dxf dwg import/export

[Edward_Goodwin]

We are very interested in transitioning from Illustrator to Affinity Designer. We are product designers (not illustrators) and use Illustrator in combination with our CAD package; it's an essential workflow for us. Anyway, part of this workflow involves importing and exporting dxf files.

I've seen in this forum the request for dxf support. However, as I've not yet bought Designer, I'm not sure if this feature has been added. Has it? If yes, great! If not, please can someone outline if this feature will be added soon and when?

Thanks in advance.

[Fixx]

No DXF/DWG yet. Affinity has made no commitment on this.

[Edward_Goodwin]

Hi Fixx, thanks for the reply but it's disappointing! Are you from Affinity or simply a user? Assuming you're not from Affinity, how do I contact them directly? I can't seem to find much about direct contact, simply about how to post on the user forums.

For example, it might be in development and about to be released - that'd be great. Alternatively, it might be something that they never envisage including owing, for example, to some sort of technical/legal restriction. Two diametrically opposed situations but for us it's vital!

Affinity: care to comment? 

[Dan C]

Hi Edward_Goodwin  

DXF has been requested previously by multiple users, in the below thread our head developer TonyB commented that DXF is a 'good candidate' for additional supported formats, although admittedly this post is slightly dated now.

In terms of whether this is about to be added, or never will be, I can't give an exact answer.

I can tell you it's not currently on our Roadmap for Designer, and AFAIK it's not due to be part of the next major update in Affinity, but of course this is subject to change.

Equally, AFAIK it's never been denounced or officially confirmed that it won't be supported in any version of Affinity for any technical/legal reasons, especially considering the aforementioned post from TonyB.

My apologies I can't provide a more specific answer, but please know that we're aware of the want/need for this feature in Affinity Designer and we're always looking to improve our software in every way possible

[Nikos Mouratidis]

I really don't understand this.

DXF has open specs and this feature would simply convert every person working with laser cutters to a customer.

This is a huge pool of people who are begging for alternatives to AI (expensive) and Inkscape (cumbersome).

There must be something we miss, cause this seems like you guys prefer to compete in a difficult market (graphics designers need a ton of features and need Adobe because they must exchange files) when there is an empty spot on the market for product designers/makers who just need basic vector editing in a good/stable/easy to use environment and would switch to a 50USD software without a second thought.

Anyway...  

[LOB]

Hello, I'd like to put an additional vote in for DXF.  As an artist who outputs to a lot of different lasercutter shops around the country it would greatly help to have this export feature.

[LOB]

Hello!  I've found success exporting as an SVG with these very specific stroke settings.  This has helped me communicate my art into better laser cutter prepped files. 

• Solid Line
• Align to center
• Pressure at 100%

 

 

For outputting to a laser cutter, the major trick is to make sure your lines are kept as lines and not rendering the outline. Aka:

Good:

Bad:

 

 

 

 

[rwpinto]

I resonate with the need to support dxf import. For me, the direct use of a dxf file exported from CAD software would permit the integrated use of both Affinity and a 3D object. The online dxf-to-svg converters that I have tried fail on complicated sketches and seem to handle scale fairly arbitrarily. The proper handling of dxf by AD would solve these problems.

[eobet]