AutoCAD DWFx Driver Available Now

As shipped, the AutoCAD 2008 line of products do not publish DWFx files. A separate driver is available later for download from the Autodesk web site. It is applicable to the following products.

• AutoCAD 2008
• AutoCAD LT 2008
• DWG TrueView
• AutoCAD Electrical 2008
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2008
• AutoCAD Map 3D 2008
• AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008
• AutoCAD Land Desktop 2008
• AutoCAD Raster Design 2008
• AutoCAD Architecture 2008
• AutoCAD MEP 2008
• AutoCAD P&ID 2008

The installer can be downloaded for 32-bit or 64-bit applications. For example, the English versions are named:

AutoCADDWFxDriver32bit_enu.exe
AutoCADDWFxDriver64bit_enu.exe

When adding the driver to an AutoCAD-based application, the driver manufacturer is listed as ‘Autodesk ePlot (DWFx)’. The driver model is listed as ‘DWFx ePlot (XPS Compatible)’. These names are visible in the ‘Add Plotter’ dialog on the Plotter Model dialog of the Add-a-Plotter Wizard and the Plotter Configuration Editor. The English driver can be downloaded from:

AutoCAD DWFx Driver Page

The other languages will be coming soon. This is the first release of DWFx publishing. As the format evolves, so too will the associated capabilities from AutoCAD. For AutoCAD users who have a desire to share design data with users who only need to view and print - who also do not have the free Autodesk Design Review 2008, DWFx is a viable alternative to traditional DWF files. The ability to view design data with a viewer that comes installed with an operating system will help DWF reach a wider audience of users through electronic distribution mechanisms. Keeping design data digital allows it to be integrated into more and more workflows. This allows it to go beyond what can be done with traditional paper.

Comments

[Donovan]

So what about inventor 08? what plans are there to dwfx from it?

[Scott Sheppard]

Thank you for the question. Autodesk Inventor 2008 will not come with the ability to publish a DWFx file. This will be coming in a future release. The free Autodesk Design Review 2008 allows you to open a DWF file and save it as a DWFx file. You can publish a DWF file from Inventor, open it in Autodesk Design Review 2008, and then save it as a DWFx file. You can then send the DWFx file to a Microsoft Vista user, and he can view and print it without installing Autodesk Design Review. A non-Vista user can do the same thing if he has already installed the Microsoft XPS Viewer on his system.

[Donovan]

what about a dwfx system printer driver then. This could at least eliminate the need to open a DWF in Design Review.

[Scott Sheppard]

We considered adding DWFx support to the DWF Writer for 2D, but we ran out of time. This will come in a future release. For the immediate needs, Volker is looking into making a command line utility available that will convert DWF to DWFx.