Get Files into Autodesk Design Review 2007

Senior Technical Writer, Chris Blocher, reports that there is sometimes confusion about how to get files into Design Review. Simply put, you have three choices: Open a file Combine files, or Import a file

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Open a File
Use File > Open or File > Open from Buzzsaw to display a file on the Autodesk Design Review canvas. You can also drag and drop one of the following file types onto an open instance of Autodesk Design Review.

Autodesk Design Review opens 13 different file types:

1. DWF Files (*.dwf)
2. Autodesk Animator Files (*.flc;*.flic;*.fli)
3. Bitmap Files (*.bmp)
4. Cals Files (*.cal;*.cals;*.cg4;*.gp4;*.mil;*.rst)
5. GIF Files (*.gif)
6. IG4 Files (*.ig4)
7. JPEG Files (*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.jpe;*.jfif)
8. Paintbrush Files (*.pcx)
9. PICT Files (*.pct;*.pict)
10. PNG Files (*.png)
11. RLC Files (*.rlc)
12. TARGA Files (*.tga)
13. TIFF Files (*.tif;*.tiff)

Bonus: If you have opened a raster image file type, such as a TIFF, you can rotate it in 90-degree increments clockwise or counterclockwise before you add a markup. Once you add a markup, the Rotate Image tool is disabled.

Once opened, the file can be viewed and marked up as needed. Opening a file does not change the original file. Then, before you open another file or closing Autodesk Design Review, you will be prompted to save the open file as a DWF file.

Autodesk Design Review can only open one file open at a time. If you need more than one file open in Autodesk Design Review at the same time, just start another copy of Autodesk Design Review and then open the other file.

Combine Files
Any of the 13 file types listed above can be combined in a single DWF file. (Note: You cannot directly combine DWGs or DXFs in Autodesk Design Review without turning them into DWF files first. See below.) Again, it bears mentioning that the original files remain unharmed.

To combine several files in one DWF file:

1. Begin by either opening an existing DWF file or creating a new one (choose File > New).
2. Next, from Windows Explorer or your desktop, drag and drop files into the open DWF file’s Contents palette. The dropped files become sheets in the open DWF file.
3. You can then reorganize the sheets in the Contents palette.

Once combined, the contents can be viewed and marked up as needed. Before opening another file, or closing Autodesk Design Review, you will be prompted to save the newly aggregated DWF file.

Import a File
Autodesk Design Review can import two file types:

1. DWG (*.dwg)
2. DXF (*.dxf)

Import really means "create a new DWF file from the original." Again, like opening a file, importing a file does not change the original.

To import these file types, Autodesk Design Review leverages the ability of DWG TrueView to publish DWF files. (In most case, DWG True View is installed with Autodesk Design Review.)

Once imported, the new DWF file can be viewed and marked up as needed. Before opening another file, or closing Autodesk Design Review, you will be prompted to save the imported DWG or DXF file as a DWF file.

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Autodesk Design Review provides the ability to work with DWF files as well as other formats. This makes it easy to combine a variety of project data into one file and electronically share it with an entire project team. Though each type of file could be individually printed and the paper shipped instead, the electronic process allows DWF to go beyond the paper.