DWG file extension: how can it be opened? Dwg format - what is it and how to open it.

The DWG format is used by CAD applications to store 2D or 3D designs. This could be a cross-sectional drawing of a prism or several gears from a wristwatch. It happens that you urgently need to view an AutoCAD file when you don’t have a computer at hand or there are no programs installed to open such files.

How to View DWG Files Online

The development of modern technologies and the relevance of this issue have led to the fact that you can open a DWG file via the Internet even on several online services. This article provides a short overview of three resources where this can be done.

Method 1: A360 Viewer

Autodesk is one of the main companies that supports this format, and you can open and view the DWG file on their website. Some may be put off by the fact that there is no Russian language, but for simple viewing this is not at all necessary.

Go to the A360 Viewer online service

1. 1. At the very beginning of the page there is a button “ Upload your design“And even without knowledge of the language, the design itself suggests that this is exactly what is needed.

1. 1. Next, you can download the file from the cloud or from your device. Button " Select file» will bring up a dialog where you can select a document to view from your computer or mobile device.

1. 1. After this, the site will ask you to agree to the terms of use and ask if there are other files. If there is only one file, you can safely click on the button "No more files«

1. After uploading a file to the server, you can simply view it, measure individual parts of the file, and even disable certain layers, if any.

Method 2: ShareCAD

Another resource where you can view DWG files is ShareCAD. The interface here is not as intuitive as on the previous site, but the presence of the Russian language can please us. On the other hand, the page will look the same on all devices, which is also good.
Go to ShareCAD online service

1. 1. The button to upload to the server is at the very top left. After clicking, just select a document from your computer.

1. When viewing a file, you can change the scale and turn off layers. This is where the site's capabilities are limited.

Method 3: ProfiCAD

Another resource, made in a completely minimalist style, also allows you to view DWG files. Here you cannot turn off layers at all and the image may look inverted, i.e. black color instead of white and vice versa. There is no Russian language here either. But the site copes well with the task of viewing the document as such.
Go to the ProfiCAD online service

1. 1. First you need to click on the " Browse" and select a file from your device. After this you need to press the button "OK".

1. After uploading to the site, you can view the drawing as a PNG image in a separate tab, or view individual parts of the drawing and still see the full picture.

Conclusion

You can open a DWG file online on various resources, and the availability of alternatives allows you to choose what is more necessary. But it is still recommended to use A360 Viewer, since this site is supported by a commercial company interested in the operation of the site.

Many designers, planners and people with similar professions often have a question related to how to open a DWG file online.

The fact is that this is a fairly popular format, most famous in the world of design.

It is most often used to demonstrate drawings. But there are situations when there is no need to buy a licensed AutoCAD, and you just need to look at the project.

Then the opportunity directly in the browser comes to the rescue.

We will look at some of the most convenient resources that allow you to complete the task.

Contents:

ShareCAD

2 Click on "Download". It is a blue folder icon. A standard dialog will open in which you need to select the location of the source. Do this and the drawing will download.

Thanks to such simple steps, you can not only open, but also perform various actions with DWG files.

program-pro.ru

2 Click on "Select file". A standard dialog will open in which you will also need to indicate where the source drawing is located. Do this and click "Download".

3 An image will open a little lower. As you can see, it presents several cropped version of ShareCAD, in which there are only buttons for scaling, changing the background, layers, and returning to the standard view.

In principle, there are a lot of such resources that use the API. But the next resource is different.

Autodesk Viewer

This is a completely unique platform that is not used by other resources. Registration is required to use it.

But it's worth it because Autodesk Viewer is a much more functional option compared to ShareCAD or any other options.

3D models here are displayed much more detailed and beautiful.

To use the platform, do the following:

• An authorization window will appear. If you already have an account in the system, simply enter your email address and click Next. And if not, click on the inscription "Create an account". In this case, you will need to enter your full name and other data, as well as set a password. A standard email will be sent to your email with a link to confirm your registration, which you will need to open. After that, perform this step again from the beginning, that is, click on “Get Started Viewing”, but now calmly enter your e-mail and click “Next”.

• Authorization can also occur automatically after you have provided all the data as part of registering a new account. In any case, you will be taken to a new page where you will need to click on “Upload new file”.

AutoCAD is the most popular digital drawing software. Many projects completed in AutoCAD are transferred to contractors for further work in other programs in the native AutoCAD “dwg” format.

Situations often arise when an organization that has received a dwg drawing for work does not have AutoCAD in the list of its software. Fortunately, opening the AutoCAD format using other applications is not difficult, due to the prevalence of the dwg extension.

Let's look at several ways to open a DWG drawing without the help of AutoCAD.

Opening a dwg drawing using drawing programs

Many engineers use less expensive and functional drawing software that supports the dwg format. The most famous of them are Compass-3D and NanoCAD. On our website you can find instructions on how to open an AutoCAD file in Compass.

Opening a dwg drawing in ArchiCAD

In the architectural design industry, file migrations between AutoCAD and Archicad are very common. Architects receive topographic and geodetic surveys, general plans, and drawings of utility networks completed in AutoCAD. In order to correctly open dwg in Archicad, follow these steps.

1. The fastest way to add a drawing to the Archicad graphic field is to simply drag the file from its folder into the program window.

2. In the “Drawing Units” window that appears, leave the default millimeters and click the “Place” button.

3. The file will be placed as a “Drawing” object. All its lines will be grouped into one solid object. To edit a drawing, select it and select “Decompose in Current View” from the context menu.

4. In the decomposition window, uncheck the “Save Source Elements during Decomposition” checkbox so as not to clutter up your computer’s memory with a copy of the source file. Leave this checkbox if you need a complete source file for your work. Click OK.

Opening AutoCAD files using dwg viewers

There are special small programs designed for viewing, but not editing AutoCAD drawings. This can be a free online viewer A360 Viewer and other applications from Autodesk - DWG TrueView and AutoCAD 360.

You can find other free applications for opening drawings on the Internet. The principle of their operation is similar.

1. Find the file download button and click it.

2. Upload your file from your computer's hard drive. The drawing will be opened.

Now you know how to open a dwg file without AutoCAD. There is nothing complicated about this, since many programs provide interaction with the dwg format. If you know other ways to open dwg without AutoCAD, please describe them in the comments.

It's puzzling. A non-standard format that is not clear how to open it. And the answer is not that complicated. In this format, most of the design and

design documentation, which is developed using the world-famous package of this class - "AUTOCAD". This CAD system is ideal for a wide range of tasks, which makes it widely used. But, besides this complex, there are other programs that can open such files. First of all, it is worth highlighting various viewers, for example, “Illustrator” from “Adobe”. Among the domestic products of this class, one can highlight the development of the Askon company called “Compass”. For him, too, in principle, the DWG extension is “native”.

Main product

The first CAD software to work with this file extension on Windows operating systems was "AUTOCAD". The ability to develop any drawings: from modest 2D developments to 3D assemblies has led to the fact that this system is rightfully one of the most popular in the world today. But this

the solution was well suited for designers and designers. Those who work with documentation created in this way found themselves in a not entirely good position. There was no point in purchasing a separate license from Autodesk. There were 2 solutions left. Or require paper copies (also an inconvenient solution - many large-format drawings are difficult to process and understand). But the second option ultimately received practical implementation. This German software developer has released a free program for viewing such documentation - "Trueview". It is also capable of processing files with a DWG extension.

Viewers

Many third-party developers have tried to create an analogue of the free utility from the German company. At the same time, those who have more functionality than Trueview even try to sell their developments. This decision is completely justified. Examples include the following programs:

• "DraftSight";
• "nanoCAD";
• "Illustrator".

They all have one thing in common - an attempt to provide more functionality for the user than is available in the original product. With their help, you can open a file with a DWG extension. What to choose depends on the end user.

Domestic analogues

All the software mentioned earlier is not Russian-language. It is also not optimized for our GOST standards. In this regard, it became logical for the Askon company to release

a program of this class that would be Russified and contain domestic standards. It is called "Compass" and the DWG file extension is capable of processing. There are 2 versions of this program. One of them is a regular viewer "Compass Viewer". The second is "Compass 3D". With its help, you can even edit such documents and save changes to them. True, at the same time they are transformed, and it is impossible to open them using German software later.

Summary

This material answers the question: “DWG file extension: how to open it?” It is important to understand that this is a highly specialized electronic document. It can only be edited or viewed using special programs. The range of such software is quite wide, but it can be divided into 2 types: viewers and editors. Depending on your needs, you can choose the appropriate program.

Those who have been working in the AutoCAD program for a long time and those who are just starting to master this program know that AutoCAD saves its files in the DWG format (file extension *.dwg). Probably, neither one nor the other thought about where this extension came from, who its author was and the history of the “life” of the DWG format. In this article you will find out the answers to these questions and a few more interesting facts.

DWG format is a universal format for storing 2D and 3D drawing data, the name of which comes from the English word Drawing - drawing. Some information from Wikipedia: “DWG (from the English drawing - drawing) is a binary file format used to store two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) design data and metadata. It is the main format for some CAD programs (direct support - for example, AutoCAD, nanoCAD, IntelliCAD and its variations, Caddie). The DWG format is supported indirectly by many CAD applications: that is, data from one data format to another through import-export functions. The .dws (“drawing standards”) and .dwt (“drawing template”) formats are also DWG formats. Modern programs working in dwg often create temporary and backup copies of documents in dwg format on disk in files with the extensions .sv$ (“temporary automatic save” - temporary automatic saving) and .bak (“backup” - backup copy).”

History of the format

The creator of the DWG file format is Mike Riddle(Mike Riddle) and it was created in the late 1970s, for the first CAD-systems for PC— Interact CAD. In 1982, the DWG file format was licensed by Autodesk as the primary format for the .

From 1982 to today, Autodesk has released versions of AutoCAD, each of which created a new variation of the DWG file format, and none of which were described in officially published documentation.

If you look at the statistics, as of 1998 alone, there were at least two billion files with the DWG extension. What can we say about today, when this format is considered the most common format for storing drawings in digital form! It's hard to even imagine.

Autodesk filed several lawsuits to gain ownership of the DWG format, which in turn developed and popularized the format and made it the basis for a number of its CAD programs.

There are several companies that are trying to get around the limitations of the RealDWG format ( RealDWG- a set of read/write libraries that Autodesk sells under a limited license) and offer their software libraries for reading and writing files compatible with Autodesk DWG files. The most successful in this matter is the consortium Open Design Alliance, which was founded in 1998 and released a software library OpenDWG Toolkit, for reading, viewing and writing DWG format. I would like to point out that DWGdirect currently used in such well-known CAD programs as ArchiCAD, SolidWorks, IntelliCAD, MicroStation and others.

Also, in 2008, Autodesk and Bentley came to an agreement to exchange libraries, including the above-mentioned Autodesk RealDWG libraries. This improved the quality of support for DWG and DGN formats and created the conditions for further development of interoperability of its AEC applications (applications in the field of architecture and construction) through two-way support.

Autodesk now releases a new version of AutoCAD every year, which in turn retains the advantages of the previous one, adds new features and capabilities, and provides more convenient tools for working without canceling the old tools you are used to.