What is a CAD file?

CAD, or Computer Aided Design, files are vector-based drawing files that contain coordinates, parameters, and properties representative of a drawing of a real world object.

The two types of CAD files currently supported by RPS®PriceCheck are DXF and DWG files.

What is a DXF file?

DXF stands for Drawing Exchange Format. It is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk, Inc. for data interoperability between their CAD program (AutoCAD) and other programs. Because of this interoperability DXF files has become the de facto standard for drawing exchange, and many CAD, CAM, or vector design programs support DXF files.

What is a DWG file?

DWG or drawing file format is a proprietary file format originally developed in the late 1970s. It gained prominence in 1982 as when Autodesk, Inc. licensed the format for inclusion in the company's flagship product AutoCAD. No fewer than 18 major variants of the DWG file format were created by AutoDesk alone.

How do you use my CAD file?

RPS^®PriceCheck uses certain aspects of your CAD drawing which must meet the following requirements:

• The drawing must be in Full (1:1) scale.
• The drawing must be in Imperial System units (e.g. inches, feet.)
• The drawing must be 1 complete two-dimensional flat pattern drawing.
• The Part's geometry must be on one of the following Layers unique from other elements of the drawing.
  • 0
  • 205
  • 241
  • CUT
  • GEO0
  • GEOMETRY
  • INTERIOR_LOOPS
  • IV_OUTER_PROFILE
  • OUTER_LOOP
  • VISIBLE_EDGES_ANSI_
  • WHITE
• Any etching or marking must be on a Layer called ETCH.
• At this time, the only supported CAD Objects are:
  • LINE
  • ARC
  • CIRCLE
  • POLYLINE
  • LWPOLYLINE
  • ELLIPSE

What are these Red Lines?

RPS^®PriceCheck will automatically close any breaks in contour less than or equal to 0.010". Because of this feature, all supported CAD objects (LINE, ARC, CIRCLE) that are less than or equal to 0.010" in linear length will be ignored. For Polyline objects, the distance between the virtexes must be greater than 0.010".

Any open contours closed and delineated by RPS^® Cut Geometry will be made apparent on the part's image by the color red. To avoid having your contour closed automatically with our RPS^® Cut Geometry, you may place open contours on a separate layer called OPEN.

What software makes a DXF file?

Some of the software that supports DXF include:

A9Cad Adobe Illustrator ArchiCAD ArchiTAB AutoCAD AutoDWG Blender - DXFr12 2D+3D Cadwork Corel Draw Drawbase Geosoft Oasis montaj Google SketchUp Pro

GraphCalc - Export only Inkscape - export only as of version 0.46 IntelliCAD Lightcalc MegaCAD MetaCAM Microsoft Visio Microstation miniPLAN OpenOffice.org OrCAD (export only) ORIPA

Paint Shop Pro Pro/Engineer QCad Solid Edge Solidworks TRUMPF TruTops VariCAD VectorMagic VectorWorks ViaCAD Visual WiCAM PN4000

What are your Tolerances?

Our RPS® Standard Laser Tolerances are as follows: