A method and system for generating a vector graphic from a color/object coded hand-drawn diagram are provided. A digital image of the diagram is generated and the key to the color/object code used to code the diagram is obtained. The digital image is then filtered to create a color-filtered image for each color in the key. Each filtered image is analyzed to determine the object type of objects in the filtered image according to the key, and then data extracted from the analysis of the filtered images is combined into a vector graphic diagram. The use of coded color in the diagram enables the image to be filtered based on color, which in turn aids the automated recognition of components in the diagram and significantly reduces the complexity of identifying each type of shape.