Sketch-to-CAD · Stairs, railings & misc metals

Turn Stair and Railing Sketches into CAD Drawings

LaunchAI converts stair and railing sketches and field measures into CAD drawings. Create dimensioned stair models, rail layouts and shop drawings. The drawing is built from the supplied measurements, notes and specifications. Unclear details are flagged for your team to review.

See your sketches converted to CAD See the approval screen

For detailers, project managers and estimators at miscellaneous and structural metals fabricators

Monday, 7:15. Three stairs due, one detailer, booked to Thanksgiving.

Friday the field guy walked the Building C mezzanine with a tape, a laser and a legal pad. You have his sheet: the stair drawn as a lightning bolt, "10' 1 FF-FF" at the top, "7 3/4 rise?" next to it, a box for the landing, and a guard run with posts ticked off at what might be 4' or might be 5'. There's also a GC email with an RFI response that moves the landing, a photo of an embed plate that isn't where S-201 says it is, and a voicemail asking for approval drawings by Wednesday.

So you do the math again. Floor-to-floor divided by risers until it lands under your limit and divides clean. Treads one fewer than risers. Check the run against the wall, check headroom under the beam at the worst tread. Then into Advance Steel or AutoCAD: MC12 stringers, grating treads with abrasive nosing, the landing frame, guard posts, toe plate, rail returns at the wall. Then the approval set. Then the cut list.

None of it is hard. It's the same afternoon for every stair and every rail, and it all waits behind the one person in the building who can do it. Get one floor-to-floor wrong and you find out when the top riser is an inch and a half off and the inspector is standing on it.

What the job looks like today

  1. Decode the pad

    Floor-to-floor, available run, landing, rail ticks, and which numbers he wasn't sure of.

  2. Do the stair math

    Risers, treads, headroom, stringer length: by calculator, again.

  3. Model it

    Stringers, treads, landing frame, posts and rails, built by hand in your detailing software.

  4. Build the approval set

    Plans, elevations, sections and notes for the GC.

  5. Wait for comments

    Then fix the landing the RFI moved, and issue it again.

Where it goes wrong

The stair is math. The field sheet is where the math goes wrong.

Nothing on these sheets looks wrong. It looks wrong when the stair is hanging off the crane and doesn't reach.

  • FF-FF before the topping

    He measured slab to slab, before the 2" topping on one level and the tile on the other. Now the top and bottom risers don't match the rest, which is the first thing every inspector checks.

  • Whose riser limit?

    "7 3/4 max" is the residential number. A commercial egress stair is 7" max, and an OSHA industrial stair allows more. The field guy wrote the one he remembers, not the one this job is built to.

  • Post spacing by tick mark

    Six ticks on a 22' guard run. Is that 4'-4" on center, or 5' with the end posts not drawn? It changes the post count, the base plates and the embed layout the GC is pouring next week.

  • The embed that moved

    The landing frame bolts to embeds the GC poured three inches low. The structural drawing says one thing, the photo says another, and your shop drawing has to show what's actually there.

Why it's still manual

Software hasn't fixed this. Here's why.

Misc metals shops have AutoCAD, Advance Steel or Tekla, and a stair calculator on somebody's phone. The field sheet still has to be read and turned into a stair by a person.

  • Your CAD and quoting software

    Waits for someone to type

    Advance Steel, Tekla and SDS2 have stair and rail macros that build a stair in minutes, once someone types in the floor-to-floor, the run, the riser count, the stringer and the landing. The legal pad doesn't type itself in.

  • Generic AI and OCR models

    Confidently wrong

    A generic model reads "10' 1" as 10.1, "7 3/4" as 73/4, and fills the missing landing depth with something reasonable. Then it does the division with total confidence. Stair math on a misread number is a stair that doesn't fit.

  • Image-to-CAD converters

    Traces lines, not intent

    Image-to-CAD converters trace the zigzag on the pad. The sketch isn't to scale and he drew as many treads as he had room for. The numbers are the stair, and converters skip the numbers.

  • Measuring apps and configurators

    Only if everyone uses them

    Laser measures, stair calculators and photo-measuring apps are good at taking the number. They don't pick the riser count against this job's code basis, check headroom under the beam, or build the stringers in Advance Steel.

Written on the paperGeneric OCR / AI modelLaunchAI agent
10' 1 FF-FF 10.1 ft 121" floor to floor (10' 1") Feet and inches aren't decimals, and the inch mark is the first thing a pad loses.
7 3/4 rise? 73/4 rise Field note, not a dimension: 16 R @ 7-9/16" proposed The "?" means the field guy wasn't sure either.
MC12 strgr MC 12 str ger MC12x10.6 stringers, both sides Shop shorthand isn't English. The agent reads it against your shape table.

How the agent does it

From sketches to CAD drawings and layouts

LaunchAI converts the sketch and its measurements into CAD geometry, applies your drawing standards and prepares the related order information. Missing dimensions and unclear notes are flagged for your team to review.

Advance SteelBldg C mezzanine stair · stair macro Agent working · your login · this PC
GeneralDetailsPricingNotes
  • 121" (10' 1") ← Field sheet, top
  • 16 @ 7-9/16" ← 121" ÷ 16, your riser rules
  • 15 @ 11" · 13' 9" run ← Computed, fits "13' 9 avail"
  • MC12x10.6 · both sides ← Field note "MC12 strgr"
  • Bar grating, abrasive nosing ← Spec 05 51 00
  • 48" x 48" · moved 6" N ← RFI 041 response
  • 42" · 1-1/2" sch 40 pipe ← Field sheet + A-501
  • 34" above nosing · both sides ← A-501 rev 2
Saved as draft. Nothing is sent until you approve.Send to review

  1. Reads the field sheet

    Heights, runs, landings, embeds and rail notes, with a confidence score on each value.

  2. Does the stair math

    Riser count, treads and headroom against the job's code basis and your shop rules.

  3. Draws the stair and rail

    Opens Advance Steel or AutoCAD and builds it the way your detailer would.

  4. Builds the package

    Approval drawings, cut lengths and material list, with the latest RFI applied.

  5. You approve

    Your detailer confirms the flagged value and issues for approval.

Caught at the desk

Problems caught before the shop floor

Today the order bounces when someone hits save. The agent runs the same checks first, fills what it can from a trusted source, and brings you only the one thing that needs a person.

Today

Convert to order · quote #10482Failed rules 4

Shop drawing cannot be issued for approval

  • Floor-to-floor basis not confirmed
  • Stringer size not selected
  • Guard post spacing missing
  • Landing elevation not set

Verify the following

  • Field riser note disagrees with the math

With the agent

Agent checks · before review5/6 passed

  • Floor-to-floor divides clean

    121" ÷ 16 risers = 7-9/16" exactly. No odd riser at the top or bottom.

    Pass

  • Riser note disagrees

    Field wrote "7 3/4 rise?" (15.6 risers). Drawn 16 R @ 7-9/16"; confirm before issuing.

    Needs you

  • Inside the code basis

    Job set to OSHA 1910.25 industrial stair: riser and 11" tread inside your limits.

    Pass

  • Run fits the opening

    15 treads @ 11" = 13' 9", matching the available run on the field sheet.

    Pass

  • Headroom

    80" minimum clear under the beam along the full flight.

    Pass

  • Landing per latest RFI

    RFI 041 overrides the field sheet: landing moved 6" north.

    Pass

Human review

You approve the drawing, not the typing

The paperwork on one side, the agent's drawing on the other, and every value it read in between, with the one it's unsure of called out.

LaunchAI Portal · Reviews

Approval you asked for

Approve the Building C mezzanine stair Pending

The agent computed the stair from the field sheet and drew stringers, treads, landing and guard. The field riser note disagrees with the math.

Medium risk 1 of 43 in your queue Sketch to CAD · step 03.2 · Review stair model

Agent suggests: Approve 16 risers at 7-9/16". The field note "7 3/4 rise?" works out to 15.6 risers and doesn't divide 121" evenly.

Source sketchIMG_5530.jpg
10' 1"13' 9 avail 7 3/4 rise? landing 4x4 42" guard
Mezzanine stair · elevationOpen in Advance Steel
10' 1" FF-FF15 T @ 11" = 13' 9" 16 R @ 7-9/16" LANDING 48" x 48" GUARD 42" · 1-1/2" PIPE Mezzanine stair · elev · Rev A ● Preview synced just now

Dimensions read from sketch

  • Floor to floor“10' 1"” 10' 1" (121")
  • Run“13' 9 avail” 15 T @ 11" = 13' 9"
  • Landing“landing 4x4” 48" x 48"
  • Guard“42" guard” 42" · 1-1/2" pipe
  • Stringers“MC12 strgr” MC12x10.6
  • RisersLooks like “7 3/4 rise?” 16 @ 7-9/16"
Every value links back to where it was read on the sketch. Request changes Approve CAD

Inputs and outputs

Sketches and measure sheets in. CAD drawings out.

  • Field measure sheets: floor-to-floors, openings, landings, wall conditions
  • Guard and handrail runs with post ticks and slope notes
  • Photos of embeds, beams and existing conditions
  • Architect's stair details, RFI responses and clouded revisions
  • The estimating takeoff and the spec section
  • Stair and rail modeled in Advance Steel, Tekla, SDS2 or drawn in AutoCAD
  • Riser and tread counts checked against the job's code basis and your rules
  • Approval drawings for the GC, with field-verify items called out
  • Stringer cut lengths, cut list and material for purchasing
  • Questions back to the field, drafted, instead of guesses in the shop

Your numbers

What it gives back to your team

Change the numbers to match your shop.

Example values. Put in your own.

26hours back per week
1,300hours back per year (50 weeks)
0.7full-time people's worth of typing

today with the agent: review only

Your software

Create CAD drawings in your team's tools

LaunchAI converts sketches into drawings through your CAD and design workflow. Bring your software version, drawing standards and a sample sketch so we can confirm the conversion steps and outputs for your setup.

  • AutoCAD
  • Autodesk Advance Steel
  • Tekla Structures
  • SDS2
  • Tekla PowerFab
  • Bluebeam Revu
  • StairCalculator
  • Outlook and the field photo folder

FAQ

Stairs, railings & misc metals: questions we hear

Does it work inside Advance Steel, Tekla, SDS2 or plain AutoCAD?

Yes. LaunchAI agents use your software through the screen with your team's logins, the same way your detailer does. It can drive the stair and rail macros in Advance Steel or Tekla, or draw it in AutoCAD with your blocks and layers. No plug-in, no API.

What happens when the field sheet is missing a number?

The agent never invents a dimension. A missing landing depth or an unclear floor-to-floor basis gets flagged and turned into a drafted question back to the field or the GC, and the stair waits for the answer instead of being guessed.

Does it check code?

It checks the rules you set per job: IBC, IRC or OSHA basis, max riser, min tread, headroom, guard and handrail heights, opening limits. Anything outside gets flagged. Your detailer and engineer of record still own code compliance.

Who approves before it goes to the GC or the shop?

Your detailer. The agent stops at a review screen with the model, the math and every flagged value. Nothing is issued for approval, released to the shop or sent to the GC until someone on your team signs off.

Can it do rail-only jobs, ladders and ship's ladders?

Yes. Guard and handrail runs, post spacing, terminations, wall returns, fixed ladders with cages, and ship's ladders all come off field sheets the same way.

We outsource detailing. Does this replace that?

For first drafts of field-measured stairs and rails, it can take a big share of the backlog. Most shops keep their outside detailer for the monumental stair and let the agent handle the repetitive packages.

Other industries

The same agent, other trades

Pools & outdoor living

Metal & fabrication

Kitchens, interiors & glass

Building products & structures

Signs, covers & soft goods

How the Sketch-to-CAD agent works

Send us a stack of last month's field sheets.

See your stair and railing sketches converted into CAD drawings.

Get demo