Beyond the Paper

Happy President's Day

Autodesk Senior Architect and chief DWF Technical Evangelist, Brian Mathews, invented the DWF format in 1995. Throughout history, Presidents of the United States have recorded some famous quotations. On this day, President's Day, we poke some good natured fun at Brian and imagine what he might have said, had he been President.

Famous Presidential Quote	If Brian Mathews were President...
"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." -- George Washington	"DWF, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."
"That government is best which governs least" -- Thomas Jefferson	"That file format is best which is smallest."
"Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts of the Federal Government, are of high importance." -- Andrew Jackson	"Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be promoted by design data, are of high importance."
"Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide." -- Andrew Johnson	"Honest conviction is my courage; the DWF Specification is my guide."
"There is nothing wrong in America that can't be fixed with what is right in America." -- Bill Clinton	There is nothing wrong at Autodesk that can't be fixed with what is right at Autodesk."
"It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't." -- Martin Van Buren	"It is easier to share design data with DWF than to explain why you didn't."
"Peace is not made at the Council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men." -- Herbert Hoover	"Selecting a file format to share design data is not made at the Council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of workflow solutions."
"And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -- John F. Kennedy	"And so my fellow Americans, ask not what you can do for DWF; ask what DWF can do for you."

Though today is a company holiday, many Autodesk employees will be defining features, coding and testing software, tracking project progress, and approving expense reports. Enjoy the day.

DWF files versus Plot files

Although both are generated from the plotting process of Autodesk products, there are many differences between a plot file and a DWF file.

• A plot file is device specific. It is normally PostScript or HPGL. Even HPGL is different for each HP device. So generating a plot file on one computer does not necessarily mean that it will print on another computer’s printer. On the other hand, a DWF file is device independent.
• A plot file is not necessarily vector based. With vector-based graphics, the elements can be scaled without losing fidelity. Try scaling a bitmap – you get fuzzy pixels. The vector-based nature of a DWF file allows users to use the free Autodesk DWF Viewer to pan and zoom the DWF with full clarity.
• DWF files are compressed. Plot files, particular in large format sizes, are huge. This makes transmitting them through email, FTP, or advanced collaboration solutions such as Autodesk Buzzsaw, impractical.
• DWF files contain intelligent objects. A door in a DWF file knows it’s a door. In a plot file, a door is just a collection of lines that happen to look like a door. Because a door is a door in a DWF file, it can have metadata associated with it. This metadata can be meaningful object property information such as cost, delivery schedule, installation instructions, manufacturer’s availability, or the door’s fire rating. The intelligent objects also allow for the measurement tool to snap to them when taking electronic measurements. When doing so with a plot file, the measurement is limited to the accuracy of the user and his ability to click the mouse in exactly the right spot. There are no provisions for this type of intelligent data in a plot file. A plot file is limited to just the data that generates the correct picture.
• DWF files can also have hyperlinks.
• A DWF file allows users to employ an electronic review process that is integrated with Autodesk design software. Plot files are the basis for the old fashioned way of physically delivering, marking up, and re-delivering paper. Only Autodesk Design Review enables the complete round-tripping of redline markups directly into AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit software, through an intuitive review and approval process. Project managers, AutoCAD drafters, and Revit users can navigate from comment to comment across sheet sets and systematically walk through a review set to complete the approval process and incorporate changes into the design. The software’s comment navigation capability ensures that all redlines and markups are listed, and changes can be tracked throughout the design review process. The result is reduced costs, less confusion, and faster cycle times.
• DWF files are searchable. Text in a DWF file is text. In a plot file text has been transformed to pixels in the shapes of letters. Autodesk is working with leading search engine companies on searching for text within the DWF files.

A plot file generally contains the data for one sheet. A DWF file can contain one or more sheets. Thus it is possible to put an entire project’s worth of plots into one DWF file. Using Autodesk Design Review, plots can be added, deleted, or re-ordered. Creating multi-sheet DWF files can be done with one click using the Sheet Set Manager and the PUBLISH command.

DWF Apple iPod Nano Winners

Last month the Autodesk marketing department sponsored a DWF Apple iPod Nano Contest. We solicited cool looking and insightful customer DWF files to showcase on the Autodesk web site. To kick start the program we give away a Nano a week for nine weeks.

Our first winner was Mark Johnson of North Carolina for his building design of the Extreme Ice Center.
092100-1-drawing11_r5-Model.dwf (271KB)

Our second winner was Jerry Chasek of Nebraska for his assembly of a Patriot 300 Bushel Seed Tender with Trailer.
162502-1-Patriot_330_ST_w_Trailer_Asmbly.dwf (2.34MB)

Our third winner was Matthew Brennan of British Columbia for his building design of a country home.
222306-2-0601-05_Malacko_-_3D_-_Prelim6.dwf (323KB)
222306-1-0601-05_Malacko_-_WD2.dwf (1.95MB)

Our fourth winner was John Stacey of Pennsylvania for his air group of a ball mill.
163850-1-05-050368.dwf (1.72MB)

Our fifth winner was Todd Hudgins of Virginia for his assembly of a compressor fan.
092039-1-BLOCK-ASSEMBLY.dwf (401KB)

Our sixth winner was Jason Biagio of California for his 2D and 3D designs of the Holy Cross Church for St. Anne's Parish.
161329-1-st._annes_-_interior.dwf (1.8MB)
161329-2-st._annes_-_selected_architectural_sheets.dwf (1.11MB)
161329-3-sahcc_renderings_and_photos.dwf (2.46MB)

Our seventh winner was Scott Davis of California for his 3D design of the Montlclair Police Department facility.
155416-1-0419700.dwf (2.5MB)

Our eighth winner was Patrick Zampetti of Virginia for his 3D and 2D DWFs of a 260 unit apartment complex.
165545-1-3D_Model_View.dwf (806KB)
165545-2-A2.1_3D_VIEWS.dwf (96KB)

Our ninth and final winner was Joshua Anderson of Nevada for his 3D and 2D design of a mining truck wheel work platform.
105829-1-0010_-_Weight_Assembly.dwf (261KB)
105829-2-0101_-_Overall_Assembly.dwf (151KB)

We were excited to see DWF being used worldwide and accept submissions from all over the globe. Our plan is to include interesting submissions in our customer gallery even if the submissions do not win iPod Nanos. Some of the Nanos were etched with the DWF logo - surely to be collector's items.

Publishing DWFs with Object Properties from AutoCAD 2006

The premise of this blog is that DWF goes beyond the paper due to the extra data that the files can contain. The first thing AutoCAD users need to know is how to get this extra data into their DWF files. DWF Technical Evangelist, Brian Pene enumerated the steps. AutoCAD 2006 supports object properties when used with detail attributes (not external data or object data). To place object properties in a DWF, you must first have details with attributes inserted in your drawing (DWG).

1. From the Publish dialog, click Publish Options button. This can also be done from the sheet set publish options in the Sheet Set Manager, if you use that to publish your DWF files. The image below shows accessing via the Publish dialog.
   
2. From the Publish Options dialog, select to "Include" Block information. (In the next step, you will set up a block template file).
   
3. Create or load a Block template file to publish your Block/Symbol libraries to DWF. To create a new Block template, select "Create" from the Block template file menu option to display the Publish Block template dialog where you can save your Block template files for loading into your DWF publish option settings.
   
4. From the Publish Block Template dialog, click the "Scan for Blocks" button to display and filter blocks available in the Block source drawings fieldset. You can also add or scan from multiple "Block source drawings" and block definitions. Once you have scanned for Blocks, a list of them will display in the "Block data to Publish" field sets. You can select the blocks you wish to publish and click the "Save" button.
   
5. Back in the Publish options Dialog, with the new Block template file loaded, click OK.
6. Now from the Publish dialog, click the Publish button to publish your block library to DWF. You can also save the list of sheets (to a DSD file) by clicking the Save icon. This DSD file can then be loaded in the publish dialog, to remember your Publish settings and options for the next time you wish to update and publish your symbol libraries.

With these simple steps, you can publish DWF files with object properties. The values of these properties are viewable with the Autodesk DWF Viewer or Autodesk Design Review when the user selects an object. These extra object properties are just one of the ways that applications around DWF go beyond the paper.

DWF is suited to paper too

As I am new at this blogging thing, I inadvertently had comments turned on for my first few posts. I have since turned them off. I am hopeful that people will email me with their comments. If you have feedback that you would like other people to be able to see and contribute to, we have the Autodesk discussion groups for that purpose.

For the brief period where comments were active, blog reader Brian Duguid's comments included: "...While collaboration and the design process is important, it actually takes second place against considerations of file security, archiving, etc. Although there is money to be made by making the design process more efficient, the truth is that there is far more money to be lost if our copyright is breached and data used or modified by others; if we are unable to recover files from archives 10 years old; if our documents are transmitted successfully but misread by the recipient (e.g. due to plotting inaccuracies)..."

With regard to DWF security, there are several articles in Shaan Hurley's Between the Lines blog as in http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2005/02/dwf_security.html. DWF is actually suited to plotting and archiving. As with PDF, the ability to view an archived file 100 years from now relies upon the technology being available or a path that has migrated the data along the way. The items that distinguish DWF from PDF are additional in that they go beyond the paper. DWF is still suited to paper. DWF is considered a print-ready format. I recognize that this is a relative term.

• DWF is certainly print ready compared to original AutoCAD drawings. A DWF file has an image that is already positioned on a virtual piece of paper. The margins are set. There are no missing XREFs. There are no color remappings or style tables to apply.
• DWF is less print ready than a Tiff; however, try zooming a Tiff. You get fuzzy pixels.

DWF is easy to use. Even with the advantages that it offers to go beyond the paper, you just print what you see and that's what you get.

CAD Specific DWF and Generic PDF

Let’s put this PDF versus DWF thing to rest. Adobe and Autodesk are not at war. Recently I attended the HP Large Format Print Academy conference. Stephen Partridge of Adobe was there. He, Director of Worldwide Market Development Jonathan Knowles, and I got along quite well. In fact Stephen and Jonathan participated in panel sessions together and were quite complimentary. Basically Adobe and Autodesk are trying to solve two different problems with design data. If all you need to do with your design data is print it, then PDF will work reasonably well. But if you want to solve real problems that face the construction, mechanical, mapping, telecommunications, and entertainment industries, then PDF is not enough.

• Autodesk customers need the extra precision that is available in a DWF. This is the basis for taking accurate measurements. Jonathan often teases his longtime friend Stephen that he would never fly in a plane that was designed from a PDF.
• Autodesk customers need intelligent objects. A file format that knows that a door is a door instead of a collection of lines that look like a door allows an application to count the number of doors in a building. This will be a boon to the estimation process. The parts of a door can also be snapped to when taking electronic measurements.
• Autodesk customers need the extra metadata captured in a DWF. This is the basis for making informed decisions regarding product, project, and asset designs. For example, knowing the fire rating on a door is critical when using a file format as a basis for a rescue operation or when submitting a bid to supply the door.
• Many AutoCAD customers view 2D; however, more are more are moving to 3D. Autodesk customers need 3D data captured in a small file that can be transmitted quickly through email.

Looking at DWF versus PDF file formats reveals some commonalities between the two. Both formats produce self-contained files, support multiple pages, and provide copy, print, and password-protection functions, as well as raster and vector graphic support. With the purchase of Adobe Acrobat Professional, users can publish files from AutoCAD, preserve CAD layers, and create redlines and comments as they can with the DWF format. The Design Web Format, DWF, was designed specifically for sharing rich design data. PDF was designed for generic text-based document exchange.

Today Autodesk provides a better format for sharing engineering design data with DWF files that roundtrips well with AutoCAD and other Autodesk design software. Autodesk Design Review is at the heart of the electronic Review process - tracking status of the markups in addition to using them to change the original design. As Autodesk develops additional applications around the DWF format, Autodesk customers will be thankful that they have set themselves up to work with DWF - even if their current needs could have been met by PDF today. AutoCAD 2007 includes a basic PDF output capability out of the box. Autodesk customers have a choice. Opportunity for integration with superior workflow processes is just one of the ways DWF goes beyond being just a portable document format.

Improve 3D Geometry in DWF files from AutoCAD 2006

Autodesk.dwf.viewer discussion group member, Paul Mason (I wonder if he will sell no wine before its time? Actually that was Paul Masson.), observed that his 3D DWF files were coarsely faceted when using the 3DDWFPUBLISH command from AutoCAD 2006. Though I believed that VIEWRES might make an improvement, fellow Autodesk employee Nilanjan Bhattacharya was quick to point out that FACETRES does the trick. FACETRES adjusts the smoothness of shaded and rendered objects and objects with hidden lines removed. Valid values are from 0.01 to 10.0. The default value is 0.5. Try setting FACETRES to 8.0. As you can imagine, DWF files get a little larger as the faces get smoother:

FACETRES setting	Resulting DWF file size	Image
0.5	4KB	facetres00.5.png
8.0	6KB	facetres08.0.png
9.0	46KB	facetres09.0.png
10.0	478KB	facetres10.0.png

Thanks Paul for the question. Thanks Nilanjan for the answer.

Providing design data in 3D form allows recipients to pan, zoom, rotate, look through, hide, pull apart, or cross section before printing. Applications that provide interactive 3D capabilities are just one of the ways DWF goes beyond the paper.

Why Beyond the Paper?

DWF enables organizations to connect critical design information into product, project, and asset workflows without compromising the accuracy, security, and intent of the original design idea. The Autodesk DWF Viewer is our free application for sharing, viewing, and printing complex 2D and 3D drawings, maps, and models. Today DWF plays a role in all of our design products, as well as Lifecycle Management solutions such as Autodesk Design Review, Autodesk ProductStream (ERP integration), and Autodesk Buzzsaw (project management and collaboration). Despite the focus on keeping digital design data digital, we recognize that data captured in a DWF file will eventually make its way to paper. In this regard, DWF is an intermediate stop between an AutoCAD drawing (DWG) and plotted output.

The objective of printing a DWF file from the free Autodesk DWF Viewer (or Autodesk Design Review) is that the output should match the results of plotting directly from AutoCAD. Although ideally one could line up the sheets of printed output, hold them up the light, and observe that the inks align, in practice there are slight variations in where the ink is positioned on the paper, but the scales are the same. These small differences are artifacts of the different software components used to translate the data in the files to the ink on the paper.

DWF contains all of the essential elements necessary to get proper printed output; however, it also contains product, project, and asset data that allows it to the foundation for workflow solutions.

Although the topics of DWF publishing, viewing, and printing are fair game, this blog will highlight some of those extra elements that allow applications based on DWF to go beyond the paper.

Scott Sheppard
[email protected]