What is DXF file ?
- The DXF file format is a graphic image format used by CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs.
- It was first created in 1982 by Autodesk, the creators of AutoCAD, and the acronym DXF stands for Drawing Exchange Format (or sometimes Drawing Interchange Format).
- It is used to exchange drawings between different CAD programs.
- Text.
- Lines, including dotted lines, arrows and curved lines.
- Circles.
- Polygons, like rectangles and triangles.
What are DXF files used for?
DXF files are mostly used for the exchange of data between CAD applications. They are supported by most programs, including AutoCAD by AutoDesk, Adobe Illustrator etc. For example, a file could be created in AutoCAD, saved as a DXF, and opened in Adobe Illustrator.
Differences between DXF and DWG :
- DWG files are less in size than DXF.
- DWG is a proprietary file format, while DXF is open source.
- DWG files can handle more types of drawing data like 2D/3D.
- In DWG files we can create dynamic blocks.
More information :
| Graphical file type | Vector |
| Colors | 256 |
| Compression | None |
| Maximum image size | N/A. You can control the floating-point precision of the DXF format up to 16 decimal places. |
| Numerical format | ASCII and Binary |
| Originator | Autodesk |
| Supporting applications | AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator and almost any CAD software in the market. |