Companies that want to outsource the work to digitise technical drawings almost always ask first which software we use. Our core tools are Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, and we also use Inventor and Grasshopper, with Dynamo and Vault to a limited extent. We always work in the latest versions, with our own licences and in our own environment.
For you, that means no extra seats, no network access and no debate about version control at the start of a project.
Which package we choose depends on the work. We approach a machine part differently from a piping diagram, and a building file needs a different setup again from a set of fabrication drawings. What we deliver fits your environment, so DXF, DWG, the Revit formats or STEP, and in practice any common CAD format. We draft and model, usually in high volumes with a lot of repetition. We do not do engineering, because that is what your own team is there for.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
A real example from our revision work on technical drawings
The clearest example from our own work comes from Firefly, the client for whom we have now completed more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings. The as-built material we received there was in poor condition. Existing drawings had been printed incorrectly, some had later been added to by hand, and the whole thing read as a mess. At a moment like that, a firm can do one of two things: pass every ambiguity straight back to the client, or first work out for itself what is actually there. We chose the second. Our drafters laid sheets side by side, derived dimensions from details that were correct elsewhere and bundled the remaining questions into a short list.
We then delivered the file neatly after all. We took a few lessons from that job that we have applied as standard ever since. We take stock of the material before anyone starts drafting, so we know where the gaps are. We bundle our questions rather than sending them in dribs and drabs, because a project lead has no time for ten separate emails a day. We keep the first partial delivery small, especially when the source material is questionable, because that is when a wrong assumption surfaces immediately.
And every sheet goes through at least three layers of review, even when the material supplied was already tidy. We launched this service last year because a client asked for it, and this kind of work is exactly what it is about: repetitive, high-volume and too labour-intensive for a drawing office that is already at capacity. What we learned at Firefly about poor source material we now apply to every file that arrives in a mess, whatever the industry.
What you get when we digitise technical drawings
When we digitise technical drawings, what we deliver is essentially 2D drafting, with 3D modelling where needed. In concrete terms, that means part drawings, assembly drawings, piping diagrams, floor plans, sections, detail sheets and elevations, rebuilt in DWG or DXF. If the project calls for a model, we build it in Revit or Rhino and deliver it in the Revit formats or as a STEP file. As-built drawings and revisions are a regular part of this work, because most files that reach us were changed at some point without anyone updating the sheet. We also build parametric Revit families, in other words smart components.
A component like that adapts to a different size or a new situation, so the drafting is done once and a drafter can then place it anywhere. With a linked material schedule, the schedule updates automatically to match the component. We see the effect of that in greenhouse construction. Companies in that sector often work in AutoCAD, and AutoCAD is not smart at building up components such as valves in piping systems. If you need a valve in 90 and in 110, you draw it by hand from scratch every time.
With a smart family it is in place in a single action, and in that type of work it saves at least seventy per cent of the time. So we do not just take over existing sheets, we also set up the drawing set so that your next project runs faster. We decide together with you which components deserve that treatment, because it only pays off where there is genuine repetition.
No ongoing payroll costs and no idle staff once the peak is over. If one of our people is off sick or on holiday, we replace them and the work simply carries on.
The finished set after digitising technical drawings
You receive source files from us, not locked-down output. That means the DWGs, DXFs, Revit files or STEP files themselves, including the layer structure, blocks and title blocks as we built them. Your drafting team can then carry on without us, and that is exactly the idea. The intellectual property of everything we make belongs to you, including the interim versions from a partial delivery. When setting up the drawing set, we think about the process that follows. If the material goes to someone in work preparation, we pay attention to legible dimensioning and consistent naming. If a production process follows, a clean 3D model in an exchangeable format matters more than a nicely laid-out sheet. If the file is mainly for reference, the emphasis is on completeness and a logical sheet layout.
If the drawing set contains parametric families, we deliver them in a way that lets you generate variants yourself. We process revisions within the same structure, so you do not end up with two versions living side by side. We agree in advance exactly what the delivery includes, so nobody is missing a file afterwards. And if an addition comes up later, we handle it in the same setup instead of creating a separate set alongside it. That keeps the file usable for the people who work with it after us. At the final delivery, we go through the set once more as a whole, because individual sheets can each be correct while the whole still does not hang together.
CAD standards and layer structure when digitising technical drawings
We work to your CAD standards and drawing conventions, and we get those from you. That is not a formality, because a digitised set that deviates from the rest of the archive later costs a drawing office more time than it saves. So at the start we ask for the layer structure, line weights, text heights, hatching, block names and title block. If there is no documented standard, we derive the conventions from recent work and present our interpretation before we send hundreds of sheets in the same direction.
With Revit it goes further than layers. There we look at the templates and the family library, and in practice those are far from always clean.
We tidy up existing families and templates or build them from scratch. Which is wiser depends on the condition of the existing set: if it is very messy, rebuilding is sometimes quicker than repairing. We present that trade-off with a brief rationale, so you make the choice yourself. We also agree on naming and file structure, because that is often where things still go wrong at handover. Checking these points is built into our process: a second team member reviews the work, Sam checks the technical side as team leader, and Barry, as project manager, gives it a final review.
We report any deviations we find in the existing set, but we do not quietly correct them. You decide whether an old deviation stays or whether we straighten it out in the new set, because that is not a choice we should make on your behalf.
Frequently asked questions about digitising technical drawings
Let us digitise your technical drawings
Send us your documents and drawing conventions and we will let you know within one to two working days what we can take on and when.