topic Re: dwfx FILES in Inventor Forum

dwfx FILES

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 23:51:06 GMT

Hi,

I have 3D dwfx files which I would like to convert to STEP or another editable format. I can only open them with Autodesk viewer but can't edit or save as. I also was not able to open them with Autodesk Inventor.

Regards

Ron

Re: dwfx FILES

johnsonshiue — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:05:00 GMT

Hi Ron,

Inventor only supports 2D DXF. It does not support 3D DXF. You need to import it to AutoCAD and save it as dwg file. Then import it to Inventor.

Many thanks!

Re: dwfx FILES

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:37:21 GMT

Hi Johnson,

Thank you for your reply. I was not able to open the file with Autocad. This is a DWFX file, not DXF.

Re: dwfx FILES

johnsonshiue — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 00:49:04 GMT

Hi! I am sorry for missing the title. I am not aware of a way to convert DWFx to STEP.

Many thanks!

Re: dwfx FILES

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 01:02:59 GMT

And convert to other format? or just edit it

Re: dwfx FILES

johnsonshiue — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:06:52 GMT

Hi Ron,

Unfortunately, neither is available. DWFx is a viewing only format with some abilities to add markups. You cannot modify the content itself. Another popular viewing format is JT. It may have editing tools available.

Many thanks!

Re: dwfx FILES

mcgyvr — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:12:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

I have 3D dwfx files which I would like to convert to STEP or another editable format.

You would need to contact the person who created the DWFX files to see if they have the native CAD files to generate a STEP file for you..

Seems there might be at least one company that seems to offer a conversion tool though..

No idea if it works or anything about that company/software..

https://www.progesoft.com/products/progecad-professional/dwf-dwg-dxf-3ds-dae-dgn-step-iges-obj

Re: dwfx FILES

graitechajek — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 08:22:34 GMT

that's a little joke that invetor doesn't support native Autodesk format, I'll have to put in IDEA

Re: dwfx FILES

peter.kapitola — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 00:51:48 GMT

Indeed, Inventor is full of these "jokes". A file created in Inventor and then viewable in Autodesk Design Review is then no longer openable in Inventor.

Re: dwfx FILES

ampster40 — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 20:22:48 GMT

EDIT, while it gives the impression you can open them, it will open them in Design review...

You can certainly open a dwf file in Inventor but why on earth would you do so? Oh, just to complain about something I guess hehe.

As stated, it's only a pretty picture exported out of Inventor. There is nothing "solid" about it that can be used to generate any CAD data. While you can certainly spend time manually re-creating by taking dims I would not want to go there.

Re: dwfx FILES

peter.kapitola — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 01:06:50 GMT

You can certainly open a dwf file in Inventor

As you eventually figured out, you can't.

but why on earth would you do so? Oh, just to complain about something I guess hehe.

Because sometimes a DWF is all you can get access to, and you need to create a part from it. Despite what you may think, the many complaints Inventor attracts are not just people having a whinge. They are trying to get things done and running into restrictions that make little sense.

If the file has enough information to display what it does in Design Review, it has enough information to create a CAD file when imported to Inventor. It's not simply a picture, but has spatial information similar to a STEP or STL file, both of which can be imported to Inventor.

Re: dwfx FILES

ampster40 — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 14:46:49 GMT

answer this, would you take a pdf or any other image file to use them to do the same process? ie, convert it into a CAD model.

Any file type you choose to do so with, dwf, pdf, jpg, gif, bmp, etc, the conversion would not be perfect and typically is considered a very last resort.

Good Luck finding a solution to that.

Re: dwfx FILES

peter.kapitola — Wed, 01 May 2024 03:05:16 GMT

The difference here is so obvious that I can't quite believe I have to spell it out. A DWFx is nothing like a 2D image file like a jpg, gif, or bmp. It contains 3D information, like a SAT or STL file. It can be rotated and measured. The 3D information is there, and there are third-party solutions that can extract it (e.g. https://www.progesoft.com/products/progecad-professional/dwf-dwg-dxf-3ds-dae-dgn-step-iges-obj). But in typical Autodesk fashion, things that should be simple are made needlessly difficult.

Re: dwfx FILES

ampster40 — Wed, 01 May 2024 14:45:17 GMT

Software was designed to be a CAD viewer only I suspect.

We can slam any number of software titles that are out there because we feel they don't do what we feel they should.

In that case I'd suggest learning programing and make it yourself.

Good Luck!!! LOL

Re: dwfx FILES

LELO_NTI — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 12:20:21 GMT

A lot of years ago, it was introduced that the markups you did in 2 2D dwf, ou be opened as an overlay in inventor. There for you can "open" them in inventor.

Re: dwfx FILES

sjeremiahVYJHL — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 20:52:41 GMT

As a general comment, I would say that autodesk is dissappointing when inoperability between there own products is so clunky. It's not a cheap product so if you are using a suite of Autodesk products I would expect better.

Regards Stephen (Australia)

Re: dwfx FILES

hristo.hristovMK259 — Mon, 05 May 2025 09:18:17 GMT

I have done it. There is a workaround, however it requires additional software:

1. Open the dwfx in Navisworks

2. Export the file from Navisworks to fbx.

3. Open the fbx in 3DSmax

4. Export the file from 3DSmax to STP/STEP

Again, this applies if you have the software suite available.

I hope this helps.

Re: dwfx FILES

jason.duongDW7GK — Tue, 27 May 2025 23:50:54 GMT

Had to export as .obj, and bring into inventor as Mesh. No option to export as STP/STEP in 3DSmax. But thank you for the steps.