CoteCote
Try it
Features

What the software reads, and what it does with it.

From the drawing you open to the signed FAI package, with no retyping in between.

01 · Detection

Even the busiest drawings.

The software locates and reads the dimensions, including diameters, angles, tolerances and datum marks set vertically or at an angle, then places a numbered balloon on each. You stay in control: a dimension is corrected, added or removed in one click.

Every orientation
Horizontal, vertical, angled along an arc. Nothing is missed because the text is rotated.
Dense drawings
Crowded dimensions, stacked, busy title blocks: every value keeps its own balloon.
PDFs and scans alike
Native text reading from a CAD PDF, character recognition on an image or a photograph.
Work areas
On a multi-view drawing, you bound the view to process and the ballooning stays inside it.
02 · Conversion

Fits become limits.

A ⌀5.25 f7 isn't inspected against “f7”. The software takes the fundamental deviation of the letter and the width of the grade, applies them to the nominal size read, and hands you two numbers.

Read on the drawing⌀5.25 f7
Limits applied

min5.228

max5.240

f7 deviations for a nominal size between 3 and 6 mm: minus 0.022 and minus 0.010. Same mechanism for dimensions with no tolerance of their own, from the general class in the title block.

The calculation in full, with an example carried to a verdict
03 · Inspection

An inspection table that warns you.

Every balloon becomes a row. A reading out of tolerance turns red, the conformity rate computes live, and the tabs isolate the NOK dimensions or those still to be measured.

No.DimensionTypeNominalMeasuredStatus
110.00 ± 0.05LINEAR10.00010.070NOK
250.22°ANGULAR50.22050.150no verdict
3⌀5.25 f7ISO FIT5.2505.235OK
4Ra 1.6ROUGHNESS1.6001.200no verdict
565.98LINEAR65.98065.950OK
6⊥ 0.01 AGDT0.0000.008OK

Four dimensions inspected out of six, 75 % conformity. No invented tolerances: a dimension with no reference on the drawing stays without a verdict, never passed on a guess.

04 · Export

The FAI package, ready to send.

The official AS9102 template, forms 1, 2 and 3, fills itself in from your balloons. Export the full package, the table alone or the ballooned drawing. The generated PDF stays editable: measured values, tick boxes, signature and date.

One numbering
The balloons on the drawing and the rows of form 3 carry the same numbers. No cross-reference table to keep.
Five formats
Excel, Word, PDF, CSV and image, according to what the customer asks for.
Customisable reports
Header, columns and layout matched to your in-house templates.
05 · Gauges

Every instrument traced and dated.

The software keeps the inventory of your measuring equipment: name, reference and calibration date. Each dimension can be linked to the instrument that measured it.

Calibration alert
A gauge whose calibration has lapsed shows in red and flags every dimension that relies on it.
Traceability
The documentation requirement is met with no side spreadsheet to keep in parallel.
In detail

Everything CoteCote does, screen by screen.

In the order of an inspection day, from opening the drawing to sending the package.

01 · Open

A hundred-page PDF, six pages that concern you.

On import, every page is shown as a thumbnail: you tick the ones to inspect. Each page keeps its own set of balloons, and the numbering runs on from one page to the next.

Inputs
PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP.
Vector or scan
A CAD export is read from the file data, a scan goes through image recognition.
Moved drawing
The project finds its source drawing again even if it has been renamed.
CoteCotemanufacturing-pack.pdf3 pages
Page 1Drilled bracket6 dims
Page 2Detail A, holes4 dims
Page 3Bill of materials—

Numbering runs on from page to page: page 2 starts at 7, not at 1.

02 · Take control

What the machine missed, you draw yourself.

A click-and-drag area creates a balloon and reads its contents. A wide, tall area is understood as a note, not as a dimension. Right-click opens the common actions right under the cursor.

Work areas
Confine automatic ballooning to part of the drawing, or exclude a part of it.
Directed re-read
Draw the reading direction of a misread dimension rather than running it again blind.
Undo
Ctrl+Z on editing actions, as everywhere else.
CoteCotedrilled-bracket.pdfBalloon mode
65.98⌀5.25 f7Area to scanBalloonNoteAdjustArea

Right-click on the drawing: the common actions right under the cursor. A wide, tall area is read as a note, not as a dimension.

03 · Understand

A tolerance frame, not a string of characters.

The GD&T frame is recognised even when drawn as pure linework, with no text at all to read. Perpendicularity, position, coaxiality: the characteristic, the value and the datums cited land straight in your table.

Form
Straightness, flatness, circularity, cylindricity.
Orientation and location
Perpendicularity, parallelism, angularity, position, coaxiality, symmetry.
Runout
Circular and total, with the datums cited.
CoteCotedrilled-bracket.pdfframe read
Characteristic
Perpendicularity
Tolerance
0.010 mm
Datum
A
Dimension type
GD&T

Recognised even on a frame drawn as pure linework, with not a single character to read in the file.

04 · Resolve

H7 becomes 25.000 and 25.021.

ISO 286 fits are resolved to numeric limits for the nominal size read. Dimensions with no tolerance of their own take the general ISO 2768 class from the title block, detected on import.

Two views
Relative tolerance or absolute limit: editing one recalculates the other.
Never overwritten
What you checked by hand stays that way, even if you change the general class afterwards.
In bulk
Apply a tolerance to the selection, or to every row that has none.
CoteCotedrilled-bracket.pdfISO 286 · ISO 2768
Dimension readLower tol.Upper tol.Lower limitUpper limit
⌀25 H7+0.000+0.02125.00025.021
⌀25 h6−0.013+0.00024.98725.000
⌀5.25 f7−0.022−0.0105.2285.240
28.40 ISO 2768-m−0.200+0.20028.20028.600

Both views are editable: correcting an absolute limit recalculates the relative tolerance, and the other way round. Values you've checked stay protected, whatever you change afterwards.

05 · Inspect

Every page in a single table.

Status and deviation compute as you type. Filters by status, type and page stack, a label search adds to them, and sorting always keeps the grouping by page.

Direct entry
Comma or point accepted, as in a spreadsheet.
Locate
An icon on each row recentres the balloon, switching page if needed.
Second screen
The table detaches into its own window, then docks back.
CoteCotedrilled-bracket.cot10 dimensions
AllNOKNot measuredType ▾Page ▾Search a label…
No.DimensionNominalMeasuredGaugeStatus
Page 1 · Drilled bracket
110.00 ± 0.0510.00010.070PC-11NOK
250.22°50.22050.150PC-11no verdict
3⌀5.25 f75.2505.235PC-11OK
4Ra 1.61.6001.200RG-01no verdict
Page 2 · Detail A, holes

Every page in a single table, grouped and never mixed up. Status and deviation compute as you type.

06 · Trace

The overdue instrument flags itself.

Each dimension can carry the instrument that measured it. If its calibration has lapsed at the time of the reading, the row goes to alert: the problem shows during inspection, not at the package review.

Register
Name, reference and calibration date, shared across projects.
Carried over
The instrument follows the dimension all the way into the exports.
CoteCotegauges4 instruments
InstrumentReferenceCalibrationState
Caliper 150PC-1112/03/2027Valid
Micrometer 0-25MI-0428/06/2026Overdue
Roughness testerRG-0105/11/2026Valid
Height gaugeCM-0219/01/2027Valid

A dimension measured with an overdue instrument turns its row to alert in the inspection table, without waiting for the package review.

07 · Deliver

The AS9102 package, in your own template.

The Excel export completes the AS9102C template you supply: same borders, same widths, same formulas between sheets, because it's your file. The PDF leaves fillable the fields that remain to be confirmed.

Inspection report
Cover page, annotated drawing tiled if needed, full table.
Spreadsheet
CSV and Excel, with the columns of the inspection table.
One source
PDF and Excel share the same values, they can't drift apart.
CoteCoteAS9102C.xlsxForm 1 · 2 · 3
Form 3Characteristic Accountability, Verification and Compatibility Evaluation
Char. No.RequirementResultsDesigned ToolingNon-conformance
110.00 ±0.0510.070PC-11NCR-0042
3⌀5.25 f75.235PC-11
565.98 ±0.3065.950PC-11
Excel, AS9102C templatePDF, fillable fieldsAnnotated PDF reportCSV

The Excel export completes your own template: same borders, same formulas, same links between sheets, because it's the same file.

08 · Learn

An encyclopaedia inside the software, offline.

The Codex covers the features and the standards in short articles, cross-referenced. One key is enough to find the right answer, without ever leaving your drawing.

Symbols
The strip under the table inserts a symbol in one click while you type.
Tutorial
Seven steps on first launch, replayable from the Tools menu.
CoteCoteCodexF1
Search…
Getting started
Dimensions and tolerances
  • ISO 286
  • ISO 2768
  • Computed limits
GD&T
Exports

ISO 286, fits

A fit is written with a letter and a grade, for example H7. The letter places the tolerance zone relative to the nominal size, the number gives its width.

On a dimension read as ⌀25 H7, CoteCote resolves the limits to 25.000 and 25.021. See also ISO 2768 and Computed limits.

Available offline, with cross-references between articles. The answer is always one key away, without ever leaving your drawing.

Coverage

The families of symbols recognised.

A dimension that can't be read is still ballooned and flagged. It's for you to complete by hand; it isn't lost.

FamilyExamplesHandling
Dimensions65.98 · ⌀5.25 · R15 · 3×45° · SR40Lengths, diameters, radii, angles, chamfers, spheres.
Numeric tolerances10.00 ± 0.05 · +0.021 / 0 · −0.05 / −0.10Symmetric, unilateral and bilateral, limits read as written.
ISO 286 fitsH7 · h7 · f7 · g6 · js9 · K6 · E9Position and grade resolved to numeric limits for the nominal size read.
General tolerancesISO 2768-mK · ISO 2768-fHApplied to dimensions with no tolerance of their own, per the title block class.
GD&T, formstraightness · flatness · circularity · cylindricityTolerance frames with no datum.
GD&T, orientation and location⊥ · ∥ · ∠ · position · coaxiality · symmetryFrame, value, modifiers and the datums cited.
GD&T, runoutcircular runout · total runoutWith the datum or datums cited in the frame.
Surface finishRa 1.6 · Rz 6.3 · required processSymbol, value, unit and lay direction.
ThreadsM12×1.25 · M8 6H · G1/2ISO metric and pipe designations, pitch and class.
Datum featuresA · B · C · datum planesTriangles linked back to the frames that cite them.

Local machine, on Windows

No cloud, no API. The software works on your files.

Accepted inputs

Vector PDF, image PDF, scan and photograph.

Speed

From 200 ms per page on vector PDF.

Accuracy

Up to 98 % on dimension reading.

Try it on your drawingsSee the plans