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Drawing ballooning: definition and best practices

Ballooning a drawing means numbering each of its characteristics in a balloon. That number links the drawing to the inspection documents: FAI report, PPAP file, operator inspection plan or measurement report.

What is ballooning for?

  • AS9102 / EN 9102 FAI reports in aerospace.
  • PPAP files in automotive, where the ballooned drawing is a required element.
  • Inspection plans handed to the operator.
  • Inspection reports and exchanges with customers or suppliers.

What should be ballooned?

  • Every dimension: lengths, diameters, radii, chamfers, angles.
  • Geometric tolerances (flatness, position, perpendicularity…).
  • Surface finish (Ra) and threads.
  • Checkable notes: material, treatment, broken edges.

Best practices

  1. Number in a logical order: view by view, in reading direction.
  2. One balloon per characteristic; for “4x Ø8.5”, follow the customer's requirement (one balloon or one per hole).
  3. Place the balloon next to the dimension without hiding the drawing.
  4. Record the drawing zone so every characteristic can be found.
  5. Keep the ballooned drawing and the inspection table strictly consistent.

By hand or with software?

By hand, in a PDF editor and then Excel, a 40-dimension drawing often takes several hours, and every copy is a chance for error. Ballooning software reads the clicked dimension, works out its tolerance and produces the ballooned drawing and the table in one go.

Frequently asked questions

Can a scanned drawing be ballooned?
Yes, as long as the software has OCR. Bulleur PARFAIT includes it: a scanned drawing is ballooned just like a PDF exported from CAD.
Should dimensions under general tolerances be ballooned?
Yes: they are drawing characteristics like any other. Their min and max come from the standard stated in the title block, for example ISO 2768-m.