FreeCAD and DXF Import/de

Legal Notice

To be able to import DXF-Files you have to manually install several files. Why this? These libraries are published with another license than FreeCAD, so the developers of FreeCAD would not have them being bundled with the FreeCAD-Application.

How to install

To install Draft-dxf-importer:

1. Go to Yorik's Github account and download these files (on the right side you can choose "download as ZIP").
2. Put the files in your macro folder.

• In Ubuntu, this is normally

/home/your_user_name/.FreeCAD 

The directory is hidden. You may need to unhide it to make it visible.

• In Windows, your (standard) macro directory is

C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Roaming\FreeCAD

If you are unsure of where your macro-directory is,

1. open FreeCAD and go to "Edit → Preferences",
2. select "General" in the left column and select category "Macro" on the top right corner of the preferences-window. There sould be a field named "Macro Path".

Tutorial: Dxf Importer Install

Setting Options

You can set several import options for DWG/DXF. Depending on your version you have to use a different method.

• FreeCAD 0.14 and older

1. Open FreeCAD.
2. Switch to the Draft Workbench. (Otherwise you won't see the options)
3. Go to "Edit → Preferences" and select "Draft" in the left column.
4. Select "DXF / DWG-Options" in the top right corner of the preferences-window.

• FreeCAD 0.15 and above

1. Open FreeCAD.
2. Switch to the Draft Workbench. (Otherwise you won't see the options)
3. Go to "Edit → Preferences".
4. Now you shoould see an icon labeled "Import-Export" in the left column. Select that.

Tips and Tricks

Sometimes DXF Files don't seem to import although they open up in 2D-DXF-CAD-Programs without problems.
You can try:

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Import/Export → DXF/DWG and untick the option "join geometry" and try again.
2. Remember that maybe now you won't have coincident end-of-line-points. You will have to make them coincident yourself.
3. You can do this with the command "Close Shape" in the sketcher workbench (needs version 0.15) or you can apply the constraints manually

You can also try:

1. Go to Edit → Preferences → Draf → General and adjust the value of "Tolerance" (default: 0,05)
2. Try again

Good luck on importing.