Beyond the Paper

What is the difference between native design formats and DWF?

Best wishes to you on this Memorial Day. Though this is a holiday for most Americans, many Autodesk employees are busy at work on Amazon. Memorial Day was first observed in 1868 when two women in Columbus, Missouri placed flowers on both Confederate and Union graves. We are grateful to all who have given their lives in service to our country. So in the grand scheme of things, working on a holiday weekend is not the worst thing to happen to someone.

Publishing native design files such as DWG, RVT, and IPT formats created with design authoring software can be impractical for a variety of reasons. Protecting intellectual property is a primary concern because anyone with the AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Inventor, or another design authoring application can edit the file or steal the design. Moreover, the cost of the authoring software may exceed the needs of the user. Paying for everyone on the project team to install and then learn to use a sophisticated CAD or mapping application can be costly. Using the DWF format avoids these issues.

DWF is a secure file format that is smaller, more compact, and easier to distribute than DWG, RVT, or IPT files yet still maintains the rich design data of the original design. CAD users can publish drawings, maps, or models to the DWF format, so reviewers see exactly what the publisher intended them to see. In addition, the DWF file format supports multisheet drawing sets and makes it easier for team members who don’t use CAD to view and print.

Why does my DWF appear to be larger than my DWG?

Normally DWF files are as small as 1/20 the size of AutoCAD drawings (DWG files). There are a few possibilities as to why a user may perceive his DWF to be larger than his AutoCAD drawing.

• For example, a small parent DWG may XREF other DWG files. In contrast, a DWF contains all of the data in one file. So when a DWF is compared solely to its parent DWG, perhaps the DWF is larger.
• In addition to potential XREFs, a DWG may reference an external image file. In this case, a copy of the image file would be in the DWF. In contrast, it is external to the DWG, so it does not appear in the file size for the DWG. In this sense, the DWF file is one stop shopping in that the DWF contains everything a person who wants to use it would need.
• Besides images, there are even cases where font files can be embedded in a DWF. DWF files only contain data for the letters that appear in the file. The entire font is not embedded in the DWF file.
• Also of note is that some specialized objects such as AutoCAD gradients are finely tessellated into simpler (though more numerous) geometry when the DWF is created.

A DWF file is compressed. Under normal circumstances it is smaller than its corresponding DWG. It is certainly smaller than the collection of files associated with a DWG if not the DWG itself.

Can I convert my DWF to an AutoCAD drawing?

DWF to AutoCAD drawing (DWG) converters do exist.

An AutoCAD drawing uses floating point doubles. A DWF uses 32 bit integers. You will lose precision and to that extent - accuracy. Converting a DWF to an AutoCAD drawing is the equivalent of scanning in a plot and tracing over it.

With the advent of the DWF Attach command in AutoCAD 2007, this question is likely to come up again. The topics of DWF precision and DWF Security have been covered by Brian Mathews in Shaan Hurley's Between the Lines Blog. For simple DWF files, 32 bit integers may be sufficient; however, there is a strong relationship between the "vector DPI" used to generate a DWF file and its resulting precision. This is evident when measurements are taken using Autodesk Design Review. This relationship has been documented in a table for imperial users as well as a table for metric users.

DWF Format Info: Between the Lines Recap (Part 1)

Before Beyond the Paper was created, Shaan Hurley, Brian Mathews, and I used to post articles about DWF on the Between The Lines blog. Here is a listing of links to some of those articles related to the DWF format.

DWF Format Info

• Nice Article on DWF by Lynn: Why We Need DWF
• The advantages of sharing DWF files instead of native AutoCAD drawings
• DWF Security
• DWF Precision Article by Brian Mathews of the DWF Team
• DWF Precision Follow Up
• Quick Article on Design Document Communication with DWF
• More DWF Benefits
• More DWF vs. PDF
• The Solar System on a 10,000" X 10,000" DWF
• Is DWF an ‘open’ file format?
• DWF-it! (comments from users)
• DWF Team Scores with Jonathan Knowles

DWF Viewer Downloads

• 5 Million Downloads of DWF Viewer!
• Over 7 Million DWF Viewer Downloads
• 8 Million Downloads of Autodesk DWF Viewer!
• Over 9 Million Downloads of DWF Viewer!
• 10 million downloads of the free DWF Viewer!

DWF has been going beyond the paper long before Beyond The Paper.

Avoid Information Backflow with DWF

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Autodesk first revolutionized the software industry with the AutoCAD® which introduced drafting on a PC. AutoCAD paved the way for Autodesk technology leadership in industries such as building, infrastructure, manufacturing, media and entertainment, and wireless data. Today DWF plays a part in all of these endeavors.

Building

Infrastructure (mapping, telecommunications, etc.)

Manufacturing

What these industries have in common is that design data needs to be created, managed, and shared. The combination of geometric primitives and expressive metadata allows DWF to be the vehicle by which this happens.

Let's look at a building project as an example of what typically happens today (the black line) versus what Autodesk is doing with DWF (the orange line).

• Design - Design information is accumulated in a digital form via a design application. Often this is AutoCAD with data dispersed among a set of DWG files.
• Procure - Despite the fact that a set of DWG files exist, when it is time to send out design data out for Bid, this is typically done by sending out paper. The digital form is not shared. General and subcontractors undertake a quantity takeoff exercise where items are counted. This is often done with a clicker and a red pen. The process involves taking those counts and applying factors, such as materials to be used and time involved, to produce an estimate. The process may involve specialized software, e.g. Timberline, to produce a bid. But even when such software is used, the data from the Design phase is manually reentered into the estimation software.
• Build - After the request for bids have been sent out, bids received, and winning bidders have been Awarded, it is time to schedule the actual work. Even though a set of spreadsheets, Timberline files, or other files exist from the Procure phase, schedules are often created from scratch. The subcontractors and tasks are reentered into a scheduling program.
• Manage - When a project is completed and the "Ribbon has been cut, it is time to manage the building. Very often all of the data that has been used in the earlier construction phases is not leveraged. It is true that "as built" plans are sometimes generated, but these are typically provided as paper.

So you can see how at each phase, a set of digital assets is created, knowledge is built up, yet those assets and knowledge are discarded or not used optimally at the start of the next phase. The goal of DWF is to provide a conduit that can capture all of this knowledge in one file that can transcend the entire process.

• The design data is captured in a DWF file via the geometry. This exists today.
• The bidding information can be captured via DWF metadata. Autodesk is working on the Quantity Takeoff workflow now. For the present, Excel workbooks can be printed using the Autodesk DWF Writer. The resulting sheets can be aggregated with other design data using Autodesk Design Review.
• Schedule information can be included in a DWF file today. This can be done via metadata or publishing from applications like Microsoft Project using the Autodesk DWF Writer. The resulting sheets can be aggregated using Autodesk Design Review.
• Managing a facility can be accomplished using a combination of geometry and metadata. The Autodesk People Finder is an example of how employee data can be integrated with facility data.

"Where would we be without electricity?" There will come a day where we will ask "Where would we be without electronic processes?" DWF is the basis for workflow solutions that address projects from a life cycle management perspective. This is true for all Autodesk customer industries. We can do better than using only paper.

Composite 3D and 2D DWF files

A composite is a structure or an entity made up of distinct components. In terms of DWF, a composite DWF file is a combination of 3D and 2D data. Autodesk DWF Viewer 6.5, Autodesk DWF Viewer 7.0, and Autodesk Design Review 2007 support the ability to view a composite DWF files.

DWF files were originally single sheet 2D files. They then evolved to allow for more than one 2D sheet in the same file. Further evolution included 3D; however, DWF files could be either multisheet 2D or a single 3D model. With composite DWF files, these types of data can be combined in one file. The ability to generate composite DWF files will be included in upcoming releases of Autodesk design applications.

The cool people say D-W-F, not dwiff

An AutoCAD DWG is called a drawing. An AutoCAD Data eXchange File is called a DXF as in dee-ex-eff (If you get my phonetical drift?). A Design Web Format file is called a dee-double-you-eff. There was a brief moment in time, when we were calling them dwiffs, but that time has passed. The cognoscenti now all say DWF.

If you really think about it, DWF is more like DXF than printing formats like Tiff, HPGL, JPEG, or PDF. The metadata in a DWF that accompanies the geometry makes it an exchange format. The exchange format just happens to be print-ready compared to the original design data such as a DWG.

We are not alone!

Autodesk is currently working with hundreds of companies as DWF partners. Other companies have downloaded the DWF Toolkit from the web and developed a DWF application independently. In either case, there are plenty of applications that support DWF. Although many are still in the works, many have already been released. These applications create, view, or process DWF files. For a list of some of the available products, click here.

DWF is not really about the format in of itself. The applications are what make the difference. Autodesk is pleased to have a wide range of partners who help DWF go beyond the paper.

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.