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Save Copy as .DXF create a file that is almost 50x larger than .IDW

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Message 1 of 21
SeanFarr
3010 Views, 20 Replies

Save Copy as .DXF create a file that is almost 50x larger than .IDW

Hello,

 

I have re-installed APDS Ultimate 2013 onto a new computer and am having some issues setting up my styles and etc...for the most part I have been working on it as I go with no issues...

 

but I can't remember how I set up my export to dxf settings before. I think I just used the default settings, I exported to dxf from the idw environment by saving copy as and selecting dxf from drop down menu and selecting something like AutoCAD 2004. This has worked before and still does now, but the problem is the dxf's that are exported are huge. The drawing is of a single tiny part with basic geometry. The picture below shows the size difference between the files.

 

filesize.png

 

Any ideas how I can make it a normal size, I don't really care about the size of the dxf except for the fact that I can't email it to anyone because we have a limit of 10MB.

 

Thanks

 

Sean Farr

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
20 REPLIES 20
Message 2 of 21
swhite
in reply to: SeanFarr

Does it have to be a DFX, or can it be a derived part? it all depends on what you need the file for? If it can be a derived part you can take a 200 MB assembly and make it 380KB for sending (trick I know). Of course it will be uneditable for others. Also your DFX is probabaly only slightly larger than your actual assembly. Your drawing does not contain the actual model files, assemblies, parts etc, which is why it is so small. Your assembly only references the parts, so it's file size is deceptive as well. if you counted up the size of all your parts and assemblies, it would be close to the same, although the DFX does increase the file size quite a bit, which is why I rarely use it.

Steven White
Lee C. Moore, Inc.
www.lcm-wci.com
Inventor 2011
Intel Dual Xeon E31225 @ 3.1 GHz CPU
16 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600 GPU
Windows 7 - 64 Bit
Message 3 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: swhite

Yea, it needs to be .dxf because that is a compatible format between us and our fabricator, he imports the .dxf into his software and then makes his edits and then cnc flame cuts our parts.

 

Something has changed somewhere, could be related to how I set-up my styles do my drawing templates, I made changes to my titleblock, Inventor is not set up the exact same as I had it on my old computer, plus I had more software on my old computer, earlier versions of CAD and Inventor, not too sure what could be making the export so large compared to sizes before.

 

There isnt much options to choose from in the export to dxf, so I don't know what else could be making this occur??

 

Thanks

 

Sean

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 4 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: SeanFarr

If you just need to give him a blank for generating a tool path for a burn out, try this trick. I use this for creating the dxf files needed for programming our laser.

 

Capture.JPG

 

 

 

 

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 5 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: mrattray

I was hoping I could use that option, but not all my parts we get cut are sheet metal and have flat patterns...

 

I am almost certain it has something to do with my .idw template, for some reason, even though I saved my changes to styles(read-write is enabled) I am still get this prompt pop up when I open my drawing template.

styles_conflict.png

 

I don't know if I should start another thread for this but, I am looking for a step by step on changing the layers in the styles editor within my .idw template.

 

It says my template styles are different that the definitions in the style library, I am a little bit confused, how do I sync the 2 together to avoid this conflict, there is no styles to purge or save once I am in my template file. I edited the line thickness for a bunch of line types, because when I print, it looks like I drew my drawing with a crayon, haha...

 

I think once I fix this issue with the styles it will produce an smaller size dxf.

 

Any help with the styles conflict? or link on how to edit the .idw template so that every time I open it up in any project, there is no issues??

 

Thanks

 

Sean

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 6 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: SeanFarr

Parts don't have to actually be drawn as sheet metal in order to use the method I suggested. You can take your part made with standard 3D modeling features and convert it to sheet metal, select the plan view face and click flat pattern.

To walk a different path, have you tried editing the dxf in AutoCAD? Try using the purge command there and see what you get.

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 7 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: mrattray

Thanks for the help Mike, I have gotten the drawing off to the fabricator, I simply sent him a pdf, the part is incredibly small and simple so a dxf wasnt needed that badly, if it was a complex part and was going to take him hours to re-draw in his software, I would have done the workaround as you have pointed out...will keep it in the bank for down the road.

 

To confirm that the file size of the .dxf has something to do with my style conflict,

  • I made a test part
  • created an .idw in my company template and also the inventor defualt template
  • saved copy as .dxf and the result below, you can that the dxf from my template (redbox) is still 30mb and the default .idw from inventor (black box) produced a .dxf of 278kb

filesize2.png

 

I am going to make a new thread to try and figure out how to fix my .idw template.

 

Thanks!!

 

Sean

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 8 of 21
swhite
in reply to: SeanFarr

Can you save the drawing as a DWG and send it instead? We send ours as DWG files and they take out the blocks they need for the laser cuts.

Steven White
Lee C. Moore, Inc.
www.lcm-wci.com
Inventor 2011
Intel Dual Xeon E31225 @ 3.1 GHz CPU
16 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600 GPU
Windows 7 - 64 Bit
Message 9 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: swhite

it is very possible, when we set up our word of mouth process, I asked him which file format he wanted as Inventor is capable of most formats, he said .dxf and I have been sending him dxf exports for months now. I am thinking I have to wipe my styles clean and ad in my templates and go from there...

 

this isnt a bug, it is something that i did or didnt do when adding my .idw templates into inventor after the recent fresh install...

i fixed my styles conflict and it is still producing massive .dxf files. (posted here:http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Inventor/2013-Styles-Conflict-How-to-set-up-a-style/m-p/38249...

 

I have to erase all my style edits and start fresh, there isnt a lot, just some line width changes in the layers.

 

Thanks for your input, I will post back if/when i figure out what the hell is happening, haha,

 

take care

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 10 of 21
graemev
in reply to: SeanFarr

We have in-house plasma and waterjet capability.  I routinely make DXF files for both machines.

 

Our methodology is:

- Start a new .idw file with no titleblock, just a blank page.  (Size of page is of no consequence.)

- Place the part on the page using the desired view, hidden lines removed, and force 1:1 scale.

- Remove any extraneous lines - those not strictly at the perimeter of the part.

- Save Copy As:

          - Select desired vintage of DXF.

          - Append the file name with material thickness and type/grade.

          - Set the correct file location.

          - Save.

 

You may need to check with your vendor that their software can handle polylines, splines, and any other higher level elements that may be contained in the DXF file.  Edit the DXF file directly to suit.

Message 11 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: graemev

You should really try the method I described earlier. All of those manual steps you're taking can be set as options in the export utility.

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 12 of 21
graemev
in reply to: mrattray

Thanks, Mike.  I'll have to give it a spin.

 

(Note that once selected, the DXF output options will persist for the next Save-As.)

Message 13 of 21
johnsonshiue
in reply to: SeanFarr

Sean,

 

The behavior you describe here does not seem normal to me. Could you send these Inventor files to me (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)? I would like to take a closer look and see where the problem is.

Thanks!

 



Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer
Message 14 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: mrattray

Hey Mike,

 

I guess I should explain some of my processes and maybe it will make things a little clearer, not all of our parts are sheet metal pieces. Some are items that are cut out of thick steel to certain shapes and etc,with holes and slots whatever.sometimes requires machines or other machining practices.

 

So my typical process is

  1. Model the part
  2. detail the part on an.idw
  3. save .idw as .pdf and export as .dxf as exact copies of the final drawing.(including title block)

We send the pdf and dxf to the fabricator and they send us back the part.

 

So as far as creating .dxf, it is (was) something like 2 extra clicks, no extra work, no converting to sheet metal, no creating flat pattern, just simply save copy as dxf. Done, worked for months,never had an issue with file size or needed to find another way to export.

 

Up until i installed inventor on new computer and added in my templates with the updated styles, i never had an issue, there is something wrong my templates and it is adding some extra layers or something and making my dxf files 30mb's in size. as seen in post 7 of this thread.

 

I want my .dxf to be an exact replica of .idw, so right clicking in the model browser and exporting flat pattern to dxf is not really making anything easier(or harder),

 

i just want my inventor back to the way it was on the old computer.

 

Thanks for you help and info...

 

Sean Farr

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 15 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: johnsonshiue

This happens with every part I draw up. If I send you my template file can that be used to help figure out the problem? Or perhaps some screen shots of some specific settings. As I mentioned in post 7, in made a test part...I then drew it up in my company template file and then drew it up in the inventor default idw file, saved, then exported a dxf from each idw and the one file was over 30mb and the one from the inventor default idw was less than 1 mb...



Sean Farr
Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 16 of 21
swhite
in reply to: SeanFarr

try saving a copy of your drawing, then deleting the border and title block one at a time from the copy, then save as a DWF and see what it does to your file size. Might help narrow down the problem.

Steven White
Lee C. Moore, Inc.
www.lcm-wci.com
Inventor 2011
Intel Dual Xeon E31225 @ 3.1 GHz CPU
16 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600 GPU
Windows 7 - 64 Bit
Message 17 of 21
johnsonshiue
in reply to: SeanFarr

Sean,

 

Many thanks for sending me the files! I took a look and found out it seems to have something to do with image in the title block. It seems like if the image is embedded (not linked) to the IDW file, exporting it to DXF will balloon the file size. If it is linked, the behavior does not happen. I don't have a good explaining at this moment. I need to follow up with development.

Thanks!

 



Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer
Message 18 of 21
mrattray
in reply to: SeanFarr

I see, Sean. I didn't realize you were trying to export a complete drawing; I thought you were just looking for the blank profile for programming. Something like what the other poster described as his workflow.

It looks like you have AutoDesk's attention with this so, good luck!

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 19 of 21
SeanFarr
in reply to: johnsonshiue

I re-embeded our logo image as smaller size and this shrunk the .dxf export considerably, I completely forgot that I updated our logo for that drawing template. I opened it in paint and resized it to from 2.2mb to 800kb and now my dxf exports are under 2mb, instead of over 30mb I will scale down the image some more and that .dxf will be back to normal around 500kb /page

 

Thanks to all for there input and solutions!

 

Sean Farr

Sean Farr
Product Designer at TESInc.ca

Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014
Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM |
240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
Message 20 of 21
EBurgan
in reply to: SeanFarr

If the objest that is imported either grows or shrinks, use the scale command. Find out what the dimension is and what it should be. Determine the ratio between the two. (ei. dim. should be 3, is 82. : 3/82 = .0365 ) Next, enter the sketch and highlight the entire sketch. Then go to the "Scale" command. Select a base point, usually the origin. Enter the ratio. Should shrink the entire sketch equally and to the right size. Hope this helps.

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