DWG converter: export and convert DWG files

This DWG converter exports a drawing to PDF, PNG, or SVG right on this page: drop the file, select the area, and save. For every other direction, such as DWG to DXF, an older DWG version, or a PDF back to DWG, the table below links to a guide with the right tool.

What this page converts by itself

Drop a DWG on the area above and it opens in the viewer. From the toolbar you can export three formats:

• PDF as vector lines, for sending a drawing to someone without CAD.
• PNG at 3000 pixels on the long side, for documents, chats, and presentations. Save it as JPG in any image editor if you need that format.
• SVG as vector paths, for web pages, Inkscape, Illustrator, and laser software that reads SVG.

Each export starts with an area selection, so you can take the whole drawing or one detail. Exports use a white page with the layer colors from the file, and layers you switched off stay out. The drawing never leaves your device: it is converted and rendered by JavaScript in the browser tab, then discarded when you close it.

DWG conversions, by direction

DWG file format converter for older versions

A common reason to look for a DWG converter is a version mismatch: a colleague sends a drawing saved in a recent release and an older CAD program refuses it. The fix is a version-to-version conversion, which keeps the file a DWG. The ODA File Converter does it on Windows, macOS, and Linux, for single files or whole folders, and so does the DWG Convert command in Autodesk's DWG TrueView on Windows. Pick the oldest version every recipient can read; 2013 and 2018 are the common choices.

The viewer here reads DWG from R14 through 2018 and newer, so it opens files in any of those versions. If you are unsure which version a file is, DWG versions explains the AC codes in the file header.

Choosing the right DWG conversion for the job

The best target format depends on who receives the file. Someone without CAD needs a PDF: it opens on any phone or laptop, and a vector PDF keeps thin lines readable when they zoom in. A colleague who will paste the drawing into a report or a slide needs PNG. A web developer, a sign maker, or a laser operator usually wants SVG, because it stays vector and imports into Illustrator, Inkscape, and most cutting software.

When the recipient works in CAD, send the DWG itself, saved in a version they can open, or a DXF made with the ODA File Converter. Some requests name the program instead of the format. AutoCAD to PDF covers saving PDFs from inside AutoCAD, and PDF to AutoCAD covers importing a PDF into an editable drawing.

Why this converter never writes a DWG

DWG is a closed format. Writing it reliably requires a licensed library, and a file that a CAD program later rejects is worse than no file at all. So the viewer reads DWG, converts it to DXF internally to draw it, and stops there. Any page on this site that ends in "to DWG" is a guide to the software that writes DWG properly, with the viewer used to check the result.

Picture to DWG, photo to DWG, and image to DWG requests all fall into this group: a picture has to be traced into lines before it can become a drawing. Start with the image guides in the table, and compare with what a DWG file actually stores.

Frequently asked questions