AI to DXF

[Vertinhol]

Hello, I have a vectorized image in an AI file, it looks as it should on adobe, but when I export it to DXF, Autocad distorts all the lines and the image becomes ugly, and when I open the same DXF file on SolidWorks then it looks normal.

I searched all around the web for a solution but I couldn't find any, also if I design something on Solidworks using "Spline" I get the same issue again when I export it to DXF.

For now, I would like to focus on AI to DXF and I'll ask later for Solidworks to dxf.

[ChicagoLooper]

When you want to export to dxf (or dwg) AI is exporting your lines to polylines instead of splines and this results in ugly because AI cannot handle those curvy curves in dxf/dwg format.

This is an AI isue, not an AutoCAD issue, and has been addressed by AI users. You can read about it here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/export-to-dxf-with-polylines/m-p/3715066

[Vertinhol]

Thank you for replying but I totally disagree with you, when I open the same DXF file in SolidWorks I get the right image, which means that the issue is related to AutoCAD 🙂

[ChicagoLooper]

Kindly reread  my first sentence, because if you do, it does imply it is with AutoCad when I say ‘dwg’ and ‘dxf’ format. Are you implying I wrote .sldasm somewhere in my post? What you fail to understand is that other AI users have faced this same same problem and their solution, a solution they works, is found in AI and not in AutoCad. 

BTW, Solidworks is not an Autodesk product (yes I am indeed saying it’s not in Solidworks) but rather it in the conversion from AI-to-AutoCad. Again the issue, your issue, can be solved by others who face the identical problem and their solution, not my solution, is in AI and not in AutoCad. . 

[Vertinhol]

I think you didn't understand what I'm trying to say, here is an image that "illustrates" the issue (good joke 🙂

The results of the SAME "DXF FILE" are different between SolidWorks and AutoCAD, and that's the paradox because AutoCAD should handle the DXF/DWG files better than SolidWorks. If at this point you cannot understand the issue then here is an example:

Supposing that you have a (.txt) file and you open it using Notepad, you read the text in it and everything looks fine, then you try to open the SAME (.txt) file with Microsoft Word and you find the text in it is written in Japanese (assuming you don't speak Japanese)

[ChicagoLooper]

Read this post from the Adobe Illustrator forum (not AutoCAD forum). You can find it >>HERE<<.

[Vertinhol · Accepted solution]

I already read that before posting on this forum and it didn't work, also according to my experience AutoCAD is just very bad not only because he cannot handle properly its own file type but it lacks very other useful tools, moving from SolidWorks to AutoCAD is a nightmare for me and I'm forced to use it, I can spend an entire day writing an article on how to improve it. 

Anyway, I found a better solution for this problem, I used this online converter, and it works very well.

[ChicagoLooper]

Thank you posting. You have confirmed my theory: the the solution is in a program NOT named AutoCAD.