Export DXF without construction lines

[Anonymous]

I have a slightly complicated design that I'd like to export the sketch as a DXF for, and send that to a manufacturer.  I would prefer to keep all the construction lines as they would take time to remove, and I would need to refer to them for future design modifications.  The problem is, the DXF files show all lines as equal, including construction lines.  Thanks.

[Anonymous]

One problem with this solution is unclosed lines that are not construction lines are also lost. In plasma cutting I want unclosed lines that I can cut, so this solution does not work for me.

[etfrench]

Just project those lines to the dxf sketch.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

Switch to the Patch / Surfcae workspace and extrude your unclosed profiles there:

[hoegge]

This should really be solved, to be able to export DXF without construction lines and also to have construction lines and real lines with different layer / color in the DXF. It is so basic and needed so often.

@

[calebc01]

It's been a while, but I want to revise my initial statement.  While I still think that Fusion 360's DXF export capabilities are unfortunately limited, I now prefer to use the workflow recommended by TrippyLighting.

Creating a new "output" sketch ensures that no construction geometry is included in the output.  It's very often easier to create a sketch for extrusion if you don't have to worry about exactly creating the final shape in your defining sketch.  You can add fillets and other features after extrusion (better than doing it in the sketch), and there are a lot of construction techniques you can use to simplify the sketch process.

[goblinn]

I agree that suggested workaround works, but this functionality is so basic that I wouldn’t expect that I would have to struggle at all. I had to make laser cutting product so this represents big time consumption and bigger attention on what will be exported and represents another human error which is not needed is included in the process. I hope for the fix in future releases.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. Just want to add that users should not have to search the internet to find a 'workaround' on a forum for something that's so fundamental to so many people's workflow. Just add the feature.

[hoegge]

When you have made a sheet metal design and just need to export it with some additional cut lines (which unfortunately and annoyingly cannot be exported in one process with the flat patter) you have to export it from the sketch. To make this sketch often construction lines from projections are needed and then they are exported too.

All in all it is an error prone procedure that takes a lot of work and is very inefficient, since you have to merge the two DXF files manually in a 2D CAD program afterwards.

[Anonymous]

This does not work if you are using splines at all in your drawing. I've tried this many times many different ways. Not sure why it is so hard to get a .dxf without construction line out of this program.

[iulius.curt]

I've been using that and it's a clean way to be sure you'll export the right thing.

But now I also have some lines I'm going to engrave, which can't be extruded. So it won't apply anymore. I'll probably end up handpicking the all the non-construction lines and project them in another sketch before exporting.

To go a little deeper, I'm not sure why including construction lines is the default behaviour. I can't see the usecase. So I would argue that "ignore construction lines" should be the implicit, and an "include construction lines" should be the eventual option.

[g-andresen]

Hi,

if your goal is to engrave something, you do not need DXF. Simply create the toolpaths in the production environment, and a suitable post-processor will provide the data to start your machine.

tracing & engraving from sketch
Extrusions are not necessary, just a sketch. Furthermore, construction lines are ignored in this process.

günther

[calebc01]

The shop running the production machine needs to know what the engrave
paths look like. If you want something specific, and you are providing a
DXF for the manufacturer, you absolutely need those engrave paths in the
DXF.

[iulius.curt]

I really meant get it engraved at a local shop. They use Coreldraw I think,
anyways, DXF is a format that work well to be passed around.

[tlindstrom68]

Glad to have found this thread and solution when I as a Fusion360-newbie needed to generate som dxf-files of my design! 
But I agree with other posters that it would have been nice to have a feature to choose to export sketches with or without construction lines.
Cheers!
T

[Bjanders]

I agree this is not a bug, but rather a lack of feature. The suggested solution works, but is really tedious.

I'm making instrument panels with text and lines. A simple panel easily has 100 different segments that I first have to select to extrude, and then select again to project. For the extrude operation I was not able to easily box select the parts I wanted to extrude, and apparently it is not possible to box select for projection. This makes 200 manual selections, which is very tedious. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, and the selection process could be made simpler?

The extrude phase would be unnecessary, except that it seems text cannot be projected without extruding first.

It would be really nice to have the option, for example, to export construction lines on a separate layer in DXF, or the option to not export them at all.

Edit: I just noticed/remembered the project intersection plane feature, which makes manual projection selection unnecessary. This simplifies the process a lot. It's still a hack, though, and not a real solution.

[goblinn]

I am sad to see no improvements in this area for the last five years.

[laughingcreek]

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@Bjanders wrote:

...has 100 different segments that I first have to select to extrude, and then select again to project. For the extrude operation I was not able to easily box select the parts I wanted to extrude, and apparently it is not possible to box select for projection. This makes 200 manual selections, which is very tedious. ...

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you can create a selection set first, then use that when projecting to save the tedium of separate manual selections when projecting.

[Bjanders]

@laughingcreek wrote:

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you can create a selection set first, then use that when projecting to save the tedium of separate manual selections when projecting.

---

Thanks for the reply and tip. I updated my reply with a solution that I think is even easier, i.e. while in the sketch, go to Create -> Project/Include -> Intersect. Then you will automatically get everything that was extruded projected without any manual selection.

[leegiles343]

1. Export your design as a STEP file
2. Import the STEP file to Fusion 360
3. Make a DXF of the STEP file model with the Origin set to FRONT of the profile you want cut. 

I have to ask what is the point of a construction line if it comes through with the final design for a DXF.... This seems to be a fundamental flaw looking at the DXF export function only. 

[giladk]

This works but a bad way of doing it.

Why not just ignore all construction lines or make an option if they are needed or not.

Solidworks add them in a different layer in DXF so they can be removed or ignored.