PDF DWF CSF: which 2D CAD publishing option is best for you? PDF? DWF? CSF? Which of these three document publishing formats is right for you and your firm? As you might expect, there are no easy answers. Much depends on your needs, the speed of the generating applications, and how easy it is to access the files once you've created them

CADalyst, May, 2004 by Ron LaFon

Adobe PDF

Adobe's PDF (portable document format) format is the proverbial 500lb gorilla here, being in widespread use in a variety of disciplines in addition to CAD. It's certainly the most widely used of these three formats and is also the base file format for such applications as Bluebeam Pushbutton PDF and CADzation's AcroPlot Pro, both of which are reviewed here. PDF is based on the PostScript page description language.

You can view PDFs with the free and widely distributed Adobe Reader. Most CAD viewing applications, such as those from Cimmetry, Spicer, Kruse, DrDWG, and others, also open PDF files.

PDFs can be created by Adobe products such as Acrobat; InDesign, a page layout program; and Illustrator, a vector-based drawing and illustration program. A variety of other products create PDF files as well. An increasingly wide array of plug-ins and utilities have developed around PDF files, a sure sign of maturity and market penetration.

In addition, a growing number of CAD applications have incorporated the ability to generate PDF files. These include DataCAD and SolidWorks (using Bluebeam technology). Bentley's upcoming MicroStation V8 2004 will also add PDF support, using Adobe technology.

Bentley, Adobe, and more than 20 other organizations are participating in a working group led by AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management) and NPES (Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies) to drive a version of PDF optimized for AEC and engineering documentation, called PDF/E.

Another benefit is that PDFs offer security features such as password protection and digital signatures. Digital signatures are available through third-party vendors such as VeriSign, Enstrust, and RSA Security.

Although the most widely used format, PDF files are not the smallest or the fastest to produce.

Autodesk and DWF

DWF (design Web format) from Autodesk is a CAD-oriented document publishing format. It's designed to be a fast, efficient way to distribute design data without allowing the recipient to change the data. You can use it with the Autodesk Express Viewer plug-in (formerly called the Whip! plug-in). Autodesk also recently released DWF Writer 2, a certified Windows system printer driver that lets you publish DWF files by selecting Autodesk DWF Writer from your standard printer pull-down list in any Windows application, including other CAD applications. DWF is currently a 2D format that produces much more compact files than PDF. Autodesk plans to add support for 3D models in the future. DWF supports CAD features such as scale, snap, viewport, measure, and color merge. The renamed and refocused Autodesk Express Viewer is now called Autodesk DWF Viewer. Though the DWF file format was created for use with engineering and CAD data, you can produce DWF files from any Windows application, including Microsoft Word and Adobe Illustrator.

With the recent release of Autodesk DWF Composer, the DWF file format is destined for enhanced use in Autodesk products. Composer lets you round-trip redline markups directly back into AutoCAD through a review and approval process. Redline markups, annotations, and other changes made using DWF Composer can be easily brought back into the original AutoCAD 2005 drawing set without reentering the information. Watch for a First Look on this product soon.

CSF from Informative Graphics

Another popular portable document format is CSF (content secure format) from Informative Graphics. Like PDF, CSF is a neutral 2D format that replicates the source file and can include images, graphics, and layouts. Infograph has a free Brava! Reader that you can distribute so others can view the data. In addition to the 2D CSF file format, Informative Graphics has a 3D variant called 3DF that creates an exact replica of the source file, including the model tree, with full protection of your intellectual property. At the time of conversion, its Visual Rights technology lets you hide entities and disable model tree expansion and exploded views.

When you create a CSF or 3DF file, you can add Visual Rights persistent security--including password protection, expiration dates, and feature limitations. CSF files are extremely compact and quick to produce, whether you make them via the printer driver or export them from AutoCAD. Like DWF, CSF is more of a CAD and engineering data file format, though the use of the printer driver for creating CSF files isn't limited to CAD-only use. You can create CSF files from Microsoft Word documents or files from other Windows applications.

The Line-Up

Cadalyst notified appropriate vendors that we planned to look at file format options (PDF, DWF, CSF) for publishing 2D drawings. We have a similar article focusing on 3D publishing planned for later this year.

We intended to use MicroStation for some tests, but though it accurately loaded our selected test drawing, willhome.dwg, the beta version we received didn't support the current beta of Informative Graphics' Net-It plug-in for MicroStation. We tried to use the current version of MicroStation, but it didn't load wilhome.dwg correctly, though it does work with the current beta build of the Net-It plug-in. To avoid confusion and the compounding of errors across multiple beta versions of software, we elected to pull MicroStation from the article at the last minute. We plan to include MicroStation and SolidWorks in the upcoming 3D publishing article.