Draft DXF

Description
This function opens a DXF file, any version from 12 to 2007, to a new document.



Supported DXF objects
The following DXF objects are supported:
 * lines
 * polylines and lwpolylines
 * circles
 * arcs
 * layers (layers containing objects are converted to FreeCAD Groups)
 * texts and mtexts
 * dimensions
 * blocks (only geometry. texts, dims and attributes inside blocks will be skipped)
 * points
 * leaders
 * ... List is incomplete.

Other DXF entities are currently not imported because there is no corresponding FreeCAD object. As new functionality gets implemented, it will be possible to import more entity types.

Installing
for licensing reasons, the DXF import/export libraries are not part of the FreeCAD source code anymore. For that reason, they must be installed by you, the user, after you install FreeCAD. There is a way to allow FreeCAD to do that automatically, or you can do it manually.

Automatically
Starting from version 0.15, you only need to mark the option to have FreeCAD take automatically care of downloading and installing these libraries. For older versions, you will need to do it manually.

Manually
Libraries must be downloaded from https://github.com/yorikvanhavre/Draft-dxf-importer There is a very complete step-by-step tutorial that will explain you the necessary steps.

Importing
This works the same way as opening, but it will add the contents of the DXF file in the active document instead of creating a new document.

Tutorial: Dxf Importer Install

Exporting
The exported DXF is compatible with Autocad version 12 and up, so it should open in about any application that supports dxf format. Currently the following FreeCAD objects get exported:
 * lines and wires (polylines)
 * arcs and circles
 * texts
 * colors are mapped from objects RGB colors to autocad color index (ACI). Black will always be "by layer"
 * layers are mapped from group names. When groups are nested, the deepest group gives the layer name.
 * dimensions, which are exported with "Standard" dimstyle.
 * ... List is incomplete.

Preferences
For more information see: Import Export Preferences.

Scripting
Draft API and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

You can export elements to DXF by using the following function:

Example: