DWF FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

• What Autodesk Discussion Groups are DWF-related?
• Where can I find DWF information on the Autodesk web site?
• Where are the FAQs on the Autodesk web site for:
  • DWF Format?
  • Autodesk DWF Viewer?
  • Autodesk Design Review?
  • Autodesk DWF Writer?
• Is there a DWF Blog?
• How do I find what articles on the DWF Blog?

1. FORMAT RELATED QUESTIONS
1. DWF Usage
2. DWF Security
3. DWF Precision
2. USER INTERFACE CUSTOMER QUESTIONS
1. DWF Publishing
1. Autodesk DWF Writer
2. AutoCAD
3. Autodesk DWG TrueView
4. Autodesk Inventor
5. Autodesk Revit
6. Autodesk Vault
2. DWF Viewing
1. Autodesk Freewheel
2. Autodesk DWF Viewer
3. Autodesk Design Review
4. AutoCAD 2007 (DWF as an underlay)
5. Autodesk Impression
6. Autodesk Buzzsaw
3. DWF Markup
1. Autodesk Freewheel
2. Autodesk Design Review
4. DWF Measurement
5. DWF Compare
6. DWF Text Search
7. DWF Takeoff / Facilities Management
8. DWF Printing
1. Autodesk Freewheel
2. Autodesk Design Review
3. REPROGRAPHICS INDUSTRY (BLUEPRINTER) QUESTIONS
1. Sending DWF Files to a Shop
2. Processing DWF Files at a Shop
4. APPLICATION PROGRAM INTERFACE (API) SOFTWARE DEVELOPER QUESTIONS
1. DWF Embedding
1. Autodesk Freewheel
2. Autodesk Design Review
2. DWF Programming
1. General
2. Visual Basic
3. C++

FORMAT RELATED QUESTIONS

DWF Usage

• How does Autodesk define DWF?
• What can DWF do or me?
• Is DWF an open file format?
• What is Autodesk doing with DWF?
• What is this Microsoft DWFx thing I keep hearing so much about?
• Do I need Microsoft Vista to view a DWFx file?
• What is the difference between native design formats and DWF?
• How does a DWF file differ from a plot file?
• What are the advantages of sharing DWF files over native AutoCAD drawings (DWGs)?
• How does DWF compare to PDF?
• Are there any sample DWF files that I can view?
• What is a composite DWF? Is there a sample of a composite DWF file that I can view?
• Why does my DWF appear to be larger than my DWG?
• Do I say D-W-F or Dwiff?
• What other companies make DWF-related products?

DWF Security

• How secure are DWF files?
• Can I convert my DWF to DWG?
• Does DWF support digital signatures?
• Can Autodesk Inventor files be measured?
• What security differences are provided by the Autodesk Freewheel approach?
• Are there any 3rd party security solutions that support DWF?
• Should I have privacy concerns about participating in the Customer Improvement Program for Autodesk Design Review 2008?

DWF Precision

• How accurate or precise is my DWF file?
• Can I get more accurate measurements from DWF files published by Autodesk DWG TrueView?
• How can I tell if my DPI is set too low?
• How large of a DPI value should I use for imperial drawings?
• How large of a DPI value should I use for metric drawings?

USER INTERFACE CUSTOMER QUESTIONS

DWF Publishing

• What is the Autodesk DWF Writer?
• Should I use the Autodesk DWF Writer with AutoCAD?
• How should I use the DWF Writer?
• How can I deploy Autodesk DWF Writer 3.1 across my company via a full installer?
• Can I install just DWF Writer for 2D company wide?
• In what languages is DWF Writer available?

• What's new in AutoCAD 2008 with regard to DWF?
• Should I publish DWF or DWFx files from AutoCAD 2008?
• Using AutoCAD, how do I publish DWF files with layer information?
• Can I batch publish DWF files from AutoCAD 2007 and 2008?
• How do I create DWF files that contain attribute information (object properties) from my AutoCAD blocks?
• How do I create DWF files with object properties from Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2006?
• How can I speed up the publishing of DWF files from AutoCAD?
• Can I improve the look of my 3D files from AutoCAD 2006?
• Can I improve the look of my 3D DWF files from AutoCAD 2007? with better precision? with textures?
• How are sheets in a DWF related to layouts in a drawing?
• How does the AutoCAD PLOT command work?
• Does using the Sheet Set Manager make it easier to publish DWF files?
• What are some tips for using the Sheet Set Manager?
• How does the AutoCAD PUBLISH command work?
• What are some tips for using the PUBLISH command?
• Are named page setups useful for DWF publishing?
• What is the easiest way to generate black and white DWF files from black and white test prints or color test prints?
• Does AutoCAD produces DWF files that support line merge?
• Why does my DWF look choppy - as if written in crayon? Is my paper size too small? Are my pens too wide?
• What are some tips for publishing DWF files that need to be printed to scale?
• When I try to publish a drawing, I receive this error: "ERROR: Layout not initialized." Why?
• I published one of my drawings and the text was illegible or the font was wrong. What might be happening?

• How do I publish black and white DWF files from drawing files that are in color?

• What kinds of properties can I share with DWF files created from Autodesk Inventor?
• Can a DWF be automatically saved each time I update my Autodesk Inventor file?
• With Autodesk Inventor, can I protect my DWF files from being measured? Are there any samples?
Can these samples be read into AutoCAD?
• How do I avoid font problems with my DWF files published from Autodesk Inventor?

• How do I publish DWF files from Autodesk Revit?
• Autodesk Revit does not work with Autodesk DWF Writer 3. What do I do?
• Has the DWF Revit measurement issue been corrected?

• What's new in Autodesk Vault 2008 with regard to DWF?
• How does DWF work with Streamline, Vault, and ProductStream?

DWF Viewing

• What is Project Freewheel?
• How does the Autodesk Freewheel work?
• Can I view my own local DWF file using Autodesk Freewheel?
• How can we build up our own Autodesk Freewheel server?
• When will the Autodesk Freewheel be available?
• When can we test Autodesk Freewheel?
• Can I view a DWF file on my Blackberry using Autodesk Freewheel?
• Can I view links to DWF files as thumbnails easily?
• How can I generate preview images for the DWF files on my web site?
• Can I email someone a link to view my DWF file without requiring them to install software?
• Can I view a 3D DWF file using Autodesk Freewheel?
• What causes the "The requested DWF is not valid." error message?
• Is there a DWF viewer for the Macintosh?

• Why is Autodesk Design Review now free?
• What's new in Autodesk Design Review 2008?
• What are the Autodesk Design Review 2008 system requirements?
• Does Autodesk Design Review 2008 work on Microsoft Vista?
• Can I have both Autodesk Design Review and Autodesk DWF Viewer on the same machine?
• How do I work with files using Autodesk Design Review?
• Can I control what I see or don't see in the Navigation Pane of Autodesk Design Review 2008?
• How do I create a cross section using Autodesk Design Review?
• How can my IT department install Autodesk Design Review 2007 across our company?
• What do the DWF progress bars indicate?
• How do I undo a section or pull apart in Autodesk Design Review?
• What is the difference between Orbit and Turntable?
• Can I easily email a DWF file I am viewing?
• Can I rotate a sheet in a DWF file?
• Can I view DWF files with Firefox?
• Are Microsoft roaming profiles supported?

• Can a DWF be used as an underlay for a drawing in AutoCAD 2007?
• How do I change the location of a DWF underlay in AutoCAD 2007?
• Using quotes with DWF Underlay caused AutoCAD 2007 to crash. What do I do?
• What are the known issues with DWF underlay in AutoCAD 2007?

• Does Autodesk Impression work with DWF files?

• Does Buzzsaw support DWF?

DWF Markup

• What are some tips for using custom symbols?
• What can I do to easily open up multiple DWF files for markup?
• Are there any free electrical symbols available for use when marking up?
• How can I easily duplicate a sheet using Autodesk Design Review?
• How do I import DWG files into Autodesk Design Review 2007?
• Where can I learn more about the electronic markup process?
• Can I mark up and measure JT files with Autodesk Design Review?
• Can I mark up and measure DGN files with Autodesk Design Review?

DWF Measurement

• Can I markup with Autodesk Freewheel?

• Can I markup and measure using the DWG viewer included with Autodesk Design Review?
• How does the electronic review process work?
• What types of measurement are possible with Autodesk Design Review?
• What are some tips for measuring with Autodesk Design Review?
• Are there any tutorials for Autodesk Design Review?
• Does line weight in paper space affect area calculations in Autodesk Design Review?
• Can I insert electrical symbols as part of the review process?
• What are the benefits of Autodesk Design Review for Building projects?
• What are the benefits of Autodesk Design Review for Manufacturing projects?
• What are the benefits of Autodesk Design Review for Infrastructure projects?
• What are the known issues for the free Autodesk Design Review 2007 trial?

DWF Compare

• Can I compare two DWF files and see the differences?
• How does DWF Version Compare work with polylines?
• How does DWF Version Compare work with polygons?

DWF Text Search

• Can search engines find text in my DWF files?
• Can I find DWF files on my hard drive that contain a specific text string?
• Can I locate a DWF file by searching for a text string and zoom to that string?
• Is there a sample application for text searching? (for programmers only)

DWF Takeoff / Facilities Management

• What is quantity takeoff?
• How does DWF play a part in facilities management?

DWF Printing

• Can I print my DWF file using Autodesk Freewheel?
• How does DWF printing work for Autodesk Freewheel?

• Can I get finer control of my DWF printouts?
• How can I batch print DWF files?
• Is there a free batch print solution for DWF files?
• What is the easiest way to print my DWF on an HP device?
• My fill patterns do not look correct when printing my DWF on my HP. What can I do?
• Why am I having trouble printing DWF files with custom paper sizes for my HP device?
• Where can I get the latest driver for my HP 4500 that properly prints DWF files?
• What are some tips for printing DWF files on Océ devices?
• Can I get DWF files to print darker on my Océ device?
• Does Océ provide a corporate solution for processing DWF files?
• How do I obtain the latest Xerox driver to properly print my DWF file?

REPROGRAPHICS INDUSTRY (BLUEPRINTER) QUESTIONS

Sending DWF files to a Shop

• Can I send DWF files to a commercial reprographer for printing?
• What are some tips for sending DWF files to a commercial reprographer for printing?
• How do various commercial reprographics formats compare?
• Can I print my DWF files myself and also send them to a commercial reprographer?
• Should I create DWF files for commercial reprographers from Revit?
• Why does my reprographer want to charge more for processing DWF files?

Processing DWF files at a Shop

• What programs be used to print DWF files?
• How do I configure Océ Repro Desk to support DWF files?
• Is there a DWF to Tiff converter?
• What is the latest version of the DWF PDK?
• Can I adjust how DWF files are printed on my KIP device?
• Why do DWF files print darker at half size after being converted to LDF using Océ software?

APPLICATION PROGRAM INTERFACE (API) SOFTWARE DEVELOPER QUESTIONS

DWF Embedding

• How do I embed a DWF file in an HTML page but not require my users to install any software or use a Microsoft operating system?
• How do I display a DWF file like an image in my HTML?

• How do I embed a DWF file in an HTML page for the ActiveX Control?
• How do I embed a DWF file in a Microsoft Office Document for the ActiveX Control?
• Why must I hit the SPACE BAR to use Autodesk Design Review?
• Does someone receiving an Office document with an embedded DWF need a DWF viewer?
• What are the various URL and HTML parameters for DWF files and the ActiveX Control?
• Why won't the Autodesk DWF Viewer start in my Visual Studio 2005 ASP.Net application?

DWF Programming

• How do I get started as a developer?
• What other companies are programming with DWF?
• How do I become a DWF Developer Partner?

• I am a Visual Basic or JavaScript programmer. Where can I download the Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk Design Review API documentation?
• Are there any DWF code samples available?
• How do I get Autodesk Design Review to release a DWF file from my Visual Basic application?
• Is there a program to help me check the hyperlinks in my DWF file?
• Can DWF files be integrated with Google Maps?
• Can DWF files be integrated with Facilities Management applications?

• What can the DWF Toolkit be used for?
• I am a C++ programmer. Where can I download the DWF Toolkit? How do I start using it?
• How do I get started writing my own 3D DWF files using C++?
• How can I tell if the version of the DWF Toolkit I am using will work with DWF files from a particular Autodesk product?
• How do I determine text attributes using the DWF Toolkit and C++?
• Can I read AutoCAD drawing information from a DWF file using the DWF Toolkit?
• Can I read and write DWF files using the industry standards HOOPS application framework?
• What is the anatomy of a DWF file?
• How can I programmatically create a multisheet DWF file?
• How do I embed a font in my DWF file using the DWF Toolkit?
• How do I detect a measurement or print disabled DWF file in my C++ application?
• How can I control faceting and lighting in 3D DWF files from my C++ program?
• How can I store Bezier curves in my DWF file using the DWF Toolkit?
• Are NURBs supported in DWF?