DXF/DWG and DWF Import Options

The DXF/DWG Import Options dialog box and the DWF Import Options dialog box are very similar. This is because when you import from DWF, the drawing objects are first converted to DXF/DWG, and then converted into Vectorworks format. Change the import options to import a DXF/DWG or DWF file with the maximum integrity. The same import options display for import of single files and batches of files.

The first tab, Primary Settings, contains important basic settings. The Graphic Attributes and Objects tabs contain settings for advanced users to customize the import process. The Location tab helps with importing a file and locating it appropriately relative to the internal origin of the Vectorworks drawing.

Options that do not apply to the current file import appear dimmed, and an explanation displays next to the option. For example, if no points are contained in the file to be imported, the Points options are dimmed, and the message “No points were found” displays.

If true line weights are not present in the file, you can map the DXF/DWG line colors to Vectorworks line weights for import (on the Map Colors to Line Weights dialog box).

To make custom imports faster and easier, save the sets of options that you use frequently.

Import Options: Primary Settings Tab

The options on the Primary Settings tab establish the basic import options.

Sometimes DXF/DWG or DWF drawings are split up into pieces and saved as separate files, such as different areas of a large city map. When multiple files like this are imported into one file, they need to have their coordinates aligned, and their layer scale set the same. The recommended workflow is to import the files with the Center first import, align all subsequent imports option on the Location tab.

The Primary Settings tab covers the basic requirements for importing a DXF/DWG or DWF file. If the results are not satisfactory, explore the options on the Graphic Attributes and Objects tabs.

Setting Units Manually

If objects seem to be the wrong physical size after import, ensure that the units chosen are correct. (Model Space Scale only affects the display, but Units Setting in File affects the actual measured size of the objects.) DXF/DWG or DWF files do not always have the true units set, and sometimes have incorrect units set.

The Vectorworks program guesses the units based on the information available, and indicates what it found in the dynamic text at the top of the tab. If the guess is wrong, set the units manually.

If you do not know the correct units, but you know the true length of one of the objects in the drawing, determine the true units as follows.

Import the file and choose Custom units, setting the edit boxes to something like 1 DXF Units = 1". After import, measure the size of the object with the known length. Close the document and redo the import, but this time set the units to Custom with these values in the edit boxes: (measured length) DXF Units = (true length). For example, if the true length is 1", but the measured length is 2.54", enter 2.54 DXF Units = 1". (Do not include units in the first box, and if in feet and inches mode, just use the total measured length in inches.)

If the Vectorworks program finds an exact match for that ratio, it will change the Custom choice to the correct units. (In the example above, it changes it to Centimeters.) If the measurements and the ratio are not exact (for example, 2.539 instead of 2.54), manually adjust it to a standard ratio. Common ratios have values such as 1, 12, 2.54, and powers of 10. Examples: 1/12, 12/10, 2.54/0.01, etc.

If you do not know any true lengths, but the document contains dimension objects that show lengths, follow the steps just described with the following change: Select Convert Dimensions to Groups (see Import Options: Objects Tab), import, and use the value in the imported dimension object as the true length.

Normally the Vectorworks program leaves the document units setting unchanged after an import. If a DXF/DWG or DWF file is set to meters, but the Vectorworks document is set to feet and inches, then a dimension object that shows 1 meter in the original file will show as 3'3.37" in the imported file. If you want the imported drawing to be the same as the original, select the Set Vectorworks Units to Match option. You can also import with the option to convert dimensions to groups (see Import Options: Objects Tab) if you want the document to stay in the current units, but you want the dimensions to look the same as in the original.

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DXF/DWG and DWF References

Import Options: Graphic Attributes Tab

Import Options: Objects Tab

Import Options: Location Tab

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