Auto-generate engineering drawings for parts and assemblies

CADABRA Team · May 12, 2026 · 4 min read

Most engineers do not enjoy making drawings. The modeling is the interesting part; the drawing is what you owe before release. CADABRA places the views, dimensions the geometry and balloons the BOM. The judgment stays yours.

What gets generated, today

Point CADABRA at an open part or assembly and ask for a drawing. Out of the box, you get:

  • Standard views, front, top, right, and isometric, placed and scaled to fit the sheet.
  • Section and detail views on request, “add a section view through the center bore”, “detail view of the threaded boss at 2:1”.
  • Dimensions for the obvious geometry, overall size, hole diameters and locations, key wall thicknesses.
  • BOMs for assemblies, auto-populated from the assembly tree, with part number, description, and quantity columns.
  • Title block fields populated from custom properties on the model (part number, revision, material, finish, project).

How a typical session looks

The shortest path from “model is done” to “drawing is ready for review” is something like this:

  1. Open the part or assembly in SOLIDWORKS.
  2. In CADABRA, say “generate a release drawing for this part, A3 sheet, third-angle projection”.
  3. CADABRA creates a drawing file, drops the standard views, populates the title block, and dimensions the geometry.
  4. You review the drawing, ask for the views and details you actually need, and CADABRA edits in place.

The first pass is rarely perfect. No automated drawing tool produces release-ready output on the first shot for a non-trivial part. The point is not perfection. It is that you start the review from a populated sheet rather than a blank one.

The “ask, don’t click” part

Once the drawing exists, you can edit it the same way you edit the model, in plain English:

  • “Add a section view A–A vertically through the center.”
  • “Set the tolerance on the bore dimension to ±0.1 mm.”
  • “Add a datum tag A to the mounting face on the front view.”
  • “Move the isometric view to the top right and set it to 1:2.”
  • “Add a note: all dimensions in millimetres unless stated.”

Assemblies specifically

Assembly drawings are where the time savings compound. A 40-component assembly needs balloons, a BOM, exploded views, maybe section views to show internal mates. CADABRA handles the rote work: ballooning every component in the BOM, generating exploded views from the assembly’s exploded view configuration, populating the BOM from the assembly tree. You step in for the judgment calls, which sub-assemblies should be called out, what the section plane should reveal, where the inspection notes go.

Where to be careful

Three things to watch:

Drawings still need a human reviewer

Auto-generated dimensions cover the geometry CADABRA can see, but design intent, which dimensions are critical, which tolerances drive the fit, lives in your head. Treat the auto-output as a first draft, not a release-ready document.

Drawing standards vary

ANSI Y14.5, ISO 8015, company-specific templates, CADABRA respects the drawing template you point it at, but the conventions inside (datum schemes, GD&T preferences, view-projection style) are still your call.

Configurations matter

If the part has multiple configurations, tell CADABRA which one the drawing represents. Drawings of the wrong configuration are one of the easiest ways to ship a wrong part.

The honest pitch

The model still needs an engineer. The drawing still needs an engineer. The clicking does not.

Pair it with plain-English model edits and the slow parts of the release loop become the thinking parts. Book a demo to see it run end to end on one of your assemblies.

Common questions.

How does CADABRA turn a 3D model into a 2D drawing?
Point CADABRA at a part or an assembly and ask for drawings. It places named, projected, section, isometric and flat-pattern views chosen from the geometry, imports model dimensions with hole callouts, adds center marks and centerlines, writes your title block from the model properties, and on assemblies inserts the BOM and balloons the sheet. Every output follows the drawing standard you configured.
Can it generate drawings for every part in an assembly at once?
Yes. Batch generation runs the whole assembly in a single pass, producing one sheet per unique component plus the assembly drawing, each on your title block with the scale chosen from the geometry.
Can CADABRA generate a BOM from a SOLIDWORKS assembly?
BOMs, yes. Drawings Mode builds the bill of materials from the assembly structure and balloons the sheet to match it, using the column set and naming conventions in your drawing standard. There is no RFQ packaging feature; that is something teams still assemble from the drawings and BOM themselves.