Program for looking at and comparing DXF files

[superfly611]

I'm looking for a piece of software that will be able to allow me to look at and compare quickly DXF files. I would prefer the software to be a Mac OS X compatible but if this is too hard to find Windows would be fine as well. I'd love to be to compare two drawings side-by-side. Free would be great but if not the cheaper the better. I have several DXF files that I would like to be a able to compare and look at quickly.

Any recommendations and help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[acourtjester]

http://www.irfanview.com/
this is for windows I don't know if it is for Mac it will display DFX like jpeg images with one of its plugins.

[vmax549]

Try Free DWG Viewer you can open as many windows as you want and view differrent drawings in each window AT teh same time. AND it is FREE (;-)

(;-) TP

[vmax549]

IF you were just looking for a DXF veiwer and ran SheetCam I have a plugin to do that from inside Sheetcam. It opens a directory and you select from the list about as fast as you can click you can go down the list. You can also print the DXF from there if you wanted to OR create a BMP picture from there.

(;-) TP

[acourtjester]

And how do we get this SheetCam viewer???

[little blue choo]

I use Solid Edge viewer ST7, it is part of Solid Edge ST7 which is a free 2 D cad program. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/e ... e_2d_2.cfm

Rick

[vmax549]

It is located here BUT you have to be logged in to get the file. OR I could move them all here if yall wanted.

http://forum.sheetcam.com/viewforum.php ... 6c6e99b1f8

[acourtjester]

Thanks vmax549 works great
funny it took looking at your post there about 4 times before it showed the download function, Then it was just click and unzip.

[SeanP]

Another useful one is using Google drive, keep all my files for the workshop on there.
Works for svg as well.

[_Ogre]

http://www.irfanview.com/
this is for windows I don't know if it is for Mac it will display DFX like jpeg images with one of its plugins.

i have this on all the work computers so that anyone can read a dxf file, they are all windows based though
after downloading irfan view, you need to download the dxf expansion file too

[superfly611]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'm going to give them a try but the Google viewer format is sort of what looks best and is what I was looking for. Thanks a bunch!

I know most of the suggestions are for Windows computers but I know the Google drive can be accessed from my mac

[superfly611]

So I tried to Google Drive but it's hard to see a lot of the drawings because they are just the lines and not a solid image of Black. Am I doing something wrong or is that the way it shows? It would be a lot better if you each of the DXF files were filled in with black. I was looking for that sheetcam plug-in that someone suggested but I must be blind. I registered and logged in but still can't seem to find where to download it? Anyone?

i just downloaded irfanview program and i am installing it now. I'll see how it works but I may be back.

Thanks again and if there are any other suggestions please let me know.

thanks again

[tcaudle]

DXF does not support "fills" You can simulate them with hash lines but then you can't cut them . It does not support different line widths or native font transfers or sweeps or colors So its hard to view things that don't exist, It's basically a format to transfer line drawings . If you want more robust formats you have to look at AI (adobe Illustrator), CDR (CorelDraw), SVG (Inkscape and others) , PDF and EPS. Those formats support mixed bitmaps , vector, colors, sweeps , line widths and things like complex Bezier curves. . The only way to get what you want is to import a DXF into a drawing program and with some editing you can build up the closed objects (you cannot fill an open set of nodes (contours) You will lose them again on export to DXf but if you keep them in the drawign program format you can have a filled master. We did all out artwork in Coreldraw se we could do fills of the metal art in the color we were proposing. It was mostly for proofing and customer signoff but on bigger jobs we have tools in Corel that would let us extrude th eobjects and rotaate time to give the illusion of depth. A complex gate desing looks better on a gate and it in isometric view. If you want to transfer it to your table to cut then you dropout all the fills and make it all flat and 2D and send it via DXF (if that is all your CAM program will take)

[superfly611]

Okay I think I'm following... And I do have to say I've been using Google Drive just to quickly search over the files I have and it's not too bad.... I do have CorelDRAW and Adobe illustrator I just have to learn how to play with it more and become more proficient at it. But I do thank you for your help and advice. It's much appreciated