Engineering teams often struggle with slow, error-prone manual extraction of tables from CAD drawings—especially when dealing with complex BOMs, schedules, and old scanned blueprints. With iCaptur’s AI-powered automation, this entire process becomes fast, accurate, and fully streamlined. Instead of reviewing intricate layouts manually, engineers can simply upload CAD files and instantly convert tables into structured, searchable data. iCaptur automates detection, extraction, and export end-to-end, helping teams reduce manual effort, eliminate inconsistencies, and accelerate project timelines.
Too Long, Didn't Read:
- Automatically detect and extract complex tables like BOMs and schedules from CAD drawings using AI-powered OCR and layout analysis.
- Process multiple drawings in bulk, converting tables into structured, searchable data within seconds, even from scanned or low-quality files.
- Customize column headers, rearrange fields, and export clean data directly to CSV or Excel for seamless integration with ERP and PLM systems.
- Enable advanced search, filtering, and cross-drawing comparison to analyze data and reduce manual inspection time significantly.
- Ensure secure processing with 24-hour auto-deletion and full compliance with GDPR, ISO, and other global security standards.
1. What is CAD table detection and extraction?
CAD table detection and extraction is an AI-powered technology that automatically identifies and digitizes structured tables within technical drawings (like PDFs or DWG files). It detects elements such as Bills of Materials, revision histories, and schedules; reads the text using OCR and understands their row/column structure.
The output is clean, structured data (like CSV or Excel), ready for use in ERP, PLM, or databases. This eliminates manual entry, saves significant time, reduces errors, and unlocks valuable drawing data for analysis and automated workflows.
2. Can I extract table data from multiple CAD files at once?
Yes. iCaptur is built for high volume batch processing. It allows you to extract table data from multiple CAD drawings simultaneously. Instead of uploading and processing each file individually, you can import dozens or even hundreds of drawings together. The system will automatically process them in a queue, detecting and extracting tables from each file. The AI automatically scans every file, detects tables, and converts them into clean, structured formats. The structured data from all files is then consolidated into a single, organized output, saving immense time compared to manual, file-by-file extraction.
This is extremely useful for large engineering projects where multiple layouts, versions, and drawings must be reviewed quickly and consistently.
3. Is it possible to filter or search through extracted table data?
Yes. Once the table data is extracted and converted into a structured digital format (like CSV, Excel, or a database), it becomes fully searchable and filterable just like a regular spreadsheet. You can:
- Search for specific part numbers, keywords, or values across all extracted drawings.
- Filter and sort data by any column (e.g., filter a Bill of Materials by material type, part numbers, quantity or revision notes).
- Aggregate data from multiple files for analysis (e.g., compile all required parts from a project’s drawings).
This transforms static drawing data into a dynamic, query-able dataset, enabling efficient analysis, reporting, and integration with other systems.
4. Can I customize column headers or rearrange fields after extraction?
Yes. Once the table data is extracted, you can easily customize it to fit your preferred structure. This includes renaming column headers, rearranging the order of fields, merging or splitting columns, and standardizing labels across multiple drawings.
Such flexibility is especially useful when different vendors or teams follow different drafting styles. Customization ensures all extracted tables follow a uniform format, making downstream tasks like comparison, reporting, importing into ERP systems, or sharing with stakeholders much smoother. It helps maintain consistency and improves the overall clarity of your engineering documentation.
5. How does this solution help reduce manual inspection time in engineering workflows?
AI-based table extraction significantly reduces manual inspection time by automating the most tedious parts of reviewing CAD drawings. Instead of engineers manually scanning drawings for tables, the AI instantly detects tables, reads the text, and converts them into structured data. This eliminates repetitive data entry, minimizes errors, and speeds up cross-checking between drawings. Engineers can focus on actual design decisions rather than administrative tasks.
The result is a streamlined workflow where hours of manual checking are replaced with accurate, ready-to-use data delivered within seconds.
6. Can I compare tables across different CAD drawings?
Yes. iCaptur standardizes all extracted tables, allowing you to compare information across multiple drawings or revisions with complete consistency and accuracy. Even if formatting differs between files (“Part No.” vs “P/N”), the AI aligns fields and highlights differences, updates, or omissions. This makes version control, auditing, and quality checks much faster and far more accurate.
7. Does the system support exporting extracted data into CSV or Excel?
Yes. After the AI processes your CAD drawings and extracts all table data, you can instantly download the results as clean, structured CSV or Excel files. This makes it easy to share data with teams, import it into ERP or PLM systems, or use it for reporting and analysis. The export preserves column headers, formatting, and field organization, so you get ready-to-use data without any manual cleanup.
8. Can iCaptur help detect complex tables like BOMs, schedules, and material lists?
Yes. iCaptur is designed to detect and extract even the most complex engineering tables, including BOMs, schedules, and detailed material lists.
Its AI understands irregular structures, multi-line cells, merged fields, and varying table layouts commonly found in CAD drawings. Whether the table includes item codes, quantities, specifications, part numbers, or layered details, iCaptur captures them accurately and converts them into clean, structured data. This ensures engineers spend less time decoding complex drawings and more time analyzing and using the extracted information.
9. Does it work with scanned, old, or low-quality CAD drawings?
Yes. iCaptur’s robust CAD table extraction systems are designed to work with scanned, old, and low-quality drawings.
They leverage advanced preprocessing and AI techniques specifically trained on real-world drawing variations to handle common challenges:
- Preprocessing: Automatically corrects skew, removes noise, and enhances contrast in scanned images.
- Robust OCR: Uses specialized Optical Character Recognition engines trained on technical fonts and degraded text.
- Layout Analysis: AI understands table structure based on textual alignment and context, even if borders are faint or missing.
This makes iCaptur ideal for industries that rely on legacy CAD files or paper-to-digital conversions.
10. Are there case studies showing how iCaptur is used for CAD table extraction?
Yes. iCaptur website features detailed case studies on their website, showing real-world applications and results of their CAD table extraction solution.
You can explore these specific customer stories and use cases directly at: https://icaptur.ai/customer-stories/
These case studies typically demonstrate how various industries such as manufacturing, construction, and engineering use iCaptur to automate the extraction of Bills of Materials, schedules, and other critical tables from technical drawings. They highlight measurable benefits like drastic reductions in manual effort, accelerated project timelines, improved data accuracy, faster project delivery, and seamless integration with downstream systems like ERP and PLM.
11. Is my CAD data stored or processed securely?
Yes. iCaptur ensures secure storage and processing of CAD data through strong encryption, strict access controls, continuous monitoring, and adherence to global security standards.
It complies with ISO 27001, ISO 27701, GDPR, HIPAA, and includes secure data retention and deletion policies. Uploaded files are protected through audit trails, controlled access, and defined processing agreements.
For more details, visit:
Trust & Security: https://icaptur.ai/trust-and-security/
Legal: https://icaptur.ai/legal/
12. How do I get started with CAD table detection and extraction in iCaptur?
You can try the solution on our experience platform iCaptur
- Open the iCaptur login page in your browser.
- Sign in using your registered credentials (or sign up if you don’t have an account yet).
- After login, you’ll land on the dashboard where you can choose the CAD-specific solution (e.g. “Table Detection & Extraction” or “Full-Scale CAD Data Extraction”).
- Upload your CAD drawing files (PNG) or you can try with the available samples. The AI will automatically detect tables, extract data, and convert them into structured formats.
- Once extraction completes, review the extracted tables and export them (CSV, Excel, HTML or other supported format) for further use.
Within minutes, your CAD data becomes fully digitized and ready for use.
13. Is there a free trial or demo available?
Yes. iCaptur offers a free trial or live demo where businesses upload real invoices and test the platform’s extraction accuracy. You can sign up, upload sample invoices, and see how extraction works in real time. This hands-on experience helps users evaluate accuracy, field detection, speed, and integration capabilities before deciding on a subscription.
14. How can I contact support or request additional capabilities?
iCaptur provides a simple way to contact support or request new CAD-related capabilities.
You can visit the “Reach Us” page on the website and choose either Sales Support or Technical Support depending on your requirement. Submit the contact form with your details, project context, and the specific CAD extraction need—such as custom table formats, unique layout structures, or bulk-processing requirements.
For enterprise workflows, integrations, or advanced CAD automation requests, the same form allows you to describe your requirements in detail. The iCaptur team responds promptly to assist with feature enhancements, troubleshooting, and tailored CAD solutions.
15. What is iCaptur’s data retention policy and how does the platform ensure compliance with security standards?
iCaptur retains uploaded invoices and extracted data for only 24 hours, after which everything is automatically deleted. This short retention window strengthens privacy and reduces long-term exposure.
The platform complies with major global regulations including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and ISO/IEC standards. It follows strict internal protocols for managing sensitive data, supported by encrypted storage, secure access controls, continuous monitoring, and privacy-first workflows. Even when integrating with third-party ERPs platforms, iCaptur maintains end-to-end protection without compromising on compliance or trust.
Final Thoughts
iCaptur transforms how engineering teams handle CAD data by automating one of the most time-consuming tasks—table extraction. With highly accurate AI, secure processing, customization options, and support for large-scale projects, it brings consistency and efficiency to modern workflows.
Whether you’re digitizing legacy drawings or managing high-volume files, iCaptur delivers faster insights and cleaner data without manual effort. As industries move toward smarter automation, iCaptur stands out as a reliable solution that accelerates processes, improves accuracy, and integrates seamlessly with downstream systems.