How to control AutoCAD by voice with Saytify: setting up the command key, the real phrases you can say (Line, Trim, Zoom Extents, Layer Isolate, Make It Red...), chaining commands with numbers, what works, what does not, and tips from daily drafting.
Search for “AutoCAD voice commands” and you find forum threads asking whether it exists and a product from two decades ago. Drafting is a two-handed job, one hand on the mouse and one typing command aliases, which is exactly why voice control is worth having. This guide explains how it works in Saytify, what you can say today, and the habits that make it reliable. I draft with it daily; everything below comes from that.
How it works
Saytify has two modes. Dictation turns speech into text, in Arabic and English. Command mode turns a spoken phrase into keystrokes.
You hold the command key, say “Zoom Extents”, and release. Saytify looks the phrase up in its built-in AutoCAD list and types the matching keystrokes into the window in front: Esc, z, Enter, e, Enter. AutoCAD sees exactly what it would see if you had typed it.
A few consequences follow from this design:
- No plug-in and no version dependency. Saytify does not hook into AutoCAD. It types. So it works with the AutoCAD release you have, and with the command line, not with a custom API that might change.
- Commands are English phrases. The list is built from AutoCAD’s own command names and aliases, spoken in English (“Trim”, “Offset”, “Linear Dimension”). Dictation remains fully bilingual; command phrases are English.
- Speed. Common phrases are matched by a dedicated grammar recogniser in a fraction of a second; longer or unusual phrases fall through to the AI speech model and then to fuzzy matching that tolerates small mishearings.
- Context awareness. Saytify checks which app is in front. With AutoCAD active it uses the AutoCAD list; otherwise it uses the Windows list (Show Desktop, Task View, Snap Left, New Tab, Screenshot and so on).
Setting up
- Open Saytify’s Voice commands page and switch command mode on.
- Choose your command key. By default it is your talk key held together with Alt; most drafters prefer a dedicated mouse thumb button, so the right hand never leaves the mouse. The talk key for dictation can be a second button.
- Click into AutoCAD so it is the active window, hold the command key, say “Line”, release. The command line should show
land start LINE.
The status chip in Saytify shows “AutoCAD in front” when the AutoCAD list is active.
What you can say
The built-in sheet contains hundreds of phrases, many of them synonyms so you can speak naturally (“Trim” or “Trim That”, “Mirror” or “Flip It”). Here are the groups you will use most.
Drawing
“Line”, “Polyline”, “Circle”, “Rectangle”, “Arc”, “Ellipse”, “Polygon”, “Spline”, “Construction Line”, “Revision Cloud”, “Hatch”, “Solid Hatch”, “Gradient”, “Boundary”, “Region”, “Wipeout”, “Table”, “Multiline Text”, “Single Line Text”.
Drawing phrases start with Esc, cancelling whatever was pending, so they are safe to fire at any moment.
Modifying
“Move”, “Copy”, “Rotate”, “Mirror”, “Offset”, “Trim”, “Extend”, “Fillet”, “Chamfer”, “Stretch”, “Scale”, “Array”, “Erase”, “Explode”, “Join”, “Break”, “Align”, “Lengthen”, “Match Properties”, “Edit Polyline”, “Divide”, “Measure”, “Overkill” (or “Remove Duplicates”), “Group”, “Ungroup”.
Modify phrases do not send Esc first, deliberately: select objects with the mouse, then say “Move” or “Make It Red”, and the command applies to your selection.
Layers
“Layer” (opens the Layer Properties Manager), “Layer Isolate”, “Layer Unisolate”, “Layer Off”, “Layer On”, “Layer Freeze”, “Layer Thaw”, “Layer Current”, “Layer Delete”, “Layer Merge”, “Layer Walk”.
Dimensions and annotation
“Linear Dimension”, “Aligned Dimension”, “Angular Dimension”, “Radius Dimension”, “Diameter Dimension”, “Continue Dimension”, “Baseline Dimension”, “Quick Dimension”, “Dimension Style”, “Dimension Break”, “Edit Dimension Text”, “Leader” (multileader), “Quick Leader”, “Leader Align”, “Edit Text”, “Spell Check”, “Find Text”, “Text To Front”, “Hatch To Back”.
View
“Zoom Extents”, “Zoom All”, “Zoom Window”, “Zoom Previous”, “Zoom Object”, “Pan”, “Regen”, “Regen All”, “Named Views”, “Plan View”, “Viewports”, “Orbit”.
Colours
“Make It Red”, “Make It Blue”, “Make It Green”, “Make It Yellow”, “Make It Cyan”, “Make It Magenta”, “Make It Gray”, “Make It Orange”, “Color By Layer”, “Color By Block” change the colour of the current selection through CHPROP. “Set Current Color Blue” (and the other colours) sets the colour for new objects. “Color Dialog” opens the picker.
Blocks, references and files
“Insert Block”, “Make Block”, “Write Block”, “Block Editor”, “Define Attribute”, “Edit Attribute”, “External Reference”, “Attach Reference”, “Attach Image”, “Clip Reference”, “Purge”, “Audit”, “Units”, “Options”, “Osnap Settings”, “Save”, “Save As”, “Open”, “New Drawing”, “Plot”, “Export”, “Publish”, “E Transmit”, “Switch Drawing” (Ctrl+Tab), “Close Drawing”.
Toggles, keys and navigation
“Ortho” (F8), “Object Snap” (F3), “Polar” (F10), “Object Snap Tracking” (F11), “Dynamic Input” (F12), “Grid” (F7), “Snap Mode” (F9), “Text Window” (F2), “Properties” (Ctrl+1), “Design Center” (Ctrl+2), “Tool Palettes” (Ctrl+3), “Undo”, “Redo”, “Select All”, “Copy With Base Point”, “Paste As Block”, “Paste Same Place”, “Oops” (restore erased), “Cancel” (Esc), “Enter”, “Space”, “Tab”, “Backspace”, “Arrow Up”, “Arrow Right Three Times”, “Backspace Twice”.
Measuring
“Measure Distance”, “Calculate Area”, “List Object”, “Mass Properties”.
Numbers and chaining
You can say up to four phrases in one breath, and Saytify executes them in order. Numbers are phrases too: “zero” to “ninety nine” type the digits, “point” types a decimal point, “negative” a minus sign, “at sign” an @, “comma” a comma, “hundred” appends two zeros and “thousand” three.
Some combinations I use constantly:
- “Offset fifty Enter” types
o, Enter,50, Enter: OFFSET with a distance of 50, waiting for you to pick the object and side. - “Circle”, click the centre, then “two point five Enter” for a radius of 2.5.
- “Rotate”, select, pick the base point, then “ninety Enter”.
- “Arrow Right Three Times” to move through a dialog.
Say digits in natural groups: “twelve fifty” types 1250, “one hundred” types 100, “two thousand” types 2000.
Dictating text into the drawing
Command mode gets you into MTEXT; dictation fills it. Say “Multiline Text”, place the box, then hold the talk key and dictate in Arabic, English or both:
غرفة المضخات - منسوب الأرضية +0.15 - راجع المخطط M-07 للـ pipe routing
Saytify adds the invisible direction marks that keep mixed Arabic and English in order; the same works in the Properties palette, attribute dialogs and any text field.
What does not work, honestly
- Mouse-only steps. Picking points, selecting objects and choosing from a right-click menu are still mouse work. Voice replaces the keyboard, not the mouse.
- Dialog boxes. A command phrase opens a dialog (say “Layer” or “Options”); inside it, use the mouse or “Arrow Right Three Times” style phrases. Saytify does not understand the dialog’s contents.
- Noisy rooms and far microphones. Short words like “Line” or “Trim” give the recogniser very little audio; a headset or desk microphone makes a visible difference.
- Custom phrases. Today the list is built in and already covers the common aliases; adding your own phrases from inside the app is planned for a later release.
- AutoCAD must be the active window. Keystrokes go to whatever is in front; click into a browser and the Windows list takes over.
Habits that make it reliable
- Select first, then speak for Modify and colour commands.
- Watch the command line. Commands arrive as keystrokes, so you see exactly what was typed. If it is wrong, say “Cancel”.
- Speak the phrase, not a sentence. “Trim That” works better than “can you trim this for me”.
- Keep the command key on the mouse and the talk key next to it. Two thumb buttons cover both modes.
- Use “Enter” as a word to accept prompts, and numbers in groups.
- Check before you plot. Voice commands are fast; a wrong layer frozen is also fast. “Undo” is one word away.
Beyond AutoCAD
Hold the same command key on the desktop and the Windows list takes over: “Show Desktop”, “Task View”, “Snap Left”, “New Tab”, “Close Tab”, “Screenshot”, “Clipboard History”, “Lock Screen”. Dictation works everywhere else: the RFI email about the drawing, the WhatsApp to the site, the quotation in Excel. The engineers page walks through a full day; the features page covers the rest of the app.
Getting it
Saytify for Windows is a one-time Lifetime license on up to two devices; the first 300 licenses are at the Founders price. The pricing page has the current offer and the pre-order terms. If a phrase you need is missing, email support@zworks.net; the list grows from exactly that kind of message.
