Converting a CAD drawing (*.dxf file) to an editable Visio object

[xochi]

Hi, I'm  new to the forum and this is my first question.  I have to convert CAD drawings (*.dxf and *.dwg files) to editable Visio objects.  I have had no problem with files of both kinds that have been 4,000KB to 6,000KB.  But several have been 25,000KB to 30,000KB and I right click on the CAD drawing and use the conversion tool.  The process starts and then just freezes, nothing happens, visio stops responding and I have to End Task and close Visio down.  Sometimes I have to close everything and reboot.  The CAD object is the only thing in the Visio document, I have brought the CAD drawing into the Visio document via Insert menu/CAD drawing.  Obviously there are limits to the conversion process but I can't find any information regarding size of the CAD drawings.  Are there any tools or programs out there than can assist me in converting larger CAD drawings.  This is for work and no one here seems to have a solution.  It would help tremendously if I could point them in a direction.  Any suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[Lars-Erik]

Are you importing DWG (AutoCAD 2000 format) files? Try doing that.
I never converted a DWG bigger then 2 mb, those are A2 drawings...

New file formats sometimes give problems, AutoCAD 2000 don't, so... convert them using a CAD tool
Otherwise, maybe convert the drawing in two parts and import it in two parts?

- Lars

[xochi]

Lars

Thank you for your quick response.  Unfortunately, we do not have AutoCAD, nor does anyone know how to use it.  We get many graphics from many sources and sometimes they are CAD drawings.  Recently, we received both *.DWG and *.DXF drawings.  I successfully inserted the 6MB pictures of both types into Visio and converted them to editable Visio drawings.  The drawings I had trouble with were both *.DXF drawings that were 25-30MB in size.  They just hung Visio up and I eventually had to reboot my computer.  Visio is the only tool we have that allows us to convert AutoCAD files to something that we can edit.  So I can't convert them in two parts or import in two parts.  What I was hoping to find out is if there is any third party software that can convert AutoCAD drawings (especially large ones) to editable Visio objects. 

Sorry it took so long to answer your response, had trouble with posting my reply.

[Lars-Erik]

eDrawings is free software that lets you view and print eDrawings(eDRW, ePRT, eASM), native SolidWorks documents (sldprt, sldasm, slddrw) , DXF, and DWG format files.

You could give this a try. Its from the makers of SolidWorks and if I'm not mistaken, its able to save files in CAD 2000 format aswell. So you could use this to convert it to CAD 2000 and then into Visio. Maybe that will stop Visio from crashing on you.

[Stevedore]

You could also try downloading the free 2009 DWG TrueView program from the AutoDesk site.  It's mainly a viewer but has a couple of conversion routines built-in - to 2000 & 2004 I believe.  I have never had any luck trying to convert a DXF into Visio.

[Lars-Erik]

I've inserted quite alot of CAD files into Visio, including dxf, works pretty nice most of the time...

- Lars

[Stevedore]

INSERTED or CONVERTED?

[Lars-Erik]

Both

[Visio Guy]

Hi Guys,

There are more Visio/CAD resources listed in this article: Visio & AutoCAD. Might be some good tips in there regarding importing and converting.