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DWG/DXF import

All about importing AutoCAD files into Rayon.

Rayon supports almost all concepts native to the DWG or DXF formats, offering a loss-less import experience.

DWG import compatibility

Rayon supports most of AutoCAD's concepts. It is important to understand how each one gets mapped in Rayon. We outline here what each concept translates to in our software...

Geometries

AutoCAD geometries are today converted into Rayon shapes. Very little changes happen here. As of now, Rayon supports AutoCAD main geometrical concepts: line, polyline, circle, rectangle, etc.

More on shapes here.

Layers

Layers are today converted into Rayon layers. Rayon layers achieve the same function as AutoCAD layers: they store entities. However, 2 things are important to consider:

  • Occlusion — In Rayon, layer ordering define the scene ordering. IN other words, the order of layers defines which entity comes above which other. In this way, layers control occlusion in Rayon, which is something that is not similar to AutoCAD

  • Styling — In Rayon, the style of things (shapes, blocks, etc) is not controlled at the layer-level, but at the style-level. Styles in Rayon are distinct from layers, and offer more customization options. When importing in Rayon, our software will... (1) translate the layer colour into the colour entities take in wireframe mode, based on their layer. (2) translate the viewport colour into a Rayon style.

Annotations

AutoCAD annotations are today converted into Rayon annotations. Very little changes happen here. As of now, Rayon supports AutoCAD main annotation concepts: dimensions, leaders, angular dimensions, texts, etc. More on annotations here.

Blocks

AutoCAD blocks are today converted into Rayon blocks. Very little changes happen here. As of now, Rayon supports regular blocks only. What AutoCAD calls "Dynamic blocks" will be supported this Fall, under a different yet fully compatible format. More on blocks here.

Viewports

AutoCAD viewports are today converted into Rayon views. More on views here.

Layout space

AutoCAD layout spaces are today converted into Rayon paper canvases. More on canvases here.

Xrefs

AutoCAD Xrefs are today converted into Rayon references. However, for the time being, Rayon does not support advanced Xrefs features (etransmit packages for instance). More on Xref import here.

Others

There are still a few concepts that Rayon does not support natively.

  • Dynamic blocks

  • Advanced Xref features (etransmit)

  • AutoCAD architecture add-on feature (walls, schedules, etc)

  • CTBs

  • 3D files

  • A few drawing concepts: VCLIP, XCLIP, Ray lines.

Importing options

Please note that DWG/DXF, PDF and image import is capped at 25mo, and that popup blockers need to be disabled for the import to work properly.

Import can happen either from the project manager or from the editor.

From the project manager, click on Import in the top right of the screen and choose a file.

From the editor, you will find the import option in the Menu in the top left corner of the screen. The following steps to import will then be similar.

You will then be offered to toggle a few import options (model name, whether to keep empty layers, blocks, etc). Clicking on Import with take you to the import window.

In the import window, you will be invited to specify the scale of your drawing. This will happen in 2 steps...

  • First, draw a line of a known distance.

  • Then, pick the unit you deem most representative of the distance you drew. Not that as this step, Rayon will only ask you for unit, and will not allow you to change the distance specified.

  • Press Continue to complete your import.

The editor will then open. To complete your import, click on the canvas to Pick an insertion point. That's it! Your file is imported In a new Model. Please note that if the scale of the resulting import doesn’t look right, you can scale your model after import.

Importing Xrefs

In Rayon, Xref files are imported as references. During the import flow, if your DWG contains some Xref, an option to import missing Xrefs will appear in the import bar.

When clicking on Open Xref, a panel will open, prompting you to upload missing DWG files.

For each new DWG you upload, a blue tick will appear to confirm the upload. Once all Xrefs have been loaded, you can click on continue to now scale your model and Import it to your workspace.

For more step-by-step information, watch our tutorial about how to import in Rayon:

We're always available!

Book a demo with our team, right here. Feel free to email us at [email protected].

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