MSTEngineering Intelligence

Extract a BOM from Your Drawing in Minutes, Not Retyping Sessions

Drawing to BOM reads the parts table already printed on your engineering drawing and turns it into an editable bill of materials you can check, correct and export.

01

What it does

  • Reads the parts table on a PNG, JPEG or PDF drawing using MST's OCR service.
  • Returns an editable table: Item, Part number, Description, Quantity, Material.
  • Flags rows with a low OCR confidence label for review.
  • Exports to Excel (.xlsx, up to 500 rows) or CSV.

02

How to extract a BOM from a drawing

  1. Upload a PNG, JPEG or PDF drawing — or select "Try a sample".
  2. For a PDF, pick the page that carries the parts table.
  3. Crop around the table, including column headings; leave dimensions and notes outside.
  4. Select "Extract BOM". You can watch progress and cancel.
  5. Check every row against the drawing — part numbers character by character, quantities and materials.
  6. Correct any cell, then export Excel or CSV.

03

Supported files

  • Input: PNG, JPEG, PDF; up to 25 MB per file.
  • PDF: unencrypted, up to 500 pages; one page and one crop read at a time.
  • Images: up to 60 megapixels.
  • Not read directly: DWG, DXF or native SOLIDWORKS files — export the sheet to PDF or PNG first.

04

Know the limits

  • OCR can misread characters (e.g. letter O vs. digit 0). Treat every row as a draft until checked.
  • A confidence label prompts review; it is not proof of engineering correctness.
  • It reads an existing parts table. It does not infer a BOM from geometry or detect hidden components.

05

Your files

Your original file and the recognized result are stored privately by MST, and you can delete the server files from the tool. MST states on the tool page that uploaded files are not used for model training.

06

Why teams use it

Design engineers spend less time retyping parts tables, and engineering managers get BOM data in a consistent, reviewable format that moves cleanly into the next step — such as comparing revisions with the free BOM Compare tool.

07

FAQ

Is Drawing to BOM free?

Yes. It is one of MST's free engineering tools, with a built-in sample.

Which formats can I upload?

PNG, JPEG and PDF, up to 25 MB. DWG, DXF and native SOLIDWORKS files must be exported to PDF or PNG first.

What can I export?

Excel (.xlsx, up to 500 rows) and CSV, with Item, Part number, Description, Quantity and Material columns.

Does it work without a parts table?

No. It reads a table already on the drawing and does not infer components from geometry.

How accurate is it?

OCR can misread characters, so the output is a draft. MST does not publish an accuracy figure for this free tool.

How do I compare two BOM versions?

Export both as CSV and use the free BOM Compare tool.

MST AI Engineer

From BOMs to native assemblies

Drawing to BOM is a free tool from MST. MST AI Engineer goes further: it takes a P&ID gas-line diagram plus your approved PDM parts and equipment rules and builds a native, editable SOLIDWORKS assembly — starting with semiconductor gas equipment.

Start a team trial