AutoCADderThursday, March 26, 2009
New free viewers for DWG and DWF CAD data
A good book writer (author) has many readers - and similarly a CAD designer (good designer) has many consumers (viewers) for his CAD data.
That's why it is important to have applications capable of reliable viewing of CAD formats. Autodesk has two of them, both of them free, and both were just released in a new "2010" version.
Autodesk DWG TrueView 2010 is a free DWG viewer. It is basically a cut down version of full AutoCAD so you can be sure that it displays, plots, measures and converts your DWG and DXF files exactly the same way as AutoCAD. The downside of this is that the installer is huge - 180MB, and also running TrueView takes quite a lot resources.
If you prefer lightweight applications and lightweight data, you will like Autodesk Design Review 2010. This a viewer for DWF and DWFx design files which can be easily published from any Windows application. And not only a viewer. In Design Review you can print, measure and first of all markup (redline) CAD data. And the markups can be brought back into AutoCAD. Version 2010 introduces ribbons and the ability to open DWG, PDF, DGN and JT files. DWG files are not viewed directly but they are first converted to DWF (in the background, with DWG TrueView). The added support for PDFs is quite surprising but it goes in line with the PDF support added in AutoCAD 2010.
You can download these two new applications from www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueview-download and www.autodesk.com/designreview-download
That's why it is important to have applications capable of reliable viewing of CAD formats. Autodesk has two of them, both of them free, and both were just released in a new "2010" version.
Autodesk DWG TrueView 2010 is a free DWG viewer. It is basically a cut down version of full AutoCAD so you can be sure that it displays, plots, measures and converts your DWG and DXF files exactly the same way as AutoCAD. The downside of this is that the installer is huge - 180MB, and also running TrueView takes quite a lot resources.
If you prefer lightweight applications and lightweight data, you will like Autodesk Design Review 2010. This a viewer for DWF and DWFx design files which can be easily published from any Windows application. And not only a viewer. In Design Review you can print, measure and first of all markup (redline) CAD data. And the markups can be brought back into AutoCAD. Version 2010 introduces ribbons and the ability to open DWG, PDF, DGN and JT files. DWG files are not viewed directly but they are first converted to DWF (in the background, with DWG TrueView). The added support for PDFs is quite surprising but it goes in line with the PDF support added in AutoCAD 2010.
You can download these two new applications from www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueview-download and www.autodesk.com/designreview-download
Labels: AutoCAD 2010, DWF, DWFx, DWG, viewer
Friday, November 14, 2008
AutoCAD learns PDF
Yes, I know. You think AutoCAD 2009 doesn't need to learn PDF - it is already there. But the results of its PDF printing/publishing were less than perfect in many situations.
With the release of "AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack 2" AutoCAD is much more fluent in PDF. This bonus pack (available to subscription users only, and - strange enough - only for the plain AutoCAD) adds new functionality in PDF publishing and in attaching PDF files.
The published PDFs are now smaller and faster to transfer - the TrueType texts are represented by true fonts, not just graphics. You can include layer information in PDFs and control line merging.
More important is the PDF import functionality. No, you cannot perform true import of PDF files. Just like with DWF files, you can only attach PDF files as underlays of your DWG drawings. But it is enough for most situations, especially when you can now osnap to the underlaying geometry in PDF (just like in DWF) files. Similarly to DWF you can also Clip and Adjust the referenced PDF files, suppress their layers and select specific page numbers from multipage PDF files.
Many disadvantages of PDF (vs. DWF) are now gone but DWF/DWFx is still a preferred format for CAD data.
If you do not hold a Subscription, hold on - AutoCAD 2010 should bring this functionality also for the rest of us.
With the release of "AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack 2" AutoCAD is much more fluent in PDF. This bonus pack (available to subscription users only, and - strange enough - only for the plain AutoCAD) adds new functionality in PDF publishing and in attaching PDF files.
The published PDFs are now smaller and faster to transfer - the TrueType texts are represented by true fonts, not just graphics. You can include layer information in PDFs and control line merging.
More important is the PDF import functionality. No, you cannot perform true import of PDF files. Just like with DWF files, you can only attach PDF files as underlays of your DWG drawings. But it is enough for most situations, especially when you can now osnap to the underlaying geometry in PDF (just like in DWF) files. Similarly to DWF you can also Clip and Adjust the referenced PDF files, suppress their layers and select specific page numbers from multipage PDF files.
Many disadvantages of PDF (vs. DWF) are now gone but DWF/DWFx is still a preferred format for CAD data.
If you do not hold a Subscription, hold on - AutoCAD 2010 should bring this functionality also for the rest of us.
Labels: AutoCAD 2010, bonus pack, DWF, PDF
Friday, June 08, 2007
Design Review as a DGN viewing tool
Autodesk Design Review is in the first place a viewing and markup tool for DWF, DWFx and DWG files. But with the DGN plugin, you can simply use it to view also DGN v8 files. We have recently received a bunch of DGN files for a project - this tool allows us to measure basic dimensions before we further process or convert such files.
When using Design Review for DGN files, don't forget to open the DGN files by Import (not by Open), or just drag and drop them to Design Review. You probably won't be able to open some DGN files as Design Review supports only the curent version of DGN files - version 8.
Don't forget - both the Design Review 2008 and the DGN plugin are free.
When using Design Review for DGN files, don't forget to open the DGN files by Import (not by Open), or just drag and drop them to Design Review. You probably won't be able to open some DGN files as Design Review supports only the curent version of DGN files - version 8.
Don't forget - both the Design Review 2008 and the DGN plugin are free.
Labels: Design Review, DGN, DWF
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Autodesk DWF tools updated
Autodesk has recently updated all of its free DWF tools.
On the publishing side - for AutoCAD 2008 there is a new DWFx driver allowing to publish DWFx files directly from AutoCAD Plot (ePlot DWFx). XPS-style .dwfx files do not need any viewer to display on Windows Vista computers. I would expect Autodesk includes this in a shipping boxes - but probably the have missed the shipping deadline or the DWFx driver is scheduled to be updated more frequently. For non-Autodesk applications, there is a new DWF Writer 2008 (aka V3.5). All the 2D/3D versions, Solidworks/CATIA plugins etc. are now in a single installation. Unsurprisingly, DWF Writes 2008 also adds support for Windows Vista.
On the viewing/reviewing side there is now a single free application - the new Autodesk Design Review 2008. It has a lot of new functions (see the Beyond the Paper blog), the most important for me is the measuring/redlining of 3D DWF files, DGN support, DWFx support. Autodesk has also rebranded its DWFit web service - the viewerless web viewing of DWF files is now Freewheel (the original name of the development project).
On the publishing side - for AutoCAD 2008 there is a new DWFx driver allowing to publish DWFx files directly from AutoCAD Plot (ePlot DWFx). XPS-style .dwfx files do not need any viewer to display on Windows Vista computers. I would expect Autodesk includes this in a shipping boxes - but probably the have missed the shipping deadline or the DWFx driver is scheduled to be updated more frequently. For non-Autodesk applications, there is a new DWF Writer 2008 (aka V3.5). All the 2D/3D versions, Solidworks/CATIA plugins etc. are now in a single installation. Unsurprisingly, DWF Writes 2008 also adds support for Windows Vista.
On the viewing/reviewing side there is now a single free application - the new Autodesk Design Review 2008. It has a lot of new functions (see the Beyond the Paper blog), the most important for me is the measuring/redlining of 3D DWF files, DGN support, DWFx support. Autodesk has also rebranded its DWFit web service - the viewerless web viewing of DWF files is now Freewheel (the original name of the development project).
Labels: Design Review, DWF, DWFx, Freewheel
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Design Review is now free
The DWF Viewer seems to be replaced by a more capable free tool now - Autodesk Design Review 2007. Design Review can not only view DWF files (2D and 3D) but it can also markup and measure CAD data.
The free Design Review version from www.autodesk.com/designreview-download (24MB) is too small to contain the DWG Viewer which was in the original commercial version but you can download the DWG Viewer (also for free) from www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueview-download
Making Design Review free is a generous move but it will definitely broaden the use of DWF for markup and review cycles.
The free Design Review version from www.autodesk.com/designreview-download (24MB) is too small to contain the DWG Viewer which was in the original commercial version but you can download the DWG Viewer (also for free) from www.autodesk.com/dwgtrueview-download
Making Design Review free is a generous move but it will definitely broaden the use of DWF for markup and review cycles.
Labels: Design Review, DWF, viewer
