AutoCAD: translation directly inside DWG drawings

AutoCAD is the standard of the engineering-documentation world, made by Autodesk: construction, mechanical, and engineering drawings live in DWG/DXF. For a translation agency this is a distinct competence: translating a drawing does not mean “translating text off a picture” — it means returning translated labels to their exact places in a working file, with no shifts, overlaps, or broken graphics. At MovaPro a dedicated pairing handles it: technical translators plus DTP specialists working in AutoCAD.

What we do in AutoCAD

• Extract text from DWG. Labels, tables, title blocks, notes — everything textual is collected from the drawing into a translation format linked to specific objects in the file.
• Translate in a CAT system. The text goes through our regular professional cycle in Trados: translation memory, project glossary, an editor, and Xbench checks. That is why terminology on sheet No. 14 matches sheet No. 4,780.
• Return the translation into the drawing. Every line lands in its place — if required, in a bilingual layout at the coordinates and font size defined by the client’s specification.
• Final engineering review. Each sheet is inspected visually: nothing overlaps the graphics, dimensions are legible, tables are intact.

Why it matters to you

The drawing stays a working document. You receive not a PDF “photo” but a full AutoCAD file your engineers, contractors, and supervisory bodies can keep working with.

Bilingual sheets pass review the first time. International construction projects usually demand bilingual layouts to a strict specification. We have lived it: on a 5,000+-drawing project for a plant in Kazakhstan the client checked label positions with a ruler — and the sheets passed on first submission.

Volume doesn’t scare us. Translation memory plus repetition analysis make big packages faster and cheaper: standard labels are not translated (or billed) again and again. The same approach delivered the sugar-plant drawings project and industrial equipment documentation.

How to order drawing translation

Send DWG/DXF files (or at least a PDF export for assessment) — within 15 minutes we’ll return a quote that separately counts new text, repetitions, and layout work. If you have a bilingual layout specification, attach it right away: agreeing the layout before the start saves weeks at the end.

Drawing translation is part of our technical translation service, so your project will be handled by specialist technical linguists with 15–20+ years of experience.