Balloon the drawing automatically.

Before a first part ships, someone balloons the drawing and builds the inspection report by hand. On a busy drawing that can take an hour before anything is measured. Here the balloons and the list are made with the drawing, so the inspector just measures and types the readings.

Dimensions found

Every dimension on the sheet, numbered and listed.

Ballooned by software

under 1 second

Made at the same time as the drawing.

Ballooned by hand

about 79 min

At about a minute per dimension, the pace in an InspectionXpert customer report (vendor).

Drawing (SVG)

Inspection list

No.	Requirement	Nominal	Reading
1	Overall size, X	4.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 1
2	Overall size, Y	5.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 2
3	Overall size, Z	3.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 3
4	A1 location X (front view)	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 4
5	A1 location Y (front view)	.600 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 5
6	A1 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 6
7	A1 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 7
8	A2 location X (front view)	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 8
9	A2 location Y (front view)	1.900 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 9
10	A2 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 10
11	A2 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 11
12	A3 location X (front view)	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 12
13	A3 location Y (front view)	3.100 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 13
14	A3 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 14
15	A3 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 15
16	A4 location X (front view)	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 16
17	A4 location Y (front view)	4.400 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 17
18	A4 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 18
19	A4 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 19
20	A5 location X (front view)	3.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 20
21	A5 location Y (front view)	.600 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 21
22	A5 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 22
23	A5 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 23
24	A6 location X (front view)	3.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 24
25	A6 location Y (front view)	1.900 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 25
26	A6 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 26
27	A6 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 27
28	A7 location X (front view)	3.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 28
29	A7 location Y (front view)	3.100 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 29
30	A7 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 30
31	A7 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 31
32	A8 location X (front view)	3.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 32
33	A8 location Y (front view)	4.400 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 33
34	A8 diameter	.344 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 34
35	A8 depth	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 35
36	B1 location X (front view)	2.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 36
37	B1 location Y (front view)	2.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 37
38	B1 diameter	1.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 38
39	B1 through	THRU	Reading for characteristic 39
40	B1 counterbore diameter	1.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 40
41	B1 counterbore depth	1.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 41
42	B1 counterbore diameter	2.250 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 42
43	B1 counterbore depth	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 43
44	C1 location X (top view)	2.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 44
45	C1 location Y (top view)	1.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 45
46	C1 diameter	.562 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 46
47	C1 depth	1.250 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 47
48	C1 counterbore diameter	.875 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 48
49	C1 counterbore depth	.250 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 49
50	D1 location X (top view)	1.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 50
51	D1 location Y (top view)	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 51
52	D1 diameter	.281 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 52
53	D1 depth	.625 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 53
54	D2 location X (top view)	1.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 54
55	D2 location Y (top view)	2.250 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 55
56	D2 diameter	.281 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 56
57	D2 depth	.625 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 57
58	D3 location X (top view)	3.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 58
59	D3 location Y (top view)	.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 59
60	D3 diameter	.281 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 60
61	D3 depth	.625 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 61
62	D4 location X (top view)	3.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 62
63	D4 location Y (top view)	2.250 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 63
64	D4 diameter	.281 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 64
65	D4 depth	.625 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 65
66	E1 location X (right view)	1.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 66
67	E1 location Y (right view)	1.250 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 67
68	E1 width	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 68
69	E1 length	1.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 69
70	E1 depth	.375 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 70
71	F1 location X (right view)	2.400 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 71
72	F1 location Y (right view)	2.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 72
73	F1 diameter	.438 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 73
74	F1 depth	1.000 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 74
75	G1 location X (right view)	1.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 75
76	G1 location Y (right view)	3.750 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 76
77	G1 width	.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 77
78	G1 length	1.500 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 78
79	G1 depth	.375 ±.005	Reading for characteristic 79

Waiting for readings.

What the numbers say

Each figure links to its source. Vendor claims are labeled.

~1 min

Per dimension to balloon a drawing by hand: 30 to 40 minutes for a typical drawing.

Vendor claimHartwell, reported by InspectionXpert

2–8 h

Per drawing to balloon by hand, according to one software maker.

Vendor claimNet-Inspect

2.2% vs 3.3%

Scrap and rework as a share of sales at the best machine shops against the rest.

SurveyAmerican Machinist benchmark survey, 2008

$23.35/h

US median wage for inspectors and testers. Machinists: $28.24.

Government dataBureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

How it works

01
Every dimension on the sheet gets a numbered balloon.
02
The same numbers fill the inspection list, with each size and tolerance.
03
Readings are checked as they are typed. Anything out of tolerance is flagged before the report is signed.

Good to know

Before you try it on your shop.

Sample parts and made-up readings. On your project it follows your inspection plan and your customer's requirements. The hand-ballooning time is a software vendor's figure.

Want to see this on your own work?

Tell us about the job. We look at one real example with you before anything gets built.

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