Sketch-to-CAD · HVAC ductwork & sheet metal

Turn Ductwork Sketches into CAD Fittings

LaunchAI converts ductwork sketches and fitting tickets into CAD drawings. Create fitting geometry with sizes, gauge, connectors and liner specifications. The drawing is built from the supplied measurements, notes and specifications. Unclear details are flagged for your team to review.

See your sketches converted to CAD See the approval screen

For shop foremen, fitting-entry operators and detailers at HVAC sheet metal and duct fabrication shops

Monday, 6:30. Thirty fitting tickets, and the plasma table is waiting.

The foremen dropped them off Friday: carbon-copy fitting tickets, a couple on the back of a delivery slip, one written on a scrap of duct board. A transition sketched as a trapezoid with "24x12 → 16x12" and "FOT" on it. An offset with the dimensions written on the wrong side. A note that just says "1" liner?". Then a text with a photo of the ceiling, a PDF markup from the GC's coordinator, and a voicemail from Lakeview saying the 45 on tag 14 is backwards and they need another one today.

So you sit down at FabShop or CAMduct and type. Pick the fitting from the library. Width, depth, length, offset, which side stays flat. Gauge off your table for the big side. Connectors each end: TDC, S&D, raw. Liner, and whether the sizes on the ticket are clear inside or sheet metal. Job, area and tag number so it ends up on the right truck. Thirty tickets, a couple hundred numbers, and the coil line and the plasma table both waiting on you.

When a ticket gets read wrong, nobody finds out until an installer is on a lift holding a fitting that's two inches small or mirrored. That's a remake, a second delivery, and a foreman who now writes his tickets even faster because he doesn't trust the shop.

What the job looks like today

  1. Read the ticket

    Which fitting, which side is width, which side is flat, and what the scribble in the corner means.

  2. Pick and type

    Fitting from the library, then every size, length and offset, by hand.

  3. Fill the defaults

    Gauge, connectors, seams, liner: from memory and the foreman's habits.

  4. Tag it

    Job, area, tag number, so it ships on the right truck.

  5. Hear about it later

    The installer calls from the lift when it doesn't fit.

Where it goes wrong

The ticket was clear to the guy who wrote it

Fitting tickets get written on a lift, in a hurry, by someone who knows exactly what he means. The shop has to guess.

  • Which number is the width?

    "24x12" is width by depth, and width is the side you're looking at. Unless he was looking at it from underneath. Swap them and the fitting won't meet the duct it's going on.

  • Clear inside, or metal?

    With 1" liner, a 24x12 clear inside is a 26x14 piece of sheet metal. Some foremen write the clear size, some write the metal. The ticket almost never says which.

  • Flat on top, flat on bottom

    FOT on the ticket, FOB in his head, or the other way around once you flip it over on the bench. Mirror a transition or an offset and it's the right size and completely useless.

  • Connectors by habit

    No connector on the ticket means whatever that foreman usually uses. TDC on one end and S&D on the other changes the blank, the corners, and whether it bolts up to the run.

Why it's still manual

Software hasn't fixed this. Here's why.

Duct shops already run serious software. The ticket is still paper, and someone still types it in.

  • Your CAD and quoting software

    Waits for someone to type

    Trimble FabShop and Autodesk CAMduct have every fitting you'll ever make, parametric and ready to nest. They still need someone to pick the fitting and type the sizes, length, flat side, gauge and connectors off the ticket.

  • Generic AI and OCR models

    Confidently wrong

    A chat model reads "24x12 → 16x12" fine and guesses the rest: which side is flat, whether the sizes include liner, what "S/D" means. It turns "26ga" into "26 gal" and never tells you which answers were guesses.

  • Image-to-CAD converters

    Traces lines, not intent

    Image-to-CAD tools trace the trapezoid on the ticket. A duct fitting isn't a picture, it's a library item with a handful of parameters, and a traced outline gives you none of them.

  • Measuring apps and configurators

    Only if everyone uses them

    Field-entry apps like FabShop Mobile work when every foreman uses them. Half of yours still write on carbon tickets and duct board, and the GC's coordinator sends PDF markups.

Written on the paperGeneric OCR / AI modelLaunchAI agent
26ga 26 gal 26 GA galvanized Trade abbreviations look like other words to a generic reader.
24x12 → 16x12 24x12 16x12 Transition, 24" x 12" to 16" x 12" The arrow is the fitting type. Without it you have two sizes and no fitting.
1" lnr? 1" lnr 1" liner, sizes clear inside, flagged The question mark decides whether the metal is 2" bigger.

How the agent does it

From sketches to CAD drawings and layouts

LaunchAI converts the sketch and its measurements into CAD geometry, applies your drawing standards and prepares the related order information. Missing dimensions and unclear notes are flagged for your team to review.

Trimble FabShopLakeview L3 · tag M2-14 · transition Agent working · your login · this PC
GeneralDetailsPricingNotes
  • Transition, rect to rect ← Ticket sketch + arrow
  • 24" x 12" ← Ticket, left end
  • 16" x 12" ← Ticket, right end
  • 48" ← Ticket, top
  • Top ← "FOT" on ticket
  • 26 ga galv ← Ticket + your gauge table
  • TDC / TDC ← "TDC both ends"
  • 1" · sizes clear inside ← Ticket "1" liner?"
  • Lakeview L3 · M2-14 ← Ticket header
Saved as draft. Nothing is sent until you approve.Send to review

  1. Reads the tickets

    Every size, arrow, flat side and note, with a confidence score on each value.

  2. Applies your standards

    Gauge table, connectors, seams and liner rules, by job and by foreman.

  3. Enters the fitting

    Opens FabShop or CAMduct and builds it from your fitting library.

  4. Checks the run

    Sizes have to meet the duct before and after, and the flat side has to make sense.

  5. You approve

    Your shop lead confirms the flagged liner basis; it goes to nesting.

Caught at the desk

Problems caught before the shop floor

Today the order bounces when someone hits save. The agent runs the same checks first, fills what it can from a trusted source, and brings you only the one thing that needs a person.

Today

Convert to order · quote #10482Failed rules 4

Fitting incomplete · cannot nest or cut

  • Flat side not specified
  • Connector missing on outlet
  • Gauge not set
  • Job and tag number missing

Verify the following

  • Liner basis unclear on ticket

With the agent

Agent checks · before review5/6 passed

  • Fitting type

    Arrow and two sizes read as a rect-to-rect transition, 48" long.

    Pass

  • Sizes meet the run

    Outlet 16" x 12" matches the duct on the next ticket in the same run.

    Pass

  • Liner basis unclear

    Ticket says "1" liner?". Entered as clear inside (+2" metal); confirm with Ray before cutting.

    Needs you

  • Gauge

    26 ga matches your gauge table for a 24" side on this job's pressure class.

    Pass

  • Flat side

    FOT: top kept flat, all the change taken on the bottom.

    Pass

  • Connectors and seams

    TDC both ends, Pittsburgh seams per your shop defaults.

    Pass

Human review

You approve the drawing, not the typing

The paperwork on one side, the agent's drawing on the other, and every value it read in between, with the one it's unsure of called out.

LaunchAI Portal · Reviews

Approval you asked for

Approve the Lakeview tag M2-14 transition Pending

The agent read the field ticket, picked a rect-to-rect transition and entered every size. The liner basis needs confirmation.

Medium risk 1 of 43 in your queue Sketch to CAD · step 02.2 · Review fitting entry

Agent suggests: Approve after confirming the 1" liner and that 24x12 and 16x12 are clear inside sizes. Length, flat side, gauge and connectors match the ticket.

Source sketchIMG_3381.jpg
48"24x1216x12 tag M2-14 flat top TDC both ends 26 ga 1" liner?
Transition · side elevationOpen in Trimble FabShop
48" L24" x 12"16" x 12" TAG M2-14 FLAT ON TOP TDC BOTH ENDS 26 GA GALV 1" LINER · CLR INSIDE Transition · side elev · Rev A ● Preview synced just now

Dimensions read from sketch

  • Inlet“24x12” 24" x 12"
  • Outlet“16x12” 16" x 12"
  • Length“48"” 48"
  • Flat side“flat top” FOT
  • Gauge“26 ga” 26 GA galv
  • LinerLooks like “1" liner?” 1" · clear inside
Every value links back to where it was read on the sketch. Request changes Approve CAD

Inputs and outputs

Sketches and measure sheets in. CAD drawings out.

  • Carbon-copy fitting tickets, delivery slips and duct board, photographed or dropped off
  • Field sketches of offsets, transitions, elbows and takeoffs
  • GC coordination markups and clouded PDF revisions
  • Texts and voicemails from foremen with remakes and changes
  • Takeoff exports from QuoteSoft, FastDUCT or ESTmep
  • Fittings entered in Trimble FabShop or Autodesk CAMduct, ready to nest
  • Gauge, connectors, seams and liner set from your shop standards
  • Job, area and tag numbers so every piece lands on the right truck
  • A cut list and labels for the plasma table and coil line
  • Questions back to the foreman, drafted, instead of a guess at the bench

Your numbers

What it gives back to your team

Change the numbers to match your shop.

Example values. Put in your own.

25hours back per week
1,250hours back per year (50 weeks)
0.6full-time people's worth of typing

today with the agent: review only

Your software

Create CAD drawings in your team's tools

LaunchAI converts sketches into drawings through your CAD and design workflow. Bring your software version, drawing standards and a sample sketch so we can confirm the conversion steps and outputs for your setup.

  • Trimble FabShop
  • Autodesk Fabrication CAMduct
  • Autodesk Fabrication ESTmep
  • QuoteSoft Duct
  • FastDUCT
  • Bluebeam Revu
  • Outlook and text inbox

FAQ

HVAC ductwork & sheet metal: questions we hear

Does it work in Trimble FabShop and CAMduct, or do we need an import?

No import and no integration. LaunchAI agents use your software through the screen with your team's logins, the same way your fitting-entry person does. It picks from your own fitting library, so your custom fittings and connector names work as they are.

What if the ticket is missing a size or the flat side?

The agent never invents a dimension. It enters what the ticket supports, flags what's missing, and drafts a text to the foreman ("Tag 14: flat on top or bottom?"). The fitting waits; the rest of the tickets keep moving.

Who approves before it hits the plasma table?

Your shop lead. The agent stops at a review screen with each fitting and every flagged value. Nothing gets nested or cut until someone on your team approves it.

Our foremen won't use the mobile app. Is that a problem?

That's the point. They keep writing tickets the way they always have, on paper, duct board or a photo, and the agent does the typing at the shop.

Rectangular only, or round, oval and spiral too?

All of it. Round and oval fittings, spiral, takeoffs, elbows with throat and heel radii, offsets, square-to-rounds: if it's in your fitting library and on the ticket, the agent can enter it.

Can it work from the GC's coordination markups and our own takeoffs?

Yes. It reads clouded PDF markups and takeoff exports from QuoteSoft, FastDUCT or ESTmep, and flags any fitting where the field ticket and the coordination drawing disagree.

Other industries

The same agent, other trades

Pools & outdoor living

Metal & fabrication

Kitchens, interiors & glass

Building products & structures

Signs, covers & soft goods

How the Sketch-to-CAD agent works

Send us a box of last month's fitting tickets.

See your ductwork sketches converted into CAD fittings.

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