Interesting Tech Projects
Importing DXF Files Into Inkscape
If you search around for ideas on how to import DXF files into Inkscape or convert DXF files to SVG files, there are a lot of results. But they mostly seem to be shareware or orphaned applications that haven’t been updated for years. However there is a simple, obvious (once you see it) and free solution to converting DXF files to SVG files (which Inkscape can load).
It’s called Open Office Draw.
Yes, that’s right. Open Office Draw can load a DXF file and save an SVG file. I’ve tried it and it worked – I was able to take a DXF file, convert to SVG, load into Inkscape, edit, save as DXF (see my other posting from a couple of days ago on this) then load into CamBam for CAM processing.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Andy on September 7, 2008 at 11:05 am, and is filed under CNC. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |
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about 16 years ago
I have tried it: importing a DXF-file created by Autocad2002, but it didn’t work. It opened in Open Office Draw, alright, but the SVG file created from it wouldn’t open in Inkscape.
Perhaps it depends on the program used to create the DXF?
about 16 years ago
I don’t have Autocad but I tried it with SolidEdge 2D and it worked fine. Also with some DXFs I downloaded from various websites.
about 16 years ago
comming up to dxf from autocad 2002:
you should save it as autocad2000dxf,
then you will be fine…
about 15 years ago
You, sir, kick ass… and in so doing have saved my bacon. After scouring the internet and finding countless crappy outdated shareware programs, I find the answer sitting under my nose. Thank you a thousand times over.
about 15 years ago
Cool…thx so much….
about 14 years ago
You can DXF import it do OpenOffice Draw. You might not see it since when it imports it is really tiny :-). Just stretch it using Ctrl+Shift to keep the aspect ratio. If you can’t see it try Select All.
BTW the newest version of Inkscape supports DXF import and its native format is SVG so you can covert it there too.
about 14 years ago
You can also use Global Mapper… it does a lot of amazing thing.
about 14 years ago
Global Mapper costs $350. The method mentioned in my post is free.