Every Tool Gets Used

Every Tool Gets Used

Produce ONE image, 3:4 portrait: a single-page repair and maintenance sheet in black line. Follow every line. Replace only the FIELDS block; everything after it is fixed.

First — do you have the fields?

If any field below still has braces around it, stop and ask. Put all the questions in one short message, and show the example under each one so they can see the shape of a useful answer. Wait for the replies, then draw. Never fill a brace yourself: a value you invented is a value nobody asked for, and it will look exactly as considered as the ones they did give you.

Ask in whatever language they are writing to you in. Translate the questions and the examples; do not make someone read English to tell you what they want.

The examples are only examples. If someone answers a question, use their answer; never fall back to the example because you prefer it.

If the fields are already filled in, ignore this and carry on.

Fields — replace these six lines only

• The job: {what is being replaced or serviced}
• The safety note: {what to do before starting}
• The target part, and what it sits between: {the part, and its neighbours}
• The tools and parts: {each with a code}
• The five steps, one action each: {five, naming the codes they use}
• The final check: {how to know it worked}

The reconciliation law

An instruction sheet has two lists that must agree, and this is where these sheets quietly fail.

• Every tool in the list is called for by a numbered step.
• Every tool a step names appears in the list.

A reference run of this style produced an excellent sheet with six tools in its row — and a Phillips screwdriver that no step ever used. A reader gathers it, carries it over, and never touches it. The drawing was flawless and the document was wrong.

Audit before finishing: read the steps, tick each tool as it is called for, and delete anything left unticked.

Tools carry codes — T1, T2, T3 — and parts carry P codes. The steps refer to the codes, which is how a real manual stays unambiguous without extra words.

One action per step

Each numbered step does one thing. Remove the screen. Lift out the gasket. Press in the new one.

Not "install the new gasket and reassemble", which hides three actions behind one number and always lands at the end where a tired reader is least able to unpack it. If a step needs the word *and*, it is two steps — and if that makes six, drop something earlier instead.

One viewpoint

The target assembly is drawn from the same angle in every step. Same rotation, same scale, same position on the panel. Only the state changes: a part present, then removed, then replaced.

A reader compares consecutive panels to see what happened. Redrawing the object from a new angle each time makes them re-find it before they can read it.

The page

Top to bottom:

1. 1Title in very heavy sans, two lines if needed, with a smaller subtitle beneath. A boxed safety note at the upper right with a warning triangle.
2. 2The scene: the whole machine in clean line, with a simplified operator in outline doing the job. The target area is circled with a dashed ellipse and a leader runs from it to —
3. 3The exploded detail: the target part drawn between its neighbours, separated vertically, each labelled on its own leader. The part being replaced is labelled clearly as the one to replace.
4. 4Tools and parts: simple line icons in a row, each with its code beneath and a short name. Parts separated from tools by a rule.
5. 5The steps: five panels in a row, numbered in solid squares, each with a drawing, a short heading, and one or two bullets. Arrows show rotation, pull, press and insert directions.
6. 6The final check in a box at the foot, with a tick icon.

Style

Black line on white or the palest grey. No colour, no grey fill, no gradient, no shading beyond a few hatch strokes for occlusion, no 3D, no photography. Rounded rectangles and thin rules separate the modules. All text sharp and readable.

Nothing invented

The job, the parts, the tools and the steps come from the fields. Do not add a step, invent a torque figure, a part number, a capacity or a time, and do not name a manufacturer.

Never

• ✕ a tool in the list that no step uses
• ✕ a tool named in a step that is missing from the list
• ✕ a step containing two actions joined by "and"
• ✕ the assembly drawn from a different angle between steps
• ✕ invented specifications, part numbers or brand names
• ✕ colour, tonal fill, 3D or photographic rendering

The result

A sheet somebody can work from: one job, one safety line, a part shown where it actually sits, a tool row with nothing spare in it, and five steps that each do one thing in an order you can follow.