Scan to CAD

Paper archives into files you can actually edit.

Plenty of working geometry still lives on paper: shop drawings from before CAD, plans for buildings that are still standing, part drawings for tooling still in use. Scanning them produces an image of a drawing, which is not the same as a drawing. You cannot dimension it, modify it or cut from it.

Scanned linework is also where the double-line problem hurts most. Every printed line has width, so tracing its boundary returns two lines per line and doubles the work of cleaning up. Thinning strokes to a centerline first is what makes a scan convert into something you would actually want to edit.

Who this is for

  • Manufacturers digitising legacy drawings

    Decades of paper that has to become files for modern workflows.

  • Anyone maintaining equipment older than its CAD

    The drawing exists, on paper, and the part still needs making.

  • Architects and surveyors working from printed plans

    Plans that predate the software everyone now uses.

Try it on your own image

Preview unlimited conversions for free, no account needed, and retune until the result is right. You only pay when you download.

Drop a file here or click to browse

Photo: PNG, JPG, WebP, up to 10 MB and 52 megapixels

Drawing: PDF, TIFF, up to 50 MB

Free previews, no sign-up

How to do it

  1. 1

    Scan as cleanly as you can

    Flat on the glass, 300 dpi or better, high contrast. A good scan does more for the result than any conversion setting.

  2. 2

    Use AI redraw for degraded originals

    Foxed, faded or low-contrast scans convert better after being redrawn as clean linework. Crisp, high-contrast scans can go through Outline only directly.

  3. 3

    Calibrate against a dimensioned feature

    Most drawings are dimensioned, which makes this the easy case: drag across a feature whose dimension is printed, and type that number.

  4. 4

    Check the result against the drawing's own dimensions

    Measure a second, different dimensioned feature in CAD and compare it to what the drawing says. If those agree, the scale is right everywhere.

Which format to take

DXF, for editing in CAD. Take the SVG as well if any of it is headed for a cutter.

Open the converter

What to check before you rely on it

  • Dimension text, title blocks and annotations are traced as shapes unless you switch text reading on, and are never read as values.
  • Old drawings often are not to scale, and a photocopied one may not be to a consistent scale. Verify against a second dimension.
  • Foxing, creases, fold lines and scan noise trace like any other mark. Clean scans matter.
  • Hatching and section fill trace as many small paths and may need pruning.
  • You get geometry, not a layered, constrained CAD model. Layers and constraints are rebuilt by you.

Common questions

Does it read the dimension text on my drawing?
It can be read as editable CAD text if you switch text reading on, but it is never used to set the scale. That comes from the calibration step. Since most drawings are dimensioned, this is straightforward: drag across a feature whose dimension is printed and type that value.
My scan is old and faded. Will it work?
Often, in AI redraw mode, which redraws degraded linework before tracing. Rescanning at higher contrast and at least 300 dpi is usually the bigger win, conversion quality tracks scan quality closely.
Will I get layers back?
Not yet, beyond text. A scan carries no layer information, and linework comes back on one layer; lettering you have had read goes onto its own TEXT layer. Splitting the rest by stroke weight, which is what drafting uses to separate heavy from light, is built and in testing but not switched on. Regrouping in CAD is still quicker than retracing.

Read next

Paper archives into files you can actually edit.

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