GCarve

Open DWG and DXF files for CNC

CAD drawings arrive as DWG or DXF. A CNC router needs closed 2D shapes at the right size. Here is how to get from the drawing to toolpaths without redrawing it.

1. DWG or DXF?

DWG is AutoCAD's own format; DXF is the open exchange format almost every program reads and writes. GCarve opens both. If you can choose, ask for DXF: it is the most predictable, and you can ask for it from any CAD or drawing program.

2. Check the units

The most common problem is a drawing that comes in 25 times too big or too small because millimetres were read as inches. GCarve reads the unit stored in the file and says what it used in the status line. When a file has no unit it assumes inches and tells you so; if that is wrong, select everything and type the width you expect.

3. Layers and text

Layers come in as layers, so you can show, hide and lock them, or give a toolpath only the "CUT" layer. Text in the file becomes editable text in GCarve's standard font at its size and place.

4. Clean it up

CAD drawings often have lines that nearly meet, doubled-up lines and tiny leftovers. A pocket or profile needs closed shapes. Check Vectors finds open, duplicate and tiny vectors and selects them; Join and Close fix the open ones.

5. What does not come in

Hatch fills, pictures, viewports and 3D solids are skipped, and GCarve tells you how many of each. The boundary lines of a hatched area are normal geometry and do come in.

How GCarve does it

File ▸ Open / Import (or drop the file on the window) reads DWG and DXF, as well as SVG, PDF and Illustrator. Vectors ▸ Check Vectors finds the open and duplicate lines. When the cutting is planned, File ▸ Export Vectors writes the shapes back out as DWG, DXF or SVG for a customer or another program.

See also importing PDF and Illustrator files and GCarve as a VCarve alternative.