FREE TOOL — AI DIMENSION DETECTION + BALLOONING

Free Drawing
Ballooning Tool1

Balloon engineering drawings for CMM, CNC and first-article (FAI) inspection. Let the AI auto-detect dimensions and GD&T, or place balloons by hand, then export a ballooned PDF in seconds.

100% Free
No login
No email
No ads
No watermark

Start Ballooning Why is it free?

100% Private Your full drawing stays on your device

0 Stored We never save your files or crops

<1 sec Processing Super fast in your browser

DRAWING-VIEWPORT.PDF NOTHING STORED

Drop your drawing here

PDF · PNG · JPG — the ballooning canvas loads right here

QUICK START

How to use

Upload a drawing — drag it onto the canvas or use ☰ Menu → Upload. PDF, PNG, or JPG.
Auto-detect: pick Auto, drag a box around a cluster of dimensions, then click Detect this region. QA-Report reads the dimensions, drops numbered balloons, and fills the Measurements table.
Semi-Auto: pick Semi, draw a box around each individual dimension, then click Detect to read them all in one go.
Prefer to place them by hand? Switch to Balloon mode and click the drawing to drop numbered balloons yourself.
Use Pan (or middle-drag) and the mouse wheel to zoom; Full screen expands the workspace (Esc exits). Drag a balloon to move it; hover it and click ✕ to delete.
Adjust color & size, then open ☰ Menu → Output to download the ballooned PDF or full report — numbers stay consistent across all pages.

Most drawings are fully ballooned in under two minutes.

AI dimension detection, not just manual ballooning

Manual ballooning is quick, but reading every callout off a busy drawing is the slow part. This tool adds AI dimension detection: draw a box around a cluster of dimensions and it recognises the values and GD&T, drops numbered balloons, and builds a measurements table with the nominal and tolerances - ready for your CMM program or first-article report. Use Auto to grab a whole region at once, or Semi-Auto to box each feature individually, and review every result before it is added. Only the region you select is sent to our AI to be read - with no file name or context - and it is never stored; your full drawing stays on your device.

Ballooning for CMM, CNC and inspection reporting

Drawing ballooning (also known as bubble drawings or ballooned prints) is the first step in most quality inspection workflows. Before you write a CMM program, complete a first article inspection (FAI / AS9102), or build a dimensional inspection report, every dimension on the drawing needs its own balloon number. This free tool lets you balloon a PDF or scanned drawing right in your browser and export a clean, numbered print to hand to inspectors, machinists, or your CMM operator.

Who uses this free ballooning tool

Quality engineers

Preparing first article (FAI), PPAP and dimensional inspection reports.

CMM programmers

Numbering features before writing a measurement program.

CNC machinists & inspectors

Checking machined parts against the drawing.

Aerospace & automotive teams

Manufacturing teams that need fast, traceable drawing markup.

Why it is 100% free

No login, no email, no ads, and no watermark on your exported PDF. There is nothing to install and nothing to pay for - ballooning and export run right in your browser, and the AI dimension detection is free too (it reads only the region you select, and stores nothing). When you are ready for full inspection reports with automated tolerance checks, dimension tables and CMM data import, QA-Report's CMM inspection software picks up where this free ballooning tool leaves off.

GO BEYOND BALLOONING

Need full inspection reports?

This free tool balloons drawings. QA-Report goes further — automated tolerance checks, dimension tables, and audit-ready first-article reports.

Start Free Trial See CMM Inspection Software

Frequently asked questions

What is drawing ballooning?

Ballooning means adding small numbered markers, called balloons, onto a drawing so every measurement has its own number. Inspection and quality teams use those numbers to check each dimension. This free tool lets you add balloons to a PDF or image and download the result.

Is this drawing ballooning tool free?

Yes. It is completely free and there is no signup. Open the page and start ballooning right away.

Can I balloon a multi-page PDF?

Yes. You can move between pages and add balloons on any of them. The numbers stay in order across the whole document, and the PDF you download includes the balloons on every page.

What file types can I upload?

PDF, PNG, and JPG. If you upload an image, you get back a one-page PDF with your balloons on it.

Can it detect dimensions automatically?

Yes. In Auto mode, drag a box around a cluster of dimensions and the AI reads them, drops numbered balloons, and fills a measurements table with the nominal, tolerance and GD&T. In Semi-Auto mode you box each individual dimension and detect them all in one go. You can review and uncheck any result before it is added to the drawing.

Does AI auto-detection send my drawing to a server?

Only the AI detection uses the cloud, and only the region you select. When you confirm a detection, the tool sends just that cropped image - with no file name and no other context - to our AI detection service so it can read the dimensions. We do not store or save it; nothing is written to disk. Manual ballooning and PDF export never send anything and work fully offline.

Is my drawing private? Do you keep a copy?

We never keep a copy of anything. Your drawing opens on your device, and manual ballooning and export happen entirely in your browser. The only data that ever leaves is the small cropped region you choose to auto-detect - sent with no file name or context to our AI, and never stored.

Can I use it fully offline?

Yes, for manual ballooning and export. Turn on airplane mode and you can still open a drawing, drop balloons, and download the ballooned PDF - it all runs on your own device. The optional AI auto-detection is the one step that needs a connection, since it sends the selected crop to our AI to read the dimensions.