Hi,
I export my Drawings to my Desktop as DXF files and then send them for cutting at my waterjet guy. I am having a few problems.
-they get saved as a DXF file but as a “DraftSite” file. I used to have a free verison of this but decided to use Sketchup instead.
-I am able to send these files but they end up with too many additional lines.
-I am unable to open these as i did not buy a DraftSite version.
Thanks in advance.
The DraftSite thing is because your computer still has that association so it is set up to link all .dxf files to DraftSite. That’s nothing to do with SketchUp.
Are you exporting as 2D or 3D .dxf? Maybe you could example .skp file and the .dxf file?
I thought I had removed all from DraftSite. Where might it be lurking?
I use 3D when exporting. I dont know the difference.
Windows is still making the file association. Do a Google search to find out how to change file associations. Really it doesn’t matter what the file association is on your computer. If you send the file to someone who only has AutoCAD, their computer will most likely make the association for AutoCAD. Might be nice to leave the association as it is on your computer. The icons will be easy to pick out.
But I cant open my own saved files because they are Draftsite. Should i not be able to save and open DXF as Sketchup files?
What would you open them with if you aren’t using DraftSite?
No. You could import the .dxf files into SketchUp but SketchUp only opens .skp files with Open.
Importing works. Thanks for that. Complete newby here. Its making sense now.
My partner deleted all the SKP files that were converted to DXF. Thanks to you i can now import them back to read and change the drawings.
Do you have a suggestion on how to file these going forward? Separate Folder? I use my desktop to send because its easier to email from there.
I posted a screen shot of a drawing a few posts up. It shows extra lines on left picture. Any idea on why it does that?
Ouch! Depending on the .dxff files, you may have a ton of work to do to restore them to useful SketchUp models.
At least save the .skp files somewhere. Don’t delete them. As for how you organize things going forward, it depends on your situation. I have main folders for clients and subfolders in those for projects. Just do something to keep things organizes.
It’s difficult to say exactly since you haven’t got the original SketchUp model file.
Im wondering if Draftsite is doing it because it was a free version. Is there a way to email a DXF file from Sketchup directly to others?
The drawings I posted were from today. I still have them in SKP
File>Export to create the .dxf that you save somewhere on your computer and then attach it to an e-mail.
No. it’s just a natural thing for a program to set file associations when it is installed. And since you haven’t installed anything to change the association, it still shows DraftSite. No big deal. The file association doesn’t create a problem or make the file unusable by other applications such as Sketchup.
If you share the .skp file, we might be able to give you an idea.
Typically, the extraneous lines are due to viewing a 3D file in a 2D application.
Upon opening the model file you shared, I found the camera is in Perspective mode.
What you need to export is an orthogonal non-perspective view.
Look to the top menus and set the camera like this:
Camera > Standard Views > Top
Camera > Parallel Projection
Then, even though your SKP model linework is only 2D, you need to export a 3D DXF.
Reason being:
• 3D DXF export from SketchUp preserves circle and arc entities in the resulting DXF file.
• 2D DXF export from SketchUp translates circle and arc entities as primitive line segments.
Here’s a copy of your SKP file
Therein, the camera is set properly and a Scene was created to preserve its settings.
half firewall_Rework.skp (14.8 KB)
Here’s the DXF exported from the aforementioned SKP
half firewall_Rework.dxf (8.3 KB)
Notice the arc entities are preserved when the DXF file is opened in a simple 2D application.
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Hello again and thank you.
I did try changing perspective but I got the same results.
I am going to try sending to another company to see if i get the same results.
Thank you.