CAD

Computer-aided design formats for engineering, manufacturing and architecture. They hold exact geometry, measured in real units, as drawings in two dimensions or solid models in three.

Formats

.DWG

AutoCAD drawing

AutoCAD’s native drawing, versioned by a six-character string at the start.

.DXF

Drawing Exchange Format

Autodesk’s documented exchange format, pairs of group codes and values.

.STEP

STEP product model

The ISO 10303 standard for exact solid models, the neutral format between CAD systems.