Jump to content

TechDraw ExportPageDXF

From FreeCAD Documentation

TechDraw ExportPageDXF

Menu location
TechDraw → Page → Export Page as DXF
Workbenches
TechDraw
Default shortcut
None
Introduced in version
0.18
See also
TechDraw Export Page as SVG, Draft DXF

Description[edit | edit source]

The TechDraw ExportPageDXF tool saves a drawing page as a DXF file.

Usage[edit | edit source]

  1. If there are multiple drawing pages in the document: optionally activate the desired page by selecting it in the Tree View.
  2. There are several ways to invoke the tool:
    • Press the Export Page as DXF button.
    • Select the TechDraw → Page → Export Page as DXF option from the menu.
    • If a page is displayed in the Main View Area: right-click the page's window and select the Export DXF option from the context menu.
  3. If there are multiple drawing pages in the document and you have not yet activated a page, the Page Chooser dialog box opens:
    1. Select the desired page.
    2. Press the OK button.
  4. The Save DXF file dialog box opens.
  5. Select a location and file name.

Limitations[edit | edit source]

  • Radial and Diameter dimensions will only export properly if they are "inside" the arc.
  • Scaling is not supported. The DXF will be drawn in the actual size of the TechDraw page.
  • Units are not supported. The DXF will be drawn in millimeters (mm). Dimension text will be shown exactly as displayed in TechDraw.
  • TechDraw can't export a Draft View or a BIM View to DXF. These views are SVG elements generated internally by the Draft Workbench, so there is no geometrical shape to export. To export a view as DXF, it must have been created with New View or Projection Group. For example, select an Arch SectionPlane, then use Draft Shape2DView to create a flat projection shape, and then use New View on this object. Alternatively, select the objects from the Tree View or the 3D View, and export to DXF using File → Export.
  • The title block of a page is an SVG template as well, so it will not be exported to DXF either.
  • In general, TechDraw can only export to DXF those elements that are supported by the Import::ImpExpDxfWrite class of the Import Module.

Notes[edit | edit source]

  • This function exports the R12 (AC1009) and R14 (AC1014) versions of DXF.
    • R12 is an older, simpler version of the standard, but should be readable by most other software.
    • R14 is the default version. It includes support for splines and ellipses among other things.
  • These parameters affect the output:
    • Tools → Edit Parameters → BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Import → DxfVersionOut. This is an integer value. Valid entries are 12 or 14. The default is 14.
    • Tools → Edit Parameters → BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Import → DiscretizeEllipses. This is a boolean value. If true, splines and ellipses are converted to polylines; if false, splines and ellipses are written as splines and ellipses objects. The default is false. If the DxfVersionOut parameter is 12, splines and ellipses are always converted to polylines.
    • Tools → Edit Parameters → BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Import → maxsegmentlength. This is a float value. If splines and ellipses are converted to polylines this parameter determines the segment length.

Scripting[edit | edit source]

See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

The ExportPageDXF tool can be used in macros and from the Python Console by using the following functions:

TechDraw.writeDXFPage(page,filename)