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Securing Proprietary Information

4 REPLIES 4
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Message 1 of 5
creelami
430 Views, 4 Replies

Securing Proprietary Information

We need to provide dwg files created with AutoCAD Electrical 2013 but don't wish to share the full design because the customer is only purchasing equipment, not the "design". How can we save a dwg file to either securely hide proprietary catalog information or strip it. Ideas?
4 REPLIES 4
Message 2 of 5
jalger
in reply to: creelami

Hi Creelami,

 

Save the files as DWF's.

They can view the file, mark it up (Rev clouds, red pen markups)  put notes on it...

And they cannot edit it to pull out information, or add information in. 

They can print it (if you choose to let them), but all BOM Info thats not inside of a drawing that cannot access.

 

DWF Viewers are free so they don't need a license of CAD to view the files.

 

other then that, you could do a block swap update on the project and select a non- intelligent Blocks that would wipe out the data.

err.. but be careful doing this method, once you do it you can't go back. Make a backup copy first.

 

I hope this helps,

 

James Alger

James Alger
(I'm on several hundred posts as "algerj")

Work:
Dell Precision 5530 (Xeon E 2176M)
1tb SSD, 64GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro P2000, Win10
Message 3 of 5
dougmcalexander
in reply to: creelami

A quick way is to save the drawings as a PDF file.  You can use the Publish as PDF tool and handle all drawings at once.  This does however allow them to see layer information, if you chose to export it.

 

A longer, even more secure, way is to copy your drawings to another folder, open each drawing, and use the Special Explode tool on the Conversion Tools tab of the ribbon menu.  Window the entire drawing and press enter.  This converts all drawing elements to dumb lines, circles, squares, rectangles, and text.  Only visible attributes get converted to text, so any hidden attributes, such as MFG and CAT, are eliminated.  This effectively strips your drawings down to the earliest form of AutoCAD, before there were blocks and attributes.

 

P.S. I clicked OK and saw that James already answered you.  His option is yet another way.  You have numerous options.



Doug McAlexander


Design Engineer/Consultant/Instructor/Mentor specializing in AutoCAD Electrical training and implementation support

Phone and Web-based Support Plans Available

Phone: (770) 841-8009

www.linkedin.com/in/doug-mcalexander-1a77623




Please Accept as Solution if I helped you. Likes are also much appreciated.
Message 4 of 5
ccad2509
in reply to: dougmcalexander

as the original post actually wanted dwg files

 

create a pdf

 

run the pdf back through a pdf to dwg converter it will then kill all inteligence

 

thats how i do it  and the client gets dwg files and you keep tou proprietry data

Message 5 of 5
creelami
in reply to: ccad2509

Wonderful! Thanks so much for the tips. We'll evaluate the proposed solutions and select the method that best meets our immediate need. This was my first post here and I can tell you and everyone else reading this that there is no substitute for this forum. I've found that throughout my career 99% of the problems I have encountered, or questions I may have had, have already been answered or solved by someone else. I's great when users share knowledge. Thanks Again!

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