SOLIDWORKS® Inspection

SOLIDWORKS Inspection

Automated first article inspection reports — straight from your CAD data.

Stop manually ballooning drawings and re-entering dimension values. SOLIDWORKS Inspection automates your FAI workflow — connecting design data directly to QA with no transcription errors.

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Zero
Manual re-entry of dimension values when you use CMM integration
What It Is

SOLIDWORKS Inspection

SOLIDWORKS Inspection automates ballooned inspection drawings and FAI reports directly from your 3D models and 2D drawings — extracting every characteristic automatically, including GD&T symbols and tolerances, and populating AS9102, PPAP, or custom Excel templates without manual re-entry.

  • Automatic ballooning of engineering drawings from SOLIDWORKS files, PDF, TIFF, and DXF/DWG sources
  • OCR-powered dimension extraction from scanned or PDF drawings — reads nominal values, tolerances, and GD&T symbols
  • Export to AS9102 and PPAP Excel templates, PDF ballooned drawings, and QIF format
  • CMM import — pulls measured values directly from Coordinate Measuring Machine output
  • Graphical pass/fail status — green, yellow, or red per characteristic based on tolerance
  • PDF and 3D PDF export of ballooned drawings for customer or auditor delivery
  • Revision management — compare drawing revisions to identify changes and update inspection projects
  • PDM integration — works with SOLIDWORKS PDM for controlled project and revision management
SOLIDWORKS Authorized Reseller Morphos 3D is an authorized SOLIDWORKS reseller with deep manufacturing expertise.
Engineering drawing with automated GD&T balloons
Morphos advantage: We configure Inspection workflows aligned to your specific customer requirements — AS9102 for aerospace, PPAP for automotive. We have seen what happens when FAI packages are rejected at customer receiving, and we help you set up Inspection so that does not happen to you.
Capabilities

What You Can Do with SOLIDWORKS Inspection

Automated Ballooning
Extract Every Characteristic — No Manual Numbering

Automatically identifies and balloons every inspectable characteristic from SOLIDWORKS drawings, PDFs, or TIFFs — including GD&T callouts, tolerances, and surface finish symbols via OCR.

  • Automatic extraction from SOLIDWORKS drawings, PDF, TIFF, DXF, DWG, and 3D CAD files
  • OCR reading of nominal values, plus/minus tolerances, and dimension types
  • GD&T and surface finish symbol recognition
  • Customizable balloon shape, color, and size by criticality or inspection method
  • Adjustable balloon placement without losing characteristic linkage
  • Automatically generated Bill of Characteristics (BOC) with full dimension data
Balloon properties panel with GD&T dimension data
Time savings are immediate: A drawing with 80 characteristics that used to take two hours to manually balloon and populate takes minutes with Inspection. That time compounds across every FAI and in-process inspection report your QA team produces.
FAI Reporting
Industry-Standard Reports — AS9102, PPAP, and Custom Templates

Exports to AS9102, PPAP, or custom Excel templates — with ballooned drawing, Bill of Characteristics, and measured values from caliper or CMM import.

  • AS9102 First Article Inspection report template (aerospace)
  • PPAP Production Part Approval Process template (automotive)
  • Custom Excel template support for customer-specific formats
  • PDF and 3D PDF export of ballooned drawings
  • CSV and XML export for quality systems and databases
  • Direct publish to Net-Inspect quality management platform
Full Inspection UI with BOM and characteristics table
No transcription errors: When measured values flow from your CMM directly into the inspection project and out into the AS9102 form, the opportunity for manual entry errors disappears. Rejected FAI packages due to data entry mistakes become a thing of the past.
Measurement Integration
CMM Import and Digital Caliper Entry

Enter measured values manually, via digital caliper, or imported from CMM. Pass/fail status calculated automatically against design tolerances — green, yellow, or red per characteristic.

  • Direct measured value entry per characteristic (manual or digital caliper)
  • CMM result import for automated measurement population
  • Graphical pass/fail highlighting: green (in tolerance), yellow (marginal), red (out of tolerance)
  • 3D PMI (Product and Manufacturing Information) support from 3D CAD models
  • Works with SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies with PMI annotations
  • Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) sampling plan support
Balloon results tree with inspection BOM spreadsheet
Design data to QA — direct: The 3D model carries the GD&T tolerances your engineering team defined. Inspection reads those tolerances, extracts them onto the drawing, and carries them through to the FAI report. No re-interpretation, no re-entry.
Choose Your Tier

SOLIDWORKS Inspection Packages

Two tiers. Standard automates ballooning and report creation from any file type. Professional adds measured value entry, CMM integration, and 3D PMI support.

Inspection Standard
Automated Ballooning & Reports

Available as both a standalone application and a SOLIDWORKS add-in. Works with SOLIDWORKS files, PDF, TIFF, and DXF/DWG. Automates ballooning, generates AS9102 and PPAP Excel reports, and exports PDF ballooned drawings.

  • SOLIDWORKS add-in and standalone application
  • SOLIDWORKS drawing, part, and assembly file support
  • PDF and TIFF file support with OCR extraction
  • DXF/DWG file support
  • Automatic ballooning with GD&T recognition
  • AS9102 and PPAP Excel template export
  • PDF and 3D PDF ballooned drawing export
  • Drawing revision comparison and management
  • PDM integration for project file management
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Inspection Professional
Ballooning + Measurement Entry

Extends Standard with direct measured value entry, CMM result import, 3D PMI support, and graphical pass/fail status. Required for shops producing inspection reports with actual measurement values.

  • Everything in Standard
  • Manual or digital caliper measured value entry
  • CMM result import for automated measurement population
  • Graphical pass/fail status (green / yellow / red)
  • 3D PMI support from SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies
  • 2D/3D CAD file support for other CAD formats
  • Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) sampling plan
  • CSV and XML export for quality systems
  • Net-Inspect direct publish
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Available on Device Term License (machine-locked, 3-month or 1-year) or Single-User Subscription (person-tied, any device). Contact us to discuss which fits your shop.
How Morphos Helps

Configured for Your Customer Requirements — Not Just Installed

We configure Inspection templates to match your customer requirements — AS9102 Form 1/2/3 for aerospace, PPAP for automotive — so your first report passes customer receiving without revision requests. For shops on SOLIDWORKS PDM, we connect Inspection to your vault so inspection projects follow drawing revisions and quality documentation is controlled alongside your CAD data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions About SOLIDWORKS Inspection

SOLIDWORKS Inspection is available as a subscription under either a Device Term License (machine-locked, 3-month or 1-year) or a Single-User Subscription (person-tied, usable on any device). Pricing differs between Standard and Professional. As an authorized SOLIDWORKS reseller, Morphos 3D can provide a current quote. Contact us and we will respond quickly with pricing for your specific configuration.
No — Inspection Standard includes both a SOLIDWORKS add-in and a standalone application. The standalone application works with PDF, TIFF, DXF, and DWG files without requiring a SOLIDWORKS license on the same machine. This means your quality team can use Inspection to process customer-supplied PDF drawings without needing SOLIDWORKS Design seats. If you do have SOLIDWORKS, the add-in provides tighter integration and works directly with native SOLIDWORKS drawing files.
Standard automates ballooning and report creation — it reads your drawing, extracts all characteristics, generates a ballooned drawing, and produces an AS9102 or PPAP report template. Professional adds the ability to enter actual measured values into the inspection project: manually, via digital caliper, or by importing CMM results. It also adds 3D PMI support and the graphical pass/fail display. If your customer requires actual measurement data in the FAI package — which most aerospace and automotive customers do — you need Professional.

More Questions

Yes — SOLIDWORKS Inspection Professional supports CMM result import. The CMM outputs a measurement file, and Inspection reads the values and maps them to the corresponding ballooned characteristics in the inspection project. This eliminates the manual step of transcribing CMM report values into the FAI spreadsheet — the values flow in automatically, already linked to the correct dimension balloon numbers. Contact Morphos to discuss compatibility with your specific CMM software.
Yes. SOLIDWORKS Inspection Standard includes OCR that reads dimension values, tolerances, GD&T symbols, and notes directly from PDF and TIFF files — including encrypted PDFs. It handles horizontal and vertical dimensions, split dimensions, hole callouts, and surface finish symbols. You can produce a properly ballooned inspection report from a customer-supplied PDF without re-drawing or manual data entry.
SOLIDWORKS Inspection integrates with SOLIDWORKS PDM so inspection projects are accessed through the vault alongside CAD files — with the same revision control and access management. When a drawing revision changes, Inspection compares old and new revisions to identify what changed. Morphos configures this integration during initial setup.

Ready to automate your first article inspection process?

Talk to Morphos 3D about SOLIDWORKS Inspection. We can walk through a live demo using a drawing like yours, help you choose between Standard and Professional, and get you configured for your customer requirements quickly.

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