DWG to DXF Converter

Autodesk introduced both formats with AutoCAD in 1982, and they have lived side by side ever since. DWG is the working file: a compact binary format that AutoCAD reads and writes quickly, and whose internal structure Autodesk does not publish as an open specification. DXF holds the same drawing as tagged values, usually as text, and Autodesk documents it in its DXF reference so other developers can read and write it.

That difference decides when you need each. Inside an AutoCAD team, DWG is the natural choice. As soon as a drawing leaves for a laser-cutting shop, a CNC router, a sign maker or a colleague using different CAD software, DXF is the safer bet, because a program that has never seen DWG can still parse a documented format.

DWG has changed its internal version many times, roughly every few AutoCAD releases. A drawing saved in a recent version cannot be opened by programs that only know an older one, which is the most common reason people convert at all. DXF has versions too, matching AutoCAD's, and the converter lets you pick the one the other side understands.

The conversion itself does not redraw anything. Lines, arcs, circles, polylines, hatches, blocks and text are written into the DXF with the same coordinates, layers and colors they had in the DWG, so the drawing is the same drawing in a format more programs understand. Model space and layouts are both kept.

AutoCAD version offers 2018, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2004, 2000, Release 14 and Release 12. Newer versions keep more of the drawing as it was, such as annotative text, complex hatches and newer object types. Older versions are read by more programs, especially machine controllers and simple CAM tools, many of which were written around R12 and never updated.

When you do not know what the other side needs, the notes below cover the usual cases. If the receiving program reports an error or shows an empty drawing, convert again at a lower version; nothing is lost by trying, since the original DWG is never changed.

Open the DXF in the program that will use it and check three things. First, the units: DXF stores numbers, and a drawing in millimeters read as inches will be 25.4 times too large, so confirm the import units match. Second, the layers: cutting software often uses layer names or colors to decide what to cut, score or engrave. Third, text and dimensions, which some older programs replace with a default font.

For a printable copy rather than an editable file, convert the same DWG to PDF with the DWG to PDF page. Other CAD conversions, including DXF to DWG and CorelDRAW files, are on the main CAD Converter page. Uploaded drawings are deleted when processing finishes, and results after 30 minutes.

A whole folder of drawings can go through in one batch with the same version, which saves time when a shop asks for every part of a job in one format.