Editing a DXF file

[Vagulus]

How do I edit a DXF file?

The one I have attached opens on DLC in Autodesk Trueview 2018.  I get the impression that this package (the existence of which I was previously unaware) is just a viewer with no editing capability.

Thanks

[jtylerbc · Accepted solution]

The answer to your question is good old fashioned AutoCAD.  I suppose you could also import it into Inventor as a sketch, then export it back out as another DXF, but that's taking the long way around.

TruView is just an AutoCAD file viewer.  You can look at it, you can measure it, you can print it, but you can't change it.

[swalton]

DXF is a text-based file, so if you are really good, you can use Notepad....  

Otherwise @jtylerbc is correct.  I would use a 2d-focused drafting package like AutoCAD to edit DXF files.

[Cadmanto]

I agree with @jtylerbc  and @swalton .  IMport the DXF into Autocad, edit what you need to then export out back to DXF if needed.

Windows 10 x64 -16GB Ram
Intel i7-6700 @ 3.41ghz
nVidia GTS 250 - 1 GB
Inventor Pro 2018

[Vagulus]

As I suspected.  Sadly, I don't have AutoCAD so I'll have to do it the hard way.

Thanks to all you good folks.

[Cadmanto · Accepted solution]

Is this going to be a consistent process for you?  Or is this a one and done deal?

I ask, because you can down load a 30 day free trial of Autocad and accomplish this.

Windows 10 x64 -16GB Ram
Intel i7-6700 @ 3.41ghz
nVidia GTS 250 - 1 GB
Inventor Pro 2018

[Vagulus]

I see that I have once again posted a question which has a self-accepting solution.

I don't know who takes it upon themself to accept solutions to my questions, but I do wish whoever it is would accord me the courtesy of letting me decide when my questions are resolved.  Honestly, I'm all growed up.  I can go to the toilet all by myself!  I am capable of taking awesome decisions about question resolution by myself too!

Thanks

[Vagulus]

I found that I can do it all with trusty old Inventor.

I fully defined the logo

Then I use File --> New --> Standard.idw to create an AutoCAD drawing with the logo in a range of scales

I use Save As to create a DXF file.  Then in the part I create an Offset Plane from my item

In a Sketch on the plane I use Insert --> ACAD to pull in the DXF

LMC Next and check these two boxes

Now I have the DXF in my part/Sketch

I copy an appropriate-sized logo from the DXF onto the sketch proper

Then it is a simple task to MOVE it into place

and finish the sketch.

Click Emboss and select a profile to engrave one millimetre deep

Click OK and

BINGO!

Repeat the dose as required (this time embossing 0.5 mm)

Like everything else, it's easy when you have found out how.

Thanks folks for your help.

[jtylerbc]

@Vagulus, your original post just mentioned editing the DXF, without any context as to exactly what you were doing with it.  That's why recommendations jumped straight to AutoCAD.  I guess someone should have asked why you were doing it, because now that we know exactly what you're using it for, AutoCAD is not what I would suggest anyway.

However, I think you're taking the long way around in Inventor.  What you did obviously works, but I think you could save some steps.  If you already have the logo drawn somewhere, instead of what you did with a drawing and exporting it out into DXF, you could have pasted the logo geometry into a Sketch Block in the part, without dimensioning it.  Then you could just scale the sketch block to get the logo size you want.

This would also make it easy to transplant from one part to another, as you could just copy the sketch block and paste it into the new part.