When you are adding a new shape or editing an existing shape, you will usually find it easier to import shapes and cutouts which have been drawn in a CAD system than it is to draw the shapes in the Library window. Workshop allows you to import a DXF file which contains a shape or cutout.

To import a shape or cutout to the library:

Ø        Bring the Library window to the front

Ø        Select the shape or cutout whose geometry you wish to import

Ø        Choose Import Shape or Import Cutout from the File menu

Ø        Select the DXF file using the File dialog which appears

Ø        Set the Import Options in the dialog that appears

Ø        Check the coordinate axis used to define the imported object. For example, in the image below the Default AutoCAD settings have been used

Ø        Check the units of the object you are about to import. In the image below the object was drawn in mm

Example of import settings for AutoCAD.
The import settings are dependent on the coordinate system in AutoCAD.

Ø        Click OK

The DXF file will be imported and the shape or cutout displayed.

A few rules should be kept in mind when preparing a DXF file for import into Workshop.

·   Check the coordinate system you are drawing the shape in. These coordinate axis will have to be specified in the import options dialog.

·   Units. Ensure that the units you choose in the DXF Import dialog are the same as those used in your CAD drawing.

·   Lines and Arcs. The shape in the file should be defined as a series of line segments, arcs and/or polylines which touch at the ends to form one continuous shape. Any polylines in the shape may not contain arcs within the polyline, you should explode the polyline first. The shapes should not be grouped (or blocked) in any way as this may result in them being placed in a Block in the DXF file which Workshop will not read.

·   Zero point. The shape in the file should be positioned so that the point corresponding to the base of the stringer on the plate is at coordinate location 0.0,0.0 in the DXF file. This is the point marked with a black dot in the drawing in the Library window.

·   Make sure you have defined the shape and cutout in the Edit | Shapes library before trying to import the shape and cutout DXF files.

·   You have to import the shape and cutout separately.

·   Make sure that when you save the DXF from AutoCAD the shape and the cutout are in separate DXF files; in other words: one thing per DXF file.

·   Make sure that you don’t (accidentally) have data on for example a Layout or Paperspace. Delete all data on all other tabs in AutoCAD and purge all data until you only have layers 0 and Defpoints and the shape you wish to import left over.