# Which CAD viewers support real-time markup and annotation for collaborative design review and approval workflows?

<p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Looking at which viewers reviewers actually trust for marking up and pushing something through an approval loop, not just viewing.</p><ul>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/design-review/reviews"><strong>Design Review</strong></a>: Reviewers use it precisely for marking up and tracking changes across a CAD project's lifecycle, and to communicate concepts with team and clients. Small review base, but the change-tracking theme is consistent.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/cadmatic-cadmatic-ebrowser/reviews"><strong>CADMATIC eBrowser</strong></a>: Reviewers highlight annotating directly on the 3D model plus clash detection for catching design errors early, which fits approval-style reviews well. It leans toward plant, marine and BIM work.</li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-viewer/reviews"><strong>Autodesk Viewer</strong></a>: Browser markup that reviewers find easy for coordinating with modelers and engineers. The recurring wish is for more markup tools and options.</li>
</ul><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Do any of these actually support a real approval sign-off, or are you bolting that onto a separate system? And for anyone doing formal reviews, has model-based markup (like CADMATIC's) beaten 2D-style markup for reducing back-and-forth?</p>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 2 months ago
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

&lt;p&gt;I’d also look at what happens after a markup is resolved. For a formal review, it’s useful to know not only where someone placed a comment, but who addressed it, what changed, and whether the reviewer accepted the fix. That history seems especially important if the actual approval record eventually lives in another system.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 5 days ago
- Author title: Writer



### Comment 2

&lt;p&gt;I’d still expect formal approval sign-off to live in a separate workflow or document system rather than the viewer itself. For complex 3D designs, model-based markup should cut more back-and-forth because reviewers can anchor feedback directly to the exact component or clash.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 5 days ago
- Author title: Marketer



### Comment 3

&lt;p&gt;On the sign-off question, most descriptions I&#39;ve read keep approval in PLM or the document system and use the viewer purely for the markup round. That split is usually deliberate rather than a workaround, since the approval record needs to outlive whichever viewer you&#39;re on this year. The thing to check is whether markups export cleanly into that system as an attachment.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 6 days ago
- Author title: Tech Consultant



### Comment 4

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;Marking up is the easy part; pushing something through an actual approval loop is where most viewers stop short. Model-based markup directly on the 3D, versus 2D-style redlines, is also worth weighing, since it tends to cut the back-and-forth on formal reviews.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: about 2 months ago
- Author title: Marketing





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