What to look for in software that reads engineering drawings
To choose software that reads engineering drawings, test it on your own drawings and check that every value is boxed where it was read, carries a confidence level, is checked by rules and waits for a person when in doubt, and that its accuracy is published with its weak spots. Below is that checklist, with SpecCapture's own answer to each item from its published facts.
How to test one
Try it on your own drawings first.
Pick your drawings
Choose a dozen you know well, including your worst scans and a multi-sheet file, and write down the right values first.
Run them
Upload them to each tool you are weighing. Once sign-ups open, SpecCapture's free trial gives 25 sheets over 14 days, no card needed.
Check every value
Count the values that are wrong or missing, and above all the wrong ones the tool did not flag: those reach your system unseen.
Count the work left
Add up what you would still check, correct and retype on each sheet, beside the price per sheet.
What to look for
The checklist, and what SpecCapture does.
Does it show where each value came from?
Every value it reads comes with a box around the place on the drawing it was read from, so checking it takes a glance. Through the API, each value comes with a confidence score from 0 to 1, a review state and, while the drawing is kept, a bounding box in page coordinates from 0 to 1, measured from the top left of the sheet.
Does it say how sure it is, and wait for a person?
Each value gets a confidence level, and a value that fails a rule, was written by hand, or that SpecCapture is unsure of is flagged for a person to check. A new workspace starts with every value waiting for a person to confirm it; a field is accepted automatically only after people have confirmed its values 20 times in a row with no correction, and even then only when SpecCapture is confident in the value.
Does it check values with rules?
Rules that work the same way every time check dates, revision letters, material specifications and units. A value that fails one is flagged for a person to check.
Does it read whole tables?
It reads every row of the revision history, bill of materials, hole table, application block and tabulated dash numbers, and each row comes out marked with the sheet it came from.
Does it read the tolerance block by category?
A tolerance block gives different tolerances for different kinds of dimension, so they are read separately: the general tolerances for fractions, decimals (by number of places) and angles.
Does it flag handwriting?
Hand-lettered values are read too. Values recognized as handwriting are always flagged for a person to check.
Is its accuracy published, weak spots included?
On PDFs exported from CAD, in drawing styles it has been tuned on, SpecCapture read the critical fields (part number, revision, material and finish) right 97.4% of the time. On drawings it was seeing for the first time it did worse: 85.6% on 35 new sheets in styles it knew, and 88.4% on 9 sheets in three styles it had never seen. Scans are weaker: the critical fields came out right 82.1% of the time on 1960s microfilm scans and 58.6% on drawings scanned from old printed reports.
Can the data go where you need it?
Results download as an XLSX workbook, CSV files or JSON, or come through a REST API with a signed webhook when a file is finished, and AI assistants that support MCP can use its MCP server at https://api.speccapture.com/mcp. Each uploaded file exports on its own, as one workbook, one set of CSV files or one JSON file, so to keep a batch together, combine its sheets into one PDF or TIFF file, or collect every file's values through the API.
What happens to your drawings?
You choose how long drawings are kept, 0, 7, 30 or 90 days; then the file, its page images and the marks showing where each value was read are deleted automatically, and the values read from it stay until you delete the drawing or your workspace. New workspaces start at 30 days. Your drawings are not used to train AI models that anyone else uses. Files and extracted data are stored in a US region. SpecCapture is not for export-controlled drawings, such as those covered by ITAR or the EAR.
What does a sheet cost?
A sheet is one page of a drawing file, so a three-sheet PDF uses three. Starter is $79 a month for 100 drawing sheets; Pro $199 for 350, Business $499 for 1,100 and Scale $999 for 3,750. Used in full, a plan's sheets cost from 79 cents each on Starter down to 27 cents each on Scale. Credit packs need no plan: 60 sheets for $60, 275 for $250 or 700 for $600, each one payment. A pack's sheets count for 12 months, and a workspace on a plan uses its plan's sheets first. SpecCapture is not open for sign-ups yet; the free trial and these prices are what it is planned to open with.
Every fact in one place, with how accuracy was measured: SpecCapture at a glance.
Questions
What people ask.
Can I use a general OCR or document AI tool on engineering drawings?
You can try any tool on your own drawings; what matters is what it gets right on them. Test it against this checklist: whether each value comes back under its field's name with a box on the drawing, whether tables come back row by row, whether doubtful values are flagged, and how many values you still correct. SpecCapture reads each sheet's printed text with OCR, which works on scans as well as PDFs, has an AI model pick out each field's value, and boxes each value where its text was found on the sheet.
How should I test software that extracts data from drawings?
On your own drawings, with the right values written down first: include your worst scans, a multi-sheet file and a parts list. Count wrong values, missing values, and above all wrong values the software did not flag, because those reach your system unseen.
How accurate is AI at extracting data from engineering drawings?
It depends on the drawings and the software, so ask for measured figures with their method and weak spots, and test on your own drawings. SpecCapture publishes its own. On PDFs exported from CAD, in drawing styles it has been tuned on, SpecCapture read the critical fields (part number, revision, material and finish) right 97.4% of the time. On drawings it was seeing for the first time it did worse: 85.6% on 35 new sheets in styles it knew, and 88.4% on 9 sheets in three styles it had never seen. Scans are weaker: the critical fields came out right 82.1% of the time on 1960s microfilm scans and 58.6% on drawings scanned from old printed reports. Every test drawing has an answer key: the value printed on the sheet for each field, written down separately from SpecCapture's reading.
What software extracts data from 2D engineering drawings with a human review step?
SpecCapture does. A new workspace starts with every value waiting for a person to confirm it; a field is accepted automatically only after people have confirmed its values 20 times in a row with no correction, and even then only when SpecCapture is confident in the value. Every value it reads comes with a box around the place on the drawing it was read from, so checking it takes a glance.
How is SpecCapture priced?
A sheet is one page of a drawing file, so a three-sheet PDF uses three. Starter is $79 a month for 100 drawing sheets; Pro $199 for 350, Business $499 for 1,100 and Scale $999 for 3,750. Used in full, a plan's sheets cost from 79 cents each on Starter down to 27 cents each on Scale. Credit packs need no plan: 60 sheets for $60, 275 for $250 or 700 for $600, each one payment. A pack's sheets count for 12 months, and a workspace on a plan uses its plan's sheets first. SpecCapture starts with a free trial: 25 sheets over 14 days for $0, with no card needed and every feature included. SpecCapture is not open for sign-ups yet; the free trial and these prices are what it is planned to open with.
Early access
Be first to try SpecCapture.
Leave your email and we will let you know when early access opens. Plans start at $79/mo.
We use your address only to tell you about SpecCapture. Privacy