Topic: .dxf file is MUCH larger than dwg?

[craigr]

I have never had to do this before.

I have a floor plan that is 1.5mb and when saved as a .dxf, it grows to 11.7mb! 

Is it normal for the dxf to be larger than the dwg?

Why?

Is there a way to shrink the size?

craigr

[Jeff_M]

A DWG file is in binary & zip format. A DXF file is nothing but ASCII text which uses far more bytes to store. So, yes, the DXF should be expected to be larger than the DWG....how much so will vary depending on the actual data in the DWG.

You can shrink it by ZIP'ing it up. I used the 3Dhouse sample drawing which is 1.72MB, saving as a R2007 DXF it is 6.94MB, ZIP'ing it brings it down to 1.05MB

[craigr]

Unfortunately the software requiring the file, requires it to be in .dxf format.

I will have to ask the programmer if it can use other formats such as .pdf or .jpg. - I hate to use these as the production quality lacks.

craigr

[deegeecees]

Exporting to EPS is a small footprint (depending on your settings).

Quote from AutoCad Help file:

The PostScript file format type is used by many desktop publishing applications. Its high-resolution print capabilities make it preferable to raster formats, such as GIF, PCX, and TIFF. By converting the drawing to a PostScript format, you can also use PostScript fonts.

You can customize the appearance of PostScript output in many ways by editing the AutoCAD PostScript support file acad.psf This is useful if you want to perform output functions such as assigning different line widths for different colors or creating special linetypes with the PostScript setdash function.

[quamper]

Can they use DWF? DWF Design review is free which allows them to red-line/dimension/etc the drawings and the files will be smaller.

Also they can always convert the dwg to dxf themselves using the free DWG converting app that Autodesk offers.

But if they have to have it in dxf you probably have to give it to them in DXF.

[rkmcswain]

I have a floor plan that is 1.5mb and when saved as a .dxf, it grows to 11.7mb! 
Is it normal for the dxf to be larger than the dwg?

For a smaller size, you might also try selecting only the entities needed for the DXF output. Just doing a SaveAs converts all the graphical and non-graphical data into the DXF.

To do this, in the SaveAs dialog, click Tools->Options->DXF options, click the "select objects" toggle.

[craigr]

We thought of that AFTER he fought getting the BIG dxf into the software.

The job is out of town & finished and he has moved on to the next.

We were talking about it yesterday and thought that if I were to strip out the interior doors, windows, furniture, etc.. that it would make the .dxf smaller. We will have to try it on his next job.

Thanks,
craigr