So you'll be able to open any files saved in the DXF format without trouble or time-consuming workarounds.

As the name of the program implies it can natively handle DXF files without having to go through any additional filters or programs. Even without this Google Maps calibration, these new features would have the correct geographic coordinates and placement if I export the drawing file back to my computer.DXF Editor for Windows is an amazing little CAD program that allows a novice user to do so many amazing and fantastic things with CAD. Any new features I now add will be positioned correctly in the Google Maps view. Pressing Apply locks the scale and orientation of the drawing data to the Google Maps view. Using the Search Box, I can bring up the Google Maps view of Eureka, CA, then use the Place/Scale/2 Points/Rotate functions to align the outline with the actual island: The feature fills the screen, and obviously isn’t calibrated to the correct location. Here’s a rough DXF outline of Indian Island in Eureka, CA, traced from a UTM topo map, and uploaded to AutoCad WS:įrom View, I turn on a Google Maps background this also brings up a control for aligning the drawing with the background: If your file is in some form of Mercator coordinates, like UTM, you can calibrate/reference fairly accurately it against a Google Maps view in the app.

If you load in a file with geospatial information, add/edit features, then save it, it will maintain the geospatial referencing. This is by no means a substitute for the full version, but it does contain a fair subset of the basic functionality, with drawing/editing/annotation tools, and layer support:Įven though one of the sample drawings included is labeled “Geospatial Sample”, there’s no native support for georeferencing or geospatial coordinates. You currently can’t create a new file in the editor, but you can either create a DWG/DXF file using a free editor like DraftSight and upload it, or take a currently existing file, edit it to remove all features, then save it as a different name. AutoCad WS is a free cloud-based service from AutoDesk (registration required) that lets you upload, view, share, edit and download AutoCad files (DXF and DWG) online there are also apps for remote viewing and editing on Android and iPhone smartphones.

Online dxf editor