Professional Engineering Drawings
AI Dimension Recognition & Balloon Annotation

BaboApp uses advanced AI to recognize annotations on engineering drawings and generate balloon drawings and inspection reports in one click. Boost efficiency by 90% and reduce missed inspections.

System Overview

A professional tool for extracting dimensions from engineering drawings, generating balloon annotations, and producing inspection sheets. AI recognizes dimensions, plus/minus tolerances, diameters, angles, and more, then automatically creates balloon drawings and professional inspection reports.

Multi-format support: images, PDF, DXF
AI recognition: dimensions, tolerances, and angles
Custom default tolerances: standard tables or company tables by type
Interactive balloons: drag, scale, and custom colors
Smart filters: by annotation type or gage
Gage library: save common gages and batch-assign
Professional reports: custom Excel templates and export settings
Inspection export options: quantity expand, precision, simulated measurements, and more

A New Interaction Experience

Balloon Operations

  • L

    Drag with left click

    Press and hold a balloon to move it anywhere on the drawing. Leader lines snap automatically to keep the layout clean.

  • 2×

    Double-click to edit

    Double-click a balloon to open the editor and change the dimension value, tolerances, notes, and more.

  • R

    Right-click menu

    Right-click for quick actions such as delete, disable, and reset position.

  • Sp

    Move a capture box

    Hold Space and drag on a dimension box to move it without entering edit mode.

  • Sel

    Marquee batch delete

    Hold Space and drag on empty canvas to select balloons, then delete them in one step.

Look & Layout

  • Z

    Global scale

    Use the toolbar to scale balloons from 30% to 200% for dense or simple drawings.

  • C

    Custom colors

    Assign colors to 13 annotation types so linear dimensions, GD&T, and others are easy to tell apart.

  • S

    Smart numbering

    Group by view, grid, type, or gage, then number each group in reading order, columns, clockwise, or counterclockwise. You can also draw view boxes on the drawing.

Get Started in Five Steps

1
📁

Choose a drawing

Drag and drop or click to select images (JPG, PNG), PDF files, or AutoCAD DXF files

2
🔍

AI recognition

The system scans the drawing and extracts dimensions, tolerances, diameters, angles, and other key data

3
⭕

Generate balloons

Numbered balloons are placed on the drawing automatically based on recognition results

4
🖱️

Review and interact

Drag balloons, double-click to edit, right-click for more actions. Shift+drag adds a balloon. Hold Space to move a capture box or marquee-select balloons to batch-delete. Use Sort in the list for numbering strategies

5
📄

Export reports

Export a standard Excel inspection report and a high-resolution ballooned drawing in one click

Feature Guide

Upload & prepare files

Multiple mainstream engineering drawing formats so you can start quickly.

Supported formats

JPG and PNG images, multi-page PDF documents, and AutoCAD DXF vector files.

Upload tips

Drag files onto the home upload area, or click the center iconto choose a file. For multi-page PDFs, thumbnails let you pick which page to process.

AI recognition

A custom deep-learning model extracts key dimensions from the drawing.

What is extracted

The drawing is scannedto extract linear dimensions, diameters, radii, angles, tolerances, and GD&T symbols.

Smart analysis

The AIreads text and also analyzes extension lines and leaders to place the initial balloon.

Balloon interaction (core)

Flexible controls so you can organize balloons as efficiently as in CAD.

Move & snap

Press and hold a balloonand drag. A leader line points back to the original location and snaps near annotation edges so the layout stays neat.

100
Scale & color

Use Balloon scale100in the toolbar for different drawings. Balloon colorlets you assign a color per annotation type (for example critical dimensions).

Add a balloon manually

Missed by AI? Hold Shift and drag on the drawing. An editoropens and numbering is filled in automatically.

Move a capture box

Hold Space and drag on a dimension box to nudge the capture frame when recognition is slightly off. Release Space to return to normal balloon dragging and editing.

Marquee batch delete

Hold Space and drag on empty canvas to select multiple balloons. A batch menu lets you delete them at once. Undo with Ctrl/Cmd+Z or the toolbar Undo button. You can also multi-select in the annotation list.

Edit & review data

What you see is what you export — every value can be checked before you generate a report.

Quick edit

Double-click any balloonto change its value, tolerances, notes, and linked gages.

Right-click menu

Right-click a balloonto delete, disable, bring to front, or reset it to the original recognized position.

Default & custom tolerances

Click the Tolerance iconat the top of the data list to open Default tolerance settings. Enable defaults by type (linear, diameter, angle, and more); use Standard table (lookup by grade) or Manual plus/minus values. Dimensions without tolerances on the drawing pick these up and appear in blue. After login, Manage custom tolerance tables to create company standards, or Apply to all types to copy one setup everywhere.

Live sync

Edits show up immediately in the data list on the right. Click a row to jump to that balloon on the drawing.

View & numbering

Organize annotations so even dense drawings stay readable.

Smart numbering

Click Sortat the top of the list. Group by view, grid, type, or gage, then number each group in reading order, columns, clockwise, or counterclockwise. You can draw view boxes on the drawing; without boxes, empty bands between views are used automatically.

Filter by type

Click Filterto show or hide balloons by annotation type.

Filter by gage

In the filter panelyou can also filter by linked gage, so inspection can follow gage by gage.

Gages & templates

Advanced tools for a standardized inspection workflow.

Batch-assign gages

Click the Gage iconto assign preset gages by annotation type in one step.

Export templates

Click Export Exceland choose a published template for automatic fill-in. In the user menu, Manage templates to upload a draft, edit variables online, and publish.

Export settings

In the Excel export dialog, open Export settings (saved in this browser):
  • Expand quantity prefixes: e.g. 3×26 or 4×Ø8 become multiple rows (16-1, 16-2…)
  • Numeric precision: unify decimal places for nominal, tolerances, and limits
  • Symbols on nominals: whether to output Ø / R / ° / C
  • Insert balloon drawing: embed the canvas in Excel (mutually exclusive with pad-to-A4 blank rows)
  • Simulated measurements: fill in-tolerance values at random or to a Cp/Cpk target

High-res export

In the upper-right of the drawing viewexport a ballooned high-resolution PNG or vector PDF.

FAQ

How do I add a new balloon?
Hold Shift and drag with the left mouse button to select the area. Fill in the annotation in the dialog and confirm to create a numbered balloon.
How do I quickly move a capture box?
Hold Space and drag on the dimension box around the text. Release Space to return to normal interaction. Use this when the recognized box is slightly off.
How do I batch-delete balloons with a selection?
Hold Space and drag on empty canvas to select balloons. A batch menu appears so you can delete them at once. Undo with Ctrl/Cmd+Z or the toolbar Undo button. You can also multi-select in the annotation list.
What automatic numbering strategies are available?
Open Sort at the top of the annotation list. Choose a grouping (view, grid, type, gage, or top-to-bottom / left-to-right), then a path inside each group: reading order, columns, clockwise, or counterclockwise. For multi-view drawings you can draw view boxes on the sheet; without boxes, empty bands between views are used. Preview, then Apply. Fine-tune with ↑↓ in the list, or switch to custom numbering.
How do I customize default tolerances?
Click the Tolerance icon at the top of the annotation list. Enable defaults by type and choose a standard table or manual plus/minus values. Dimensions without tolerances on the drawing pick up these defaults and appear in blue. After login you can also manage custom company tolerance tables.
What export settings matter for inspection sheets?
Open Export Settings in the lower-left of the Excel export dialog. Common options: expand quantity prefixes (e.g. 3×26 into multiple rows), numeric precision, whether nominal values include Ø/R symbols, insert the balloon drawing, pad blank rows to fill A4, and simulated measurements (random within tolerance or Cp/Cpk). Settings are saved in this browser.
Which file formats are supported?
Images (JPG, PNG), engineering drawing PDFs, and AutoCAD DXF/DWG vector files.
How is data kept private?
Drawings are processed on the server only for dimension recognition and are deleted afterward. Transfers use SSL. History drawings stay in your local browser and can be opened only by signed-in users.

Still have questions? Contact us

If you run into issues or have feature ideas, send them to our team.

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