forum.datacad.com

Hello,

My .aec file increases in size from 2M to 40M when exporting to .dxf format which makes the file impractical to e-mail. The file has many 3d symbols which I assume are the culprits. I do not need any 3D in the .dxf file. Just want another CAD program to be able to look at and make changes in 2D. Is there a macro or command that will take the .aec file with all layers on and save everything as a 2D projection which then can be exported to a reasonable size .dxf file?

Been following your forum advice for years. Love this Datacad 11 & forum. I am a custom builder with cabinet shop. I only need datacad every few months for details or to design a custom home now and then. I like that I can get right back into Datacad without drowning myself in an ocean of toolbars. I was using Autocad and would spend a day scratching my head everytime I need to use it again. Not much hair left as a result.

Thanks for all your help.

Ben

Hello Ben, and welcome,

You should export to DWG and not DXF, since DXF is exploding all the symbols. DWG supports blocks; and DXF does not. Also, remember that AEC are compressed, so 2MB is really about 20MB when you are editing it, and I would imagine that a DWG would be pretty big.

Hidden Line Removal (HLR) in the 3D menu will make a 2D image of any 3D object. You'll need to save it to a new layer.

And, in order to e-mail a big file, you can use WinZip to split it into whatever size chunks works for you. Then after all the pieces are received, WinZip makes them back into one file. Go to Actions/Split to do this.

Thank You Neil,

I was able to do what I needed using the 3D Hide command you suggested. I did have to import all the new layers created using 3D Hide to a new drawing because saving the original file with only those new layers turned on did not affet file size as much. (Original .dxf saved file was 40M, using the 3D Hide then .dxf saving file with only new layers turned on became 30M, importing new 3D Hide created layers plus some text/dim layers to new drawing - 4M)