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Import CAD (DWG) Drawings

Import a DWG onto a story, pick units with a live size preview, trace over it with CAD Tracer, and manage imported CAD.

Import a DWG drawing into your Snaptrude project to use as a reference underlay. Imported CAD sits on a story, so you can trace over it to draw spaces and walls that match an existing plan, a survey or a consultant's drawing.

Before you start

  • CAD import runs on Autodesk Platform Services (APS). If APS has an outage, CAD import is unavailable until the service recovers. Try again later; your project is not affected.

  • Imports go to your active layer. If you want the drawing on its own layer (for example, so you can hide or lock it separately), create that layer under Layers in the left panel (click +) and make it active before you import. The active layer must be visible and unlocked.

  • Make sure the story you want to import onto exists under Stories in the left panel.

Prepare your DWG file

DWG imports are lightweight and load quickly, and clean drawings import even more reliably. Before exporting from AutoCAD (or another CAD tool):

  1. Flatten the drawing to remove 3D elements.

  2. Explode blocks and groups.

  3. Delete lines and layers you don't need as a reference.

  4. Set the drawing units if none were assigned.

  5. Move the drawing close to the origin (0,0). Drawings far from the origin may fail to import.

  6. Save as an older DWG format if the import fails with a newer one.

Note: Text, arcs, circles and curved polylines are kept on import, so you don't need to explode text or convert curves to straight segments.

Import a DWG drawing

  1. Click the project name at the top left and choose Import.

  2. Drag your DWG file onto the CAD Files (.dwg) tile, or click Or Browse File and select it.

  3. In Review import settings, choose the story to place the drawing on. It defaults to the active story.

  4. Choose the unit the drawing was made in. A live preview shows the drawing's overall size for each unit, so you can pick the one that gives realistic dimensions (for example, a 40 m building rather than 40 km or 40 mm).

  5. Click Import. When the import finishes, the drawing appears on the selected story.

Tip: If none of the sizes in the preview look realistic, check the drawing's units and scale in your CAD tool, then import again.

Trace over CAD with CAD Tracer

CAD Tracer lets you draw Snaptrude geometry directly over imported CAD linework. You can trace over a drawing on the current story, and also over the shadow of a CAD file imported on a lower story while you work on an upper story. This also works across buildings in multi-building projects.

  1. Go to the story you want to draw on.

  2. Pick a draw tool in the top toolbar (for example Line (L) or Rectangle (R)).

  3. Draw over the CAD lines. Your drawing snaps to the CAD geometry, so corners and edges line up with the reference.

Tip: Imported CAD stays visible while you draw over it. Lower its opacity in the Properties tab of the right panel if the linework makes your own geometry hard to see.

Manage imported CAD

  • Move or rotate: Select the drawing and use the Move (M) or Rotate (Q) tool to align it with your site or grid.

  • Lock: Right-click the drawing and choose Lock to prevent accidental moves or deletion.

  • Opacity: Imports come in at 50% opacity. Change it with the Opacity control in the Properties tab of the right panel.

  • Stacking order: When CAD, PDF and image imports overlap, the newest is on top. Right-click and choose Bring to Front or Send to Back to change the order. Pressing Tab cycles through overlapping imports in the same order.

  • Hide or show: Hide the layer the drawing sits on under Layers in the left panel, or right-click the drawing to hide it.

  • Delete: Select the drawing and press Delete.

  • Select only CAD: Open the Select dropdown in the top toolbar, choose Filter selection, then choose CAD to select imported drawings without picking up other objects.

Note: CAD imports can't be duplicated into a new design proposal. If you create a proposal and need the drawing there, import it again into that proposal.

Troubleshooting

  • Import failed: Shown in Review import settings when the drawing can't fit at any unit, for example because it is extremely large, extremely small or far from the origin. Move the drawing near 0,0, check its scale, remove stray geometry far from the main drawing, and import again.

  • Import doesn't start or stops with an error: CAD import depends on Autodesk APS. If APS is down, wait and retry later.

  • The drawing is the wrong size: Delete it and import again, choosing a different unit in Review import settings.

  • The drawing landed on the wrong story: Delete it and import again with the correct story selected. The Story field in the Properties tab can't move CAD between stories.

  • The drawing doesn't appear: Check that its layer is visible under Layers in the left panel and that you are viewing the story you imported onto.

Related articles

  • Layers

  • Stories and buildings

  • Import PDFs and images

  • Export drawings to DWG

Related Articles
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