By Dennis Collin
No AutoCAD installed, and need to view DWG files? No Problem!
A common question that is often asked is ‘I need to view AutoCAD DWG files, but I do not need to edit them, therefore I don’t need an AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT license, what do you recommend?’. There are a few possibilities, depending upon what is required. Let’s assume that the only requirement is to VIEW and perhaps print drawing files. Without having to resort to third party applications, Autodesk provide several useful options. The first is the Autodesk Viewer, this approach is often useful for users who do not wish to or cannot install a dedicated DWG application. Running from within a supported browser such as Google Chrome, the drawing and over 80 other formats can be viewed directly within the browser window. To upload and view drawings, an Autodesk account needs to be created, but once complete and logged in files can be uploaded to the cloud, along with any required reference files that may also need to be viewed. The file will expire after 30 days, but if desired the file availability can be extended.
The Autodesk Viewer can be accessed here:
The Viewer Interface allows simple viewing and navigation tools along with measurement and simple markup functionality. Layer information can be accessed and turned on or off in a similar way to a published PDF or DWF document. If the file is large and takes a while to upload, an email can be sent to notify the user when the file is available to view. This is useful for larger or multiple drawings, models and assemblies. Other formats can also be uploaded and viewed in a similar way including Revit’s RVT format and Inventor IPM/IPT files.
I discussed the range of compatible file formats on a previous post here:
Drawings can be printed rather than plotted, the distinction between print and plot is a subtle one, a printed drawing won’t necessarily be to scale but it would be sufficient to take to meetings or site for manual markups etc.
If accessing drawings and more functionality is required, such as plotting accurate to scale drawings or converting drawings to older formats, then the Autodesk TrueView application is required. This will require users to have install permissions as it is an ‘AutoCAD’ application with more precise tools to measure, view and plot files, but lacks the ability to edit DWG drawings.
I will discuss these tools in more detail in a future post.