. Plans are drawn to scale.

An elevation is a view of a wall that shows items that cannot be clearly shown in a plan. This could be wall moldings, window sizes, fixtures, appliances, or a finish pattern that is applied on the wall.

Professional shop drawings provide comparison information, notes of changes or alterations, information needed to fabricate, indication of dimensions needing verification, and placement or installation information. Standard, plan, elevation, sections, joint details, hardware types and positions, core type, wood or laminate type.

In simplest terms, perspective is a plan view plus an elevation view merged together. The sample below shows a 2-point perspective CAD drawing of how a typical kitchen design might look.

3D Rendering adds shadow, light, color, and texture to a perspective drawing to give a fully simulated view of the finished product.