Guide
How to translate a drawing without breaking the dimensions
Translating a drawing’s text is easy to get wrong: a generic tool may rewrite dimensions and codes along with the notes. This guide explains the method — separate prose from protected entities — while retaining CAD format and validating the result before manufacturing.
Step 1 · Start from the original CAD file, not a PDF
The most common mistake is exporting the drawing to PDF and translating the PDF. The moment you convert to PDF you lose the drawing structure: dimensions stop being dimension entities and become text on an image, and you can no longer get back to CAD. Always start from the original DXF or DWG. There, each dimension, tolerance and code is still an identifiable entity, and that is exactly what makes it possible to translate only what is prose. If you only have the PDF, ask for the CAD: translating a drawing properly requires the vector file, not a screenshot.
Step 2 · Translate only the prose, never the geometry
The key is separating notes and legends from dimensions, tolerances, symbols and codes. CADlingua analyses file structure, classifies content and applies configurable rules to exclude those entities from translation. It then translates the prose with DeepL Pro.
Step 3 · Verify and deliver in the same format
After translation, open the file in SolidWorks, AutoCAD or a compatible viewer. Check dimensions, tolerances, codes, typography and MTEXT fit before manufacturing. You receive the same format you uploaded; DWG goes through an ODA round trip.
Measured capabilities of the tool: DXF + DWG, up to 25 MB per file, and non-mock DeepL translation. Always validate the result before manufacturing. Autodesk DXF ↗