Design Web Format

Design web format (DWF) is a secure file format developed by Autodesk for the efficient distribution and communication of rich design data to anyone who needs to view, review or print design files. Because DWF files are highly compressed, they are smaller and faster to transmit than design files, without the overhead associated with complex CAD drawings (or the management of external links and dependencies). With DWF functionality, publishers of design data can limit the specific design data and plot styles to only what they want recipients to see and can publish multisheet drawing sets from multiple AutoCAD drawings in a single DWF file. They can also publish 3D models from most Autodesk design applications.

DWF files are not a replacement for native CAD formats such as AutoCAD DWG. The sole purpose of DWF is to allow designers, engineers, project managers and their colleagues to communicate design information and design content to anyone needing to view, review or print design information – without these team members needing to know AutoCAD or the other design software. DWF is a file format developed by Autodesk for representing design data in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware and operating system used to create that design data. A DWF file can describe design data containing any combination of text, graphics and images in a device independent and resolution independent format. These files can be one sheet or multiple sheets, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, colour and images. The format also includes intelligent metadata that captures the design intent of the data being represented.