Free ballooning software: 5 ways to balloon a drawing.

What are the ways to balloon a drawing for free or cheaply?

There are five: manual markup in a PDF tool, CAD-native balloons, an Excel-only characteristic list, a dedicated desktop auto-ballooning app, and a browser AI ballooner. They differ less in what they cost than in how much typing they leave you and how much checking they need afterwards.

Ballooning is the step where every requirement on the print gets a number, and each number becomes a row on AS9102 Form 3. If you're new to it, start with the how to balloon a drawing guide for what to balloon and how to number. This post is about the tools.

"Time per drawing" is left qualitative on purpose. A 20-characteristic bracket and a six-sheet housing aren't the same job in any tool.

How do you balloon a drawing in a free PDF tool?

Draw a circle with a number in it next to each characteristic using the tool's comment or markup features, then type the same numbers into a Form 3 spreadsheet. It costs nothing beyond the PDF software, and it's how most job shops still do it.

What each common tool gives you:

• Adobe Acrobat. The comment tools include circles, text boxes, callouts and stamps. A common setup is a custom stamp, or a circle grouped with a text box, that you copy and renumber. Acrobat's standard comment tools don't count for you, so the numbering is manual.
• Bluebeam Revu. The Sequence tool places a markup that goes up by one each time you click, with a prefix, suffix, start value and increment you can set. Bluebeam built it for construction punch lists, but an auto-incrementing circle is exactly a balloon. Check which Revu plan your version needs for the sequence features you want.
• Free PDF annotators. Most free readers can draw ellipses and text. Okular, a free KDE viewer, has ellipse, typewriter and stamp annotations. Its own handbook warns that stamps are experimental and that custom stamps added to a PDF don't show in other PDF readers, so test that your customer can see the balloons before you rely on one.

Habits that make manual ballooning less error-prone:

1. Save a copy first. Balloon a copy of the customer's PDF and keep the original untouched. The ballooned PDF is evidence, and its file name should carry the part number and revision.
2. Make one reusable balloon. Same size, same font, readable when printed on smaller paper. Use the shape or colour your customer asks for on key characteristics.
3. Fill Form 3 as you go. Type the row as you place the balloon, not after you've placed all 140. Two passes means two chances to skip one.
4. Count at the end. The highest balloon number should equal the number of Form 3 rows. If they differ, something was skipped or doubled.

The honest cost of this method is your time and the transcription between the PDF and the spreadsheet. That's where a 0.05 becomes 0.50. The FAI cost breakdown shows how much of a first article goes into this step.

Can your CAD software balloon a drawing?

Usually not in the way an FAI needs. CAD balloons normally label parts on an assembly drawing with item numbers from the bill of materials, not dimensions for inspection.

In SOLIDWORKS, for example, drawing balloons take their numbers from the BOM table the view is linked to. That's the right tool for an assembly drawing and the wrong one for numbering 60 dimensions on a machined part. Some CAD vendors sell inspection add-ins that do dimension balloons, but those are a separate purchase, not the free balloon button.

Two more reasons CAD-native ballooning rarely fits a job shop:

• You often don't have the native model. Customers send a PDF, or a STEP file and a PDF. The controlled document is their drawing at their revision. Ballooning a drawing you re-created in your own CAD invites a mismatch the customer's reviewer will find.
• Model-based definition changes the picture. When the customer sends a model with product manufacturing information (PMI) and no drawing, the characteristics live in the model. That's a different workflow, and you should ask the customer how they want characteristics numbered and referenced.

Can you skip the balloons and use Excel only?

Sometimes, if the customer accepts it. An Excel-only list puts every characteristic on Form 3 with a sheet and zone reference, but nothing is marked on the drawing itself.

Excel-only is free and quick to start from a free Form 3 template. The catch is traceability. A ballooned drawing lets a reviewer put a finger on balloon 37 and find row 37. With a list alone, they have to find "Sheet 2, zone C4" and work out which of three dimensions in that zone you meant. Many customers expect the ballooned drawing with the first article report. Check the purchase order and the customer's quality requirements before you skip it.

Excel-only works best for small, simple parts, internal first-piece checks, and delta FAIs where you're only recording a handful of changed characteristics against an existing ballooned drawing.

What is auto ballooning software, and what does it cost?

Auto ballooning software reads the characteristics off a drawing, places the balloons and exports the Form 3 list in one pass. Desktop apps are almost always paid; the "free download" in search results is usually a trial.

Most dedicated desktop auto-ballooning programs work the same way:

• Reading the drawing. On a CAD-exported PDF they read the text layer, which is reliable for the characters themselves. On a scan they fall back to optical character recognition (OCR), which is where misreads start.
• Building characteristics. They group the text into callouts, split tolerances into nominal and limits, and place a balloon near each one. Many let you drag a box around anything they missed.
• Exporting. They write the list to Excel, to AS9102 forms, or to a customer's own template. Some also import CMM results.

On price, it helps to know the models rather than any one number, because they change and are often quoted per deal:

• Perpetual licence plus annual maintenance, per seat or per computer.
• Per-seat subscription, monthly or yearly.
• Per-shop subscription, where the whole team shares one price.

When you compare quotes, ask how many people need to balloon versus just view, whether the trial is full-featured, whether scans and GD&T frames are handled the same way as clean PDFs, and what it costs to add a second seat when an inspector joins.

How do browser AI ballooners work, and where do they fall short?

You upload a PDF drawing in a web browser, an AI model reads it, and you download a ballooned PDF and a characteristic list. Nothing to install, and some are free with no account. The trade-off is that the drawing leaves your building, and the output still needs a full human review.

Deburr's free AI ballooner is one of these, so here is exactly what it does and doesn't do:

• What goes in: a PDF drawing. CAD-exported PDFs read best. Scans work, with more items flagged for you to check.
• What it does: reads the title block and each callout (dimensions, tolerances, GD&T frames and notes), parses each tolerance, numbers them and places the balloons.
• What comes out: a ballooned PDF, and a Form 3 spreadsheet with characteristic number, drawing zone, requirement and limits on each row, ready for readings.
• What it tells you: anything it wasn't confident about is flagged with a reason, such as a faint scan or text crossed by a leader line.

Where it's limited, in plain terms:

• It's a first pass, not a finished report. Crowded views, faint scans and text crossed by leader lines are harder to read. Treat the output as something a person checks.
• You can't fix balloons in the free tool. Moving, merging or renumbering balloons, entering readings, signing and exporting the full AS9102 report are in the paid product. With the free output, you correct things in your PDF tool and spreadsheet.
• The drawing goes to a server. It's stored privately and sent to an AI model provider to read, under API terms where the provider doesn't train on your data. Check your customer's terms and any NDA before you upload their drawing. The security page has the details.
• No controlled drawings. Don't upload ITAR or CUI drawings to the free tool. That work goes in a separate workspace, as a paid add-on.
• It's new. We don't publish an accuracy figure yet. Run it on a drawing you've already ballooned by hand and compare.

What should you check in any auto-ballooner's output?

Check the items software finds hardest: notes, flag notes, GD&T frames, later sheets, the revision, duplicates and basic dimensions. Go through them before anyone measures, whichever tool produced the balloons.

• ☐ Revision. The drawing number and revision in the title block match the purchase order. A perfect balloon set on Rev B is worthless if the PO says Rev C.
• ☐ Every sheet. All sheets were processed, and numbering continues from sheet 1 into sheet 2 rather than restarting at 1. Detail and section views on later sheets are covered.
• ☐ General notes. Every note that states a requirement has a balloon: "break sharp edges 0.2 max", "remove burrs", "mark per…", "finish per…". Notes sit away from the views and are the most common miss.
• ☐ Flag notes. The note itself is ballooned, and every place it's flagged on the views is accounted for. A flag note that applies at five locations is five checks.
• ☐ GD&T frames. Each feature control frame has its own balloon, separate from the size dimension above it. The symbol, tolerance value, modifiers (Ⓜ, Ⓛ) and datum references were read correctly. A composite frame usually needs two results.
• ☐ Basic dimensions. Boxed dimensions were recognised as basic and not given a title-block tolerance. Watch for a general note such as "UNTOLERANCED DIMENSIONS ARE BASIC", which changes every plain dimension on the sheet. See basic vs reference dimensions.
• ☐ Reference dimensions. Values in parentheses are either not ballooned or clearly marked "reference, not inspected", per your procedure.
• ☐ Duplicate characteristics. The same dimension shown in two views wasn't ballooned twice, and a single callout wasn't split into two balloons.
• ☐ Multiplied features. 4X and TYP callouts have a result for every instance, either as one balloon with several results or as sub-balloons (4.1 to 4.4).
• ☐ Tolerances parsed right. Spot-check unilateral (+0.021/-0), limit (25.00/25.10) and single-limit (R2 MAX) callouts. Check the decimal point on every tolerance the tool flagged.
• ☐ Hole and thread callouts. A counterbored hole is several characteristics (hole size, counterbore size, depth). Thread class and depth are captured.
• ☐ Surface finish and title block defaults. Surface finish symbols are ballooned, and the default finish and general tolerance block were applied where the drawing says they apply.
• ☐ Key characteristics. Anything the drawing or customer marks as key or critical is identified for Form 3 field 7 (Characteristic Designator).
• ☐ The count. The highest balloon number equals the number of Form 3 rows, with no gaps.

The list works on manual ballooning too. For the full pre-submission list, see the first article inspection checklist, and for what customer reviewers bounce, why FAI reports get rejected.

Which method should you pick?

Pick by how many drawings you balloon and how complex they are. Price matters less than the hours you spend on each print.

• A few simple drawings a year: manual in the PDF tool you already own, with the Form 3 filled as you go. Bluebeam's Sequence tool, if you have it, saves the renumbering.
• Regular FAIs, mostly clean CAD-exported PDFs: try an auto-ballooner on three of your own past drawings, ones you already ballooned by hand, and compare against your manual version item by item. Choose on what it missed, not on the demo.
• Scans, crowded views or heavy GD&T: any tool will flag or miss more. Budget review time, and favour tools that tell you where they're unsure.
• Controlled drawings (ITAR, CUI): keep them off free web tools. Use software installed on-site, or a workspace your customer has approved for that data.

FAQ

Is there free ballooning software for engineering drawings?

Yes, in three forms. Free PDF annotators let you place numbered circles by hand. Some CAD systems include balloon tools, though those usually number assembly parts, not dimensions. Free browser AI ballooners, such as Deburr's at getdeburr.com/balloon, read a PDF drawing and return a ballooned PDF and a characteristic list. Most dedicated desktop auto-ballooning programs offer a free trial rather than a free version.

Can I balloon a drawing in Adobe Acrobat?

Yes. Use the comment tools to draw a circle and a text box, or a custom stamp, next to each characteristic, and type the number. Most people build a reusable balloon so every one looks the same. The numbering and the matching Form 3 spreadsheet are kept by hand, so check that the highest balloon number equals the number of Form 3 rows before you measure.

What is auto ballooning software?

Auto ballooning software reads the dimensions, tolerances, GD&T frames and notes on a drawing, places a numbered balloon on each one, and exports the characteristics as a Form 3 style list. Desktop programs usually read the PDF's text layer and use OCR for scans; newer browser tools use AI models. Every auto-ballooner needs a person to check the result before it goes into a first article report.

Is it acceptable to send a customer an FAI without a ballooned drawing?

It depends on the customer. Many customers expect a ballooned drawing with the first article report, because it is how a reviewer traces each Form 3 row back to the print. Some accept a characteristic list with sheet and zone references instead. Check the purchase order and the customer's quality requirements before you skip the balloons.

Where Deburr fits

The free ballooner is the first step of Deburr, which is first article inspection software for job shops. In the full product you fix balloons on the drawing, paste CMM output or type readings into Form 3, track gauge calibration, and a preparer and an approver sign AS9102 Rev C Forms 1, 2 and 3. It's $249 a month for the whole shop, with no per-seat fees and a 14-day trial with no card. The AI prepares the report; people check it and sign it. Start with the free ballooner on one of your own drawings.

Related: How to balloon a drawing · AS9102 Form 3 explained · Basic vs reference dimensions · GD&T cheat sheet

Sources

1. Sequences, Bluebeam Revu user manual
2. Add shapes and drawings, Adobe Acrobat help
3. Annotations, The Okular Handbook, KDE
4. Six SOLIDWORKS solutions: BOM and balloons, SOLIDWORKS blog
5. How to fill out AS9102 forms, GroundControl
6. AS9102C Form 3 details (field 7, Characteristic Designator), Paradygm