AutoCAD and document management automation · Australian built

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AutoRef streamlines repetitive drafting and documentation tasks, giving your team more time to focus on engineering and project delivery.

Delivered automated designs for

Client Client Client Client Client and more

One place

Five records of every project, kept in five different places

The register in a spreadsheet, the revisions in a drafter's head, the checkprints in a folder, the transmittals in someone's sent items, the RFIs in a mailbox. AutoRef Manager brings them into one record of the project.

PROJECT · MI-2417 TARRAWONGA UPGRADE PROJECT · MI-2390 SWITCHROOM PACKAGE its own register + every other project your team runs Document management The register and its status Revisions and updates Revisions across a whole set Checkprints Review · recommend · approve Issuing documents Transmittals and receipts RFIs Raised · responded · recorded ONE RECORD AutoRef Manager one register · one history across every project

A typical AutoRef workflow

You make the engineering decisions. AutoRef does the bookkeeping.

Read each column top to bottom. Hover a column and the steps AutoRef takes over drop out of it one by one, counting your workload down.

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What it runs on

Environment Inside AutoCAD, and beside it
Your drawings Your blocks and title blocks
Your documents Your project folders and register
Your standards Naming, revisions, layers, statuses
Licensing Annual, support hours included

Nothing to migrate. AutoRef works in the drawing environment and the project folders your team already has, and leaves your drawings and your documentation looking exactly as they do today.

Packages Seven packages, four available now Manager, Link, Release and IO are licensed today. Others are in development. See the packages Examples Watch it run on a real set Short recordings of a single task, start to finish, at real speed. Open the examples
AutoRef Manager

Document control that doesn’t require restructuring your department

One place to manage your documents, your reviews and everything you issue — working with the folders and the process your team already has. No migration, no new filing system, and nobody has to change how they draft.

Runs on Windows desktop
Your files Your own project folders
Hosting Australian data residency
Access Roles and permissions
Onboarding Pilot projects

One place for all of it, without changing how you work

Most teams keep a register in a spreadsheet next to the drawings, and the two only agree when somebody sits down and checks them. Manager keeps the register and looks at your folders for you, so a missing file or an out-of-date revision shows up straight away instead of being found by a client.

Document register AutoRef Manager · fixture project
One central place to manage the whole project, working directly with the folder structure you already have — not a copy of it, and not a spreadsheet somebody has to keep up to date.

One central place to manage the whole project, working directly with the folder structure you already have — not a copy of it, and not a spreadsheet somebody has to keep up to date.

What it does

06 main capabilities · select to expand

One place to see every document on the project — what it is, what revision it is on, and whether the file is actually where it should be. Manager reads your existing folders, so nobody is keeping a spreadsheet in step with the drawings by hand.

  • See type, status, area and revision at a glance
  • Save the views your team looks at every day
  • Update many documents at once instead of one by one
  • Export the register for a client or a progress report

What you see on a row

MI-2417-EL-DWG-002Cv5Submitted
MI-2417-EL-DWG-004Dv5Not Started
MI-2417-CV-DOC-001noneno file

Take a whole selection of documents to the next revision in one go. Manager shows you exactly what will change before anything changes, and leaves alone anything that is still under review.

  • Take many documents up or down a revision at once
  • See the before and after before you commit to it
  • Anything under review is protected and left alone
  • The file names affected are listed with the change

Applied to a selection

B C 12 documents · 1 refused

MI-2417-EL-DWG-002 is still under review, so it is left alone.

Select your files, let Manager match them automatically, and issue. It looks through your folders for the latest, most up-to-date files and collates them for you, taking the admin work out of a transmittal.

  • Finds the current file for each document for you
  • Checks the package is complete before anything goes out
  • Numbers every issue once, with no duplicates
  • Produces the receipt and the file list with the package

Four steps, one check

1 Details 2 Files 3 Checks 4 Issue

7 things to fix · issuing stays locked until they are.

A review loop you can actually follow: someone submits the work, a reviewer gives their recommendation, an approver makes the decision, and it goes round again if the drawing changed.

  • ISO 9001 compliant process
  • Ensures a proper and traceable review process takes place
  • Keeps a clear record of accountability
  • Scales to be as detailed, or as light, as you need it to be

Two records, never one

ReviewerR. NguyenRecommend
ApproverPending

A recommendation is not an approval, and never looks like one.

Everything is traced: when a document was issued and to whom, how an RFI was answered, how a review ran and who signed it off. That gives you accountability when a client asks a hard question, and a clear picture of how a project actually ran that you can carry into the next one.

  • Each issue keeps the exact file it was sent with
  • Corrections are added as new records, never as edits
  • The full issue history sits against every document
  • Every export is stamped with the date it came from

What the record keeps

TR-00422026-08-11Issued
rev Cv5MI-2417-EL-DWG-002-C.pdf

The drawing has changed twice since. The record still shows what was sent.

Nothing to move and nothing to restructure. Manager works with the project folders your team already uses, so working folders remain on your network, same as they’ve always been.

  • Keeps working with the folder structure you have today
  • You keep control of your documents
  • Validates the documents in your folders against what you intend to submit
  • No expensive cloud storage, and no documents moved out of where they live

Your folders, as they are

/DRAWINGSscanned
/SCHEDULESscanned
/CHECKPRINTnot scanned

The hosted service

Australian data residency

The register and its history are hosted in Australia. Your drawings and documents stay where they are today — on your own project folders — and Manager records their logical location rather than copying them.

Security and access control

Access is granted per project, per person. Each company's records are isolated, permissions are re-checked rather than cached indefinitely, and the application tells a user plainly when something is withheld rather than failing quietly.

Getting started

Manager is being rolled out on pilot projects

We take on one project at a time, map your folders with you, and run it alongside your current register until you are satisfied it is correct. Tell us the project and how many people keep the register today.

Ask about a pilot

Packages

Pick the tools your team drafts with

Each package takes over one repetitive part of documentation. Most run inside AutoCAD; Manager runs alongside it. Run one, or run the suite.

See pricing

Available now

04 packages · licensed annually
Manager Available

AutoRef Manager

The document register, transmittal record and checkprint history for a project. It runs outside AutoCAD, against the project folders you already use.

  • Document register with revision control
  • Transmittals, preflight and issue records
  • Checkprint review and approval workflow
  • Full audit trail of what was issued, and when
See what it does
Link Available

AutoRef Link

Electrical schematic referencing that keeps itself correct. Relays, contacts and cross-references update live as the schematic changes.

  • Real-time relay, line number and contactor updating
  • Live referencing management
  • Grid-type and line-type referencing
  • Preset block library, plus your own blocks
Book a demonstration
Release Available

AutoRef Release

Release entire drawing sets in minutes. Title blocks, revisions, plotting and packaging across hundreds of drawings.

  • Batch revision management
  • Title block automation
  • PDF and eTransmit packages
  • Consistent changes across a whole set
Book a demonstration
IO Available · custom

AutoRef IO

Equipment schedules in, finished drawings out. Built around your own drawings, standards and workflows.

  • Automatic cable and route generation
  • Cable and junction box schedules
  • AutoCAD I/O drawing generation
  • Scoped individually to your standards
Talk to us about scope

In development

03 packages · not released
TakeOff Experimental

AutoRef TakeOff

Switchboard takeoffs without walking the drawing set. TakeOff reads the schematics and returns the parts you need to order.

  • Reads parts and ratings straight from schematics
  • Builds the switchboard parts list, board by board
  • Calculates quantities, cable sizes and spare ways
  • Exports to a schedule or supplier BOM

Indicative scope. In development, not released.

Join the trial group
TBA-01 To be announced

To be announced

A fourth package is in scoping with a launch partner. Details once there is something worth publishing.

TBA-02 To be announced

To be announced

Requests from existing customers shape what gets built next. Tell us the task that costs your team the most hours.

Pricing

Choose the plan to suit you

Annual subscriptions, priced in AUD excluding GST. AutoCAD tool licences are allocated to licensed workstations. AutoRef Manager is priced per company and banded by seats. Every plan includes a fixed allocation of support hours.

Trial plan

$0 AUD / year

Includes

  • AutoRef Release
  • AutoRef Link
  • 2-month trial with support

AutoRef Release

$300 AUD / year

Includes

  • AutoRef Release
  • Optional onboarding session

AutoRef Link

$500 AUD / year

Includes

  • AutoRef Link
  • Optional onboarding session

Release + Link

Save 12.5%
$700 AUD / year

Includes

  • AutoRef Release
  • AutoRef Link
  • Complimentary onboarding session
  • Custom block development
  • 24/7 support

AutoRef Manager

per company · banded by seats

Manager is licensed to the business rather than to a person, and banded by the number of people who need to work in the register. Everyone else on the project reads the drawings as they do today.

1 – 5 seats A single project team, one document controller. TBA
6 – 20 seats Several concurrent projects, a shared register. TBA
21 – 50 seats Multiple offices or disciplines on one register. TBA
50+ seats Priced on application, with a scoped rollout. TBA

Band pricing is being finalised. Pilot projects are being taken on now, and pilot terms are agreed per project.

Ask about a pilot

Workstation licences

Link and Release licences are allocated to workstations through AutoRef Hub. Floating or network licences are not offered. Contact us about the number of workstations your team needs.

AutoRef IO

For those seeking comprehensive custom solutions

IO is configured around your existing documentation and drawing standards. The subscription covers that configuration and the business it runs in, so pricing sits outside the Release and Link licence model.

$3,000 AUD / year

Base subscription, including one user

+ $250 AUD / user / year

Each additional user

Contact us

Annual total

1 user$3,000
3 users$3,500
5 users$4,000
10 users$5,250

No bundle discount applies to IO. Release and Link licences are priced separately.

Position statement

AutoRef AI Statement

AI is rapidly changing the way businesses work, and we believe it is important to adapt with purpose. At AutoRef, we are continually looking for ways to innovate and make the most of advancements in artificial intelligence.

Reduced around the work

  • Document creation
  • Formatting
  • Referencing
  • Data management
  • Routine administration

Led by people

  • Knowledge
  • Experience
  • Judgement
  • Engineering application
  • Sound decisions

The focus of the current AI landscape is not simply replacing people—it is optimising workflows. For us, that means keeping complex work requiring knowledge, experience, judgement and engineering application clearly defined and led by people, while reducing the tedious work around it.

Document creation, formatting, referencing, data management and routine administration can consume a significant amount of time without benefiting from the expertise of the person completing it. By improving these processes, professionals can spend more time on the work that matters: applying their knowledge and experience to complex projects, making sound decisions, and delivering real value.

The role of people is increasingly to coordinate, guide and apply expertise across large, complex projects. Behind the scenes, we should strive to optimise the processes that can be automated, assisted or made more efficient—freeing time to be spent where it has the greatest impact.

AutoRef has always, and will always, advocate for people being at the core of a business. We also believe people should be supported to reach their full potential. AI should help remove unnecessary routine work, not diminish the value of human expertise.

Our commitment

Our commitment is to use AI responsibly and practically: to improve productivity, support better workflows, and help our clients focus on the work they are truly paid to do.

Talk to us

Examples

Watch it work on real drawings

Short recordings taken from live projects. Each one runs a single task end to end, at real speed. Ask for a walkthrough on your own drawing set.

Link

Live cross-referencing on a motor control schematic

A contact is moved and every reference in the set follows it, with no manual renumbering.

Click to play

Link

Grid and line referencing on the same drawing set

Switching referencing style without redrawing callouts.

Click to play

IO

Equipment schedule to finished I/O drawings

Cables, routes and junction boxes coordinated, then drawn.

Click to play

Suite

AutoRef Suite, in one minute

The short overview of what the suite covers.

Click to play

recording pending

Release

Batch revision across a full drawing set

Coming soon

recording pending

TakeOff

Switchboard takeoff from schematics

Coming soon

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FAQs

Find answers to your questions

What is AutoRef?

AutoRef is a suite of AutoCAD tools built to reduce repetitive drawing work, improve consistency and help engineering teams maintain accurate documentation. Our current products include AutoRef Manager, AutoRef Release and AutoRef Link, with AutoRef IO available for fully tailored automation solutions.

What does AutoRef Manager do?

AutoRef Manager is document control for an engineering project: the document register, the transmittal record and the checkprint review history in one application. It resolves every register row against the files on your project folders, so a missing file, a stale revision or an unissued document is visible on the row rather than found later.

Does Manager run inside AutoCAD?

No. Manager is a Windows desktop application that runs alongside AutoCAD rather than inside it, because document control is not drafting work. Release and Link remain AutoCAD tools.

Do we have to move our drawings into Manager?

No. Manager maps the project folders you already use and records where a file sits, rather than copying it into a library. You mark which folders hold deliverables, and those are the ones a transmittal scans.

Where is our register data hosted?

The register and its history are hosted in Australia. Your drawings and documents stay on your own project folders. Access is granted per project and per person, and each company’s records are isolated from every other company’s.

Can we try Manager on a project?

Manager is being rolled out on pilot projects, one at a time. We map your folders with you and run it alongside your current register until you are satisfied it agrees. Pilot terms are agreed per project — talk to us about which project would suit.

What does AutoRef Release do?

AutoRef Release helps teams manage and issue drawing sets more efficiently. It can batch-update title block details, increment or decrement revisions, and apply consistent changes across multiple documents, reducing manual effort and the risk of drawing errors.

What does AutoRef Link do?

AutoRef Link is designed specifically for electrical schematics. It manages relays, contacts and cross-referencing, with live updates as schematic changes are made. It supports both grid-type and line-type referencing, includes a preset block library, and allows users to develop their own blocks where required.

What is AutoRef IO?

AutoRef IO is our fully customised automation solution. It is developed around your organisation's drawings, standards and workflows, allowing automated drawings to retain your established look and feel. Each implementation is scoped individually, based on your existing documentation and drawing standards. IO is priced as a base annual subscription of $3,000 including one user, with additional users at $250 per user per year.

Do I need any external software to use AutoRef?

Yes. AutoRef is designed to work with AutoCAD, so a compatible AutoCAD installation and licence are required. AutoRef works within your established drawing environment, helping you retain your existing workflow while adding automation and control.

How is AutoRef licensed?

AutoRef is subscription-based. This allows us to maintain a dedicated support team, continue updating the software, and ensure customers are using supported versions within the engineering community. One-off purchases are no longer available. Release and Link are licensed per workstation through AutoRef Hub. Floating or network licences are not offered. AutoRef IO is a base annual subscription that includes one user, with additional users charged per user per year.

What support and training is included?

Each subscription includes a fixed allocation of support hours. Additional assistance is available at an hourly support rate. Custom packages can also include 24/7 support, unlimited assistance, training sessions and onsite onboarding, depending on your organisation's requirements.

In development

AutoRef Hub

One place to install and manage your licensed AutoRef products. Hub installs, activates and updates every package in the suite from a single window.

What Hub does

Install Install any licensed package from one place, without chasing separate installers for each product.
Activate One purchase covers the workstations you licensed. Hub claims the seat and keeps the licence on the machine.
Update and repair Update or repair an installed package in place. Hub keeps a record of every job it runs.
Release a seat Move a licence to a different workstation without raising a support request.

Licensed download

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Your account

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Choose which company you are working with. Nothing is shown until you do, so no two companies are ever mixed on one page.

AutoRef Hub download

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Nothing has been published for your company yet.

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What your company has purchased

Your purchases could not be read just now. This does not mean you have none: nothing about your licences has changed. Try again shortly.

No purchases are recorded for this company yet.

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Seats, workstations and activations are managed in AutoRef Hub on your own computer, not here. This page shows what was bought; Hub shows where it is being used.

What Hub covers

Every AutoRef product asks Hub before it starts licensed work. Hub is the commercial and update authority for all of them; the way seats are counted differs by product. Floating or network licences are not offered.

AutoRef Link A separately licensed product inside the AutoCAD package. Installing the package does not license it. Workstation allocations
AutoRef Release A separately licensed product inside the same AutoCAD package. Workstation allocations
AutoRef IO P&IDs to final deliverables. Workstation allocations
AutoRef Manager Counted in named members, not workstations: Hub owns the purchase; Manager manages enabled members and project access. Opening Manager on another computer does not use a workstation allocation. Named members

Invitation

Welcome to AutoRef

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This page needs the personal link AutoRef sent you, and none is waiting: the link was not opened here, it was already used, or it has expired. Open it again from your email; if that does not work, ask us for a fresh invitation. A link can be used once, and nothing can be completed without one.
Your invitation is waiting, but this service offers no way to complete it yet: neither organisation sign-in nor a local password. Contact us.
Your company signs in with its own organisation accounts, so there is no AutoRef password to choose. Accepting sends you to your organisation's sign-in and brings you back; the invitation is then linked to the account you signed in with. The invitation itself stays on the AutoRef site's server and is never shown here.
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Set your password

Choose how you will sign in

At least 12 characters. A short sentence you will remember is a good choice. Nobody at AutoRef can see it.

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Contact

Book a demonstration

A demonstration runs about 30 minutes, on your drawings where you can share them. Tell us what your team drafts and we will show the parts AutoRef takes over.

Enquiry

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Join the teams getting ahead

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Client Client Client Client Client and more

Optimise your drafting department with AutoRef

Our solutions are designed to eliminate repetitive drafting, streamline engineering workflows and deliver measurable time and cost savings across every project.

Book a demonstration →