How to open autocad. View DWG files online. Installing DWG Viewer

This article will be useful not only for those who were sent by mail (or given on a disk, flash drive,...) drawings with the *.dwg extension and you don’t know what to do with them and how to open these files, but also for experienced users of programs that work with this extension.

We won’t talk now about what the DWG format is, when it appeared and who its author is, but you can read about it in the topic: .

How to open a dwg file? To do this, you must have AutoCAD installed on your computer, and the later the version, the better, since not all people save their files in a later version of AutoCAD before submitting. However, not all users can afford to install a software product such as AutoCAD due to its cost and the large size it takes up on disk.

And if you just need to look at the drawing, then the ideal option for you would be to use free programs for viewing dwg files, which in turn take up little disk space and are intuitive to use.

And so, before choosing a program, you need to find out for yourself what you need to do with the DWG file. If you just look, then all the programs that you find in the list below will suit you; if reading and editing, then paid and more serious software is suitable for this, although there are also free analogues (for example: nanoCAD).

List of free programs for viewing DWG files:

  • DWG TrueView — the program allows you to view and print drawings in DWG and DWF formats;
  • Autodesk Design Review — this program expands the capabilities of the previous one and, in addition to viewing, allows you to make notes in the drawing and monitor changes in the project in 2D and 3D files;
  • nanoCAD — this program is a full-fledged CAD program and contains all the necessary tools for basic design and production of drawings. The free version of the program is practically unlimited in functionality (it was not possible to find a comparison of the free and paid versions on the website). It has an interface that is as similar as possible to AutoCAD;
  • DraftSight - free CAD produced by Dassault Syst?mes, the only disadvantage is that the materials for studying the program are in English.

List of paid professional programs:

  • Autodesk products ;
  • AutoCAD ;
  • COMPASS ;
  • ArchiCAD ;
  • Advance Steel .

But there are two more interesting options: this is a free online service for viewing files in DWG format:

  • ShareCAD — free online service for viewing files in DWG format;
  • Autodesk 360 — cloud service. Although it is paid, it allows you to view and edit drawings in DWG format.

Now you know which programs can open a file with the *.dwg extension.

Imagine a scenario: a colleague sent you a drawing, and all you have to do is review it, print it, and mark it up. But there's a problem - the file is in .dwg format, and you don't have AutoCAD. You can, but it's too much of an expense just to view one file. Is there another way to resolve the issue? The answer is yes! In this tutorial, we'll show you a few different ways to view DWG files without AutoCAD.

Scan2CAD program

Scan2CAD is an advanced image conversion, vectorization and editing software. Scan2CAD's main feature is converting image files to DWG (and DXF), but it actually has a lot more capabilities. The free trial period of using the program is 14 days. This is more than enough to review and approve multiple documents.

A360 Viewer, DWG True View and AutoCAD 360 from AutoDesk

Convert DWG to PDF format


Other major CAD software

If you're already using CAD software, you can try opening the DWG with it. Most major CAD software applications offer the ability to open, view, and share DWG files. This includes such complexes as DraftSight, IntelliCAD, CorelCAD, Google Sketchup and Microsoft Visio.

Video: How to open a dwg file without AutoCAD

As you know, many CAD programs (computer-aided design systems) use the dwg file format in their work. The latter is a binary file format designed for storing two-dimensional and three-dimensional design data. In this case, situations may arise when you urgently need to open a dwg file, but there is not a single program on your computer that can do this. Then special online services will come to the rescue, which will help you easily open a dwg file without the need to install unnecessary software on your computer. In this article I will tell you how to open a dwg file online, what resources exist for this and how to use them.

There are several services on the Internet that will help you open a dwg file online. They are distinguished by fairly simple and convenient functionality, and even an inexperienced AutoCAD user can work with them.

Program-Pro.ru - dwg extension viewer

The first service that will help us answer the question about opening a dwg document online is the Program-Pro service. To use its functionality, do the following:

  • Log in to this resource;
  • Click on the “Browse” button and specify the path to the desired file in dwg format (maximum size - 50 megabytes);
  • Then click on the “Download” button;
  • After loading, you will go into viewing mode, where you can zoom in and out of the image, work with layers, expand the image to full screen, and so on.

ShareCAD.org - viewing dwg files

If you are thinking about how to view dwg online, then the following resource called ShareCAD.org will come to your aid. Its functionality is similar to the previous service in terms of simplicity and accessibility, and it is also easy and convenient to use.

  1. Go to this site, click on the “File” icon at the top left, and download the file you need from your PC’s hard drive.
  2. After downloading, you will have access to a standard set of tools (zoom in and out, layers, printing, different types of angles, and so on).

A360 Viewer - open DVG online

In the question of how to open the dwg format online, the following resource under the name A360 Viewer will provide invaluable help.

  1. To take advantage of its functionality, just go to the resource;
  2. Click on the “Upload your design” button;
  3. Then click on “Select file” (or provide a link to Dropbox, Box or Google Drive) and point to the desired file on your hard drive.

If this will be the only document to view, then click on “No more files” and enjoy viewing your file (the set of viewing tools is also standard).

Special programs for PC

I can’t ignore computer programs that can help you open a dwg file online. In addition to classic AutoCAD, I recommend such software products as:


Conclusion

In this article, I looked at the answer to the question “How to open a dwg file online?”, what services exist for this and how to use them. To view a dwg file, any of the listed services will be sufficient; each of them is easy to use and will not cause any problems in operation. If you are not satisfied with the simplified functionality of these online services, then you can always download one of the specialized programs listed above to your computer and work with them.

In contact with

If you have installed on your computer antivirus program Can scan all files on your computer, as well as each file individually. You can scan any file by right-clicking on the file and selecting the appropriate option to scan the file for viruses.

For example, in this figure it is highlighted file my-file.dwg, then you need to right-click on this file and select the option in the file menu "scan with AVG". When you select this option, AVG Antivirus will open and scan the file for viruses.


Sometimes an error may occur as a result incorrect software installation, which may be due to a problem encountered during the installation process. This may interfere with your operating system link your DWG file to the correct application tool, influencing the so-called "file extension associations".

Sometimes simple reinstalling Adobe Illustrator CC can solve your problem by linking the DWG correctly with Adobe Illustrator CC. In other cases, problems with file associations may result from bad software programming developer and you may need to contact the developer for further assistance.


Advice: Try updating Adobe Illustrator CC to the latest version to ensure you have the latest fixes and updates.


This may seem too obvious, but often The DWG file itself may be causing the problem.. If you received a file via an email attachment or downloaded it from a website and the download process was interrupted (such as a power outage or other reason), the file may become damaged. If possible, try getting a new copy of the DWG file and try opening it again.


Carefully: A damaged file can cause collateral damage to previous or existing malware on your PC, so it is important to keep your computer up-to-date with an up-to-date antivirus.


If your DWG file related to the hardware on your computer to open the file you may need update device drivers associated with this equipment.

This problem usually associated with media file types, which depend on successfully opening the hardware inside the computer, e.g. sound card or video card. For example, if you are trying to open an audio file but cannot open it, you may need to update sound card drivers.


Advice: If when you try to open a DWG file you receive .SYS file error message, the problem could probably be associated with corrupted or outdated device drivers that need to be updated. This process can be made easier by using driver update software such as DriverDoc.


If the steps do not solve the problem and you are still having problems opening DWG files, this may be due to lack of available system resources. Some versions of DWG files may require a significant amount of resources (e.g. memory/RAM, processing power) to properly open on your computer. This problem is quite common if you are using fairly old computer hardware and at the same time a much newer operating system.

This problem can occur when the computer is having trouble keeping up with a task because the operating system (and other services running in the background) may consume too many resources to open the DWG file. Try closing all applications on your PC before opening AutoCAD Drawing Database File. By freeing up all available resources on your computer you will be in the best possible position to attempt to open your DWG file.


If you completed all the steps described above and your DWG file still won't open, you may need to run equipment update. In most cases, even when using older versions of hardware, the processing power can still be more than sufficient for most user applications (unless you're doing a lot of CPU-intensive work, such as 3D rendering, financial/scientific modeling, or intensive multimedia work) . Thus, it is likely that your computer does not have enough memory(commonly called "RAM" or random access memory) to perform the task of opening a file.

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