Construction Drawing Annotation Translation

Quick answer — Drawing text lives inside the file as annotations and title blocks, so it needs image-level or CAD-level treatment. Dimensions, references and revision data stay untouched, while notes and legends carry the instruction.

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The text is not where a document tool looks

A drawing is a graphic with text embedded in it — notes, legends, callouts, title blocks, revision clouds and schedules.

A document translation pass over a project's paperwork leaves every one of those in the original language, which is how a fully translated document set still ships drawings nobody on site can read.

Translate the notes, not the geometry

The notes are where the instruction sits. A note saying a detail is indicative, or that a dimension is to be confirmed on site, or that a sequence applies, is the difference between a drawing that is understood and one that is guessed at. Dimensions and references are identifiers rather than text. A translated element tag cannot be matched to the schedule that lists it.

Revision control is the hard constraint

Drawings are reissued constantly, and a translated drawing is a derived document that goes stale the moment a revision arrives.

The safe arrangement is that the issued drawing remains the controlled document and the translated version is clearly marked as a derived copy carrying its source revision. A translated drawing without its revision marked is a hazard, because someone will work from it after it has been superseded.

Practical delivery

Image translation works on the rendered sheet, so a longer note is caught where it lands on the drawing rather than after issue — expansion matters here because the space around a note is fixed.

Where the source is available in a layered format, translating the annotation layer keeps the geometry untouched entirely, which is preferable when it is an option.

Consistency with the documents

Element names, material descriptions and system names should match the specification, the method statement and the snagging list.

Translation memory holds those, and quality control checks that dimensions, tags and revision data were left untouched — which is the check that matters most, because changing them silently is worse than translating nothing.

FAQ

Why do drawings stay untranslated? Because their text lives inside the file as annotations, legends and title blocks, so a document translation pass over the project's paperwork never touches any of it.

What should not be translated on a drawing? Drawing numbers, revisions, dimensions, levels, grid references, element tags and standards references. They are identifiers, and a translated tag cannot be matched to the schedule listing it.

How should revisions be handled? The issued drawing stays the controlled document, and the translated version is marked as a derived copy carrying its source revision. Without that mark, someone will work from a superseded sheet.

What is the best source format to translate from? A layered format where the annotation layer can be translated on its own, leaving the geometry untouched. Otherwise the rendered sheet is translated at image level, checking that notes still fit.