Convert DWG to PDF

Summary:
This tutorial shows how to use novaPDF to convert an AutoCAD dwg file to a PDF document (with or without having AutoCAD installed). The conversion is done through a PDF printer driver such as novaPDF. If you do not have novaPDF installed, use the Download page to download and install it.

Details:
AutoCAD is a CAD (Computer Aided Design) software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting, developed by Autodesk. Converting DWG to PDF is a practical way to share your drawings with other people, without them needing to install AutoCAD. By having novaPDF installed you can easily convert DWG to PDF documents by pressing the Plot/Print button and choosing novaPDF as the printer.

novaPDF has some particular features that make it suitable for converting DWG to PDF:

1. PDF watermarks. You can add automatically a text/image watermark (copyright notice, logo, …) to your converted drawing.
2. PDF security. If your drawing contains sensitive information, novaPDF lets you convert the DWG file to a password protected pdf. This way only recipients that know the password can view its content.
3. PDF merge. You can convert your drawing to a PDF, and after that you can merge the PDF with other documents (for instance if you need to add a price quote from a Word document, you can print the Word document via novaPDF to the PDF that contains your drawing – they will be automatically merged).
4. Email PDF automatically. After converting your drawing to a PDF using novaPDF, you can also email it to other users automatically without having to open separate e-mail programs. To view a detailed tutorial on how to setup novaPDF to convert and send your documents, read Convert and send PDF via E-mail

Convert DWG to PDF using AutoCAD

To convert your DWG file to PDF from AutoCAD:

1. Open AutoCAD and go to File->Open (or press Ctrl+O), browse for the dwg file you want to convert to PDF and click Open
2. You can print to PDF either from the Model view (your working area) or by using a predefined Layout. Go to File->Plot (or press Ctrl+P) and configure your printing options:
   a. In the Plot Area select what you want to convert : Display, Window, Layout or Extents
   b. Choose your paper type from the Paper size dropdown list and in the Plot Scale section select the scale of the printed drawing from the dropdown list
3. From the Printer/plotter section select novaPDF
4. Before converting the dwg file you can customize AutoCAD’s printing settings from the Properties button. To customize novaPDF’s printing settings, click on Properties->Custom Printing options from the Plot window
5. Click on OK and choose a location where you want the PDF file saved

Convert DWG to PDF using Autodesk TrueView

DWG TrueView is a free application from Autodesk which allows users to view and plot AutoCAD DWG and DXF files, and to publish these same files to the DWF file format.

To convert your DWG file to a PDF:

1. Open DWG TrueView and go to File->Open, browse for the file you want to convert to PDF and click Open
2. You can print either from the Model view or by using a predefined Layout. Go to File->Plot and from the Plot window configure your printing options:
   a. Choose the Paper size from the dropdown list
   b. In the Plot area select what you want to convert : Window, Layout, Extends or Display
   c. In the Plot scale section choose the scale to use for printing the drawing
3. If needed, adjust AutoCAD’s settings from the Properties button. To customize novaPDF’s printing settings, click on Properties->Custom Printing options from the Plot window.
4. Click on OK and choose a location to save the PDF file.

Convert DWG to PDF using SolidWorks eDrawings

eDrawings is a free software from SolidWorks, allowing users to view and print DWG, DXF and eDrawing files.

To convert a DWG format to PDF using eDrawings:

1. Go to File->Open (ore press Ctrl+O), browse for the dwg file you want to convert to PDF, select it and click Open
2. Go to File->Print (or press Ctrl+P) and from the Printer section choose novaPDF
3. If needed, adjust novaPDF’s settings using the Properties button and setup custom printing options.
4. Click OK and select a location to save the PDF file

Convert DWG to PDF using Volo View

Volo View is a free review and markup tool from Autodesk which includes support for DWG, DXF, and DWF file formats. It contains two printing modes – Standard Print and Advanced DWG Print.

To convert DWG to PDF using Standard Print:

1. Go to File->Open (or press Ctrl+O), select the DWG file you want to convert to PDF and click Open
2. Go to File->Print (or press Ctrl+P) and from the Printer section choose novaPDF
3. You can adjust novaPDF’s settings by using the Properties button and also customize other printing options from the Print window
4. Click OK and choose a location where you want the PDF document saved

To convert DWG to PDF using the Advanced DWG Print:

1. Go to File->Open (or press Ctrl+O), browse for the DWG file you want converted to PDF and click Open
2. Go to File->Plot->Plot… (or press Ctrl+L) and select novaPDF as the Plot device from the Plotter configuration section
3. In the Plot Settings tab you have the possibility to setup advanced printing options:
   a. Choose a paper predefined size from the Paper size dropdown list
   b. In the Plot Area you can choose what to print (Layout, Extents, Window or Display)
   c. Choose the orientation of the dwg file from the Drawing orientation section
   d. From the Plot Scale section select the scale for the converted drawing
   e. In the Plot options area you can enable or disable certain plot features
4. In the Plot device tab, adjust AutoCAD’s settings from the Properties button. To customize novaPDF’s printing settings, click on Properties->Custom Printing options.
5. After customizing all the options click OK and choose a location to save the PDF file.

This tutorial shows how to convert DWG files to PDF documents using novaPDF with AutoCAD, Autodesk TrueView, SolidWorks eDrawings and Volo View. If you have suggestions on how to improve this article add a comment or rate it.

Applies to:

• novaPDF Printer 1.x - 6.x
• AutoCAD 2005
• Autodesk TrueView 2007
• SolidWorks eDrawings 2009
• Volo View v3

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