Top 46 How Big Are Cad Files 130 Most Correct Answers

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Large CAD files are all too common for a large percentage of designers and engineers. We typically receive a few calls each week from customers and prospects who are wrestling with CAD parts and assemblies that are anywhere from 50MB to 1.5GB.How big a DWG should be? A drawing file may be large if it’s a complex drawing. Especially if you work with 3D model. However, if your drawing is quite simple but the file size is more than 10 MB then something might be wrong.STEP files are the most widely used & accepted neutral CAD format today, therefore, making it a standard across multiple industries.

How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD
  1. Detach all unneeded xref files using the XREF command.
  2. Select all objects in a drawing and enter the OVERKILL command. …
  3. Enter the -PURGE command and choose Regapps.
  4. Enter the PURGE command and select all options.
  5. Enter the -SCALELISTEDIT command and reset the scale list.

How big should an AutoCAD file be?

How big a DWG should be? A drawing file may be large if it’s a complex drawing. Especially if you work with 3D model. However, if your drawing is quite simple but the file size is more than 10 MB then something might be wrong.

How do I reduce the size of a CAD file?

How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD
  1. Detach all unneeded xref files using the XREF command.
  2. Select all objects in a drawing and enter the OVERKILL command. …
  3. Enter the -PURGE command and choose Regapps.
  4. Enter the PURGE command and select all options.
  5. Enter the -SCALELISTEDIT command and reset the scale list.

What is the most common CAD file format?

STEP files are the most widely used & accepted neutral CAD format today, therefore, making it a standard across multiple industries.

Are DWG files the same as CAD files?

DWG files are basically CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings consisting of vector image data and metadata written with binary coding. It is the native format of most CAD applications, specially AutoCAD. In fact, it was developed in the 1970’s by the same authority ‘AutoDesk’ who developed AutoCAD.

Why are my CAD PDFs so large?

PDFs created from AutoCAD are a vector-based graphic file. The more vector information a PDF contains, the larger the file size. Your drawing likely includes a number of objects that use an excessive amount of vector information, which is causing the file size to balloon.

Why is my AutoCAD PDF file so large?

Do one or more of the following: Install the latest updates for AutoCAD (see Install Updates, Add-ons, and Enhancements). In the plot window or in page setup, turn off “Plot transparency.” Decrease the DPI within PDF Options, especially if many raster images are in a drawing.

What is AutoCAD overkill?

OVERKILL deletes duplicate or overlapping lines, arcs and polylines. Combines partially overlapping lines and deletes arcs that are on circles.

How do I clean up a CAD file?

Items can be purged individually by right-clicking on the object in the list and choosing purge. To quickly clean out a drawing, simply choose the Purge All option to remove every item available to purge in one click.

What processor is needed for AutoCAD?

1920 x 1080 or greater True Color video display adapter; 128 MB VRAM or greater; Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater; Direct3D®-capable workstation class graphics card.
System requirements for AutoCAD for Mac 2021
CPU Type 64-bit Intel CPU Recommended: Intel Core i7 or higher
Memory Basic: 4GB Recommended: 8GB or higher
15 thg 6, 2022

What do CAD files end in?

Common CAD file extensions include . DWG, . DXF, . DGN, and .

What are CAD files saved as?

DWG is the proprietary native file format for AutoCAD, one of the most popular computer-assisted design (CAD) packages. The format is maintained by AutoDesk. DWG is a compact binary format that stores and describes the content of 2D and 3D design data and metadata.

What files do CAD use?

Native File Formats
Format Extensions
AutoCAD .dwg
CATIA V4 .model
CATIA V5, V6 CATPart, CATProduct, CGR
Creo .prt, .asm
19 thg 5, 2020

How is CAD data stored?

Because CAD files are saved on some form of digital storage media – either a local hard drive, a shared network drive or (if transferring data) an email server or USB drive – the odds of files being overwritten, lost, stolen or corrupted are stacked against you.

Should I use DXF or DWG?

DWG and DXF are each better for different types of vector images and objects, which can affect their relative file sizes. Their biggest difference is how accessible and compatible they are — DXF files are open source, but you can only use DWG files with Autodesk programs.

Is AutoCAD software free?

If you are a student or educator, you can access free AutoCAD software with an Autodesk Education plan.

What does a computer need to run AutoCAD?

AutoCAD System Requirements
  1. Operating System: 64-bit Windows 11 or 10 version 1809 or above.
  2. Processor: 2.5 GHz (3+ GHz recommended), ARM processors not supported.
  3. Memory: 8 GB (16GB recommended)
  4. Disk space: 10.0 GB.
  5. Display: 1920 x 1080 resolution with True Color.

What processor is needed for AutoCAD?

1920 x 1080 or greater True Color video display adapter; 128 MB VRAM or greater; Pixel Shader 3.0 or greater; Direct3D®-capable workstation class graphics card.
System requirements for AutoCAD for Mac 2021
CPU Type 64-bit Intel CPU Recommended: Intel Core i7 or higher
Memory Basic: 4GB Recommended: 8GB or higher
15 thg 6, 2022

AutoCAD Data Extraction to Excel How to Export Data from AutoCAD to Excel AutoCAD 16 tutorial elec
AutoCAD Data Extraction to Excel How to Export Data from AutoCAD to Excel AutoCAD 16 tutorial elec


Tips for Working with Large CAD Files – TransMagic

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for Tips for Working with Large CAD Files – TransMagic Updating Large CAD files are a fact of life; how can you best manage large parts and assemblies? The short answer is make sure you have adequate RAM.
  • Table of Contents:

JT is the Exception

MagicCheck RAM Requirements

A Practical Example of RAM Utilization

RAM is the Key

Batch Translation

Tips for Working with Large CAD Files - TransMagic
Tips for Working with Large CAD Files – TransMagic

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These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes

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  • Table of Contents:

Audit

Purge

Purge regapps

WBLOCK

AutoCAD issues related to file size

Other optimization

How big a DWG should be

AutoCAD Script to Create Classic Workspace Automatically

These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes
These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes

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How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD | AutoCAD | Autodesk Knowledge Network

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How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD | AutoCAD | Autodesk Knowledge Network
How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD | AutoCAD | Autodesk Knowledge Network

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Top 8 Neutral 3D CAD File Formats

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  • Table of Contents:

1 STEP (File Extension STEP STP)

2 QIF (File Extension QIF)

3 JT (File Extension JT)

4 3D PDF (File Extension PDF)

5 Stereolithography Files (File Extension STL)

6 IGES (File Extension IGS IGES)

7 ACIS (File Extension SAT)

8 PARASOLID (File Extension X_T)

Top 8 Neutral 3D CAD File Formats
Top 8 Neutral 3D CAD File Formats

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What is a .DWG File and How do I Open it? | CorelDRAW

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for What is a .DWG File and How do I Open it? | CorelDRAW Updating Need to Open a DWG File? We designed CorelDRAW Graphics Suite to open a wide range of file formats on both Mac and Windows.Learn how to open an DWG file here.
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What is a .DWG File and How do I Open it? | CorelDRAW
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Error 403 (Forbidden)

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how big are autocad files – Autodesk Community

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    My largest in memory is around 100mb, with others in the area, and I’ve had teeny tiny little files as well. I do minor architectural, some … …
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    My largest in memory is around 100mb, with others in the area, and I’ve had teeny tiny little files as well. I do minor architectural, some … hello, i have to build a site for some people who wants to share AutoCAD files… how big are common AutoCAD files? thanks !
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how big are autocad files

how big are autocad files


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how big are autocad files – Autodesk Community

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saas – What is the typical size of a .dwg file? – Stack Overflow

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for saas – What is the typical size of a .dwg file? – Stack Overflow How large is a piece of paper? You see, it all depends on the content. I have worked on 3d cartographic maps that are 100mb or so.
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saas – What is the typical size of a .dwg file? – Stack Overflow

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  • Summary of article content: Articles about saas – What is the typical size of a .dwg file? – Stack Overflow Based on a plot of a previous revision of the the drawing, it should be about 200 to 300 KB, i.e. one thousandth of the size it is. Looking at … …
  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for saas – What is the typical size of a .dwg file? – Stack Overflow Based on a plot of a previous revision of the the drawing, it should be about 200 to 300 KB, i.e. one thousandth of the size it is. Looking at …
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Why my file CAD size was big – CAD Forum discussion (EN) – Page 1

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These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes

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  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes A drawing file may be large if it’s a complex drawing. Especially if you work with 3D model. However, if your drawing is … Do you think your AutoCAD DWG file is unnecessarily large? You can try to reduce the file size by doing these.
  • Table of Contents:

Audit

Purge

Purge regapps

WBLOCK

AutoCAD issues related to file size

Other optimization

How big a DWG should be

AutoCAD Script to Create Classic Workspace Automatically

These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes
These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller | CADnotes

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5 Tips to make your CAD files faster | Bricsys Blog

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  • Summary of article content: Articles about 5 Tips to make your CAD files faster | Bricsys Blog Reduce dwg file size, ty up drawings and optimize underlays. Speed up your CAD. … Sometimes large and complex underlays can slow down a drawing. …
  • Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for 5 Tips to make your CAD files faster | Bricsys Blog Reduce dwg file size, ty up drawings and optimize underlays. Speed up your CAD. … Sometimes large and complex underlays can slow down a drawing. Is your CAD system running slow? Leverage BricsCAD Machine Intelligence. Reduce dwg file size, tidy up drawings and optimize underlays. Speed up your CAD.
  • Table of Contents:

1 Reduce dwg file size

2 Blockify

3 Tidy it up

4 Convert to dwg

5 Underlays

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Tips for Working with Large CAD Files

Tips for Working with Large CAD Files

Large CAD files are all too common for a large percentage of designers and engineers. We typically receive a few calls each week from customers and prospects who are wrestling with CAD parts and assemblies that are anywhere from 50MB to 1.5GB. Files this large can tax even the fastest machines and throw a wrench into your work schedule. What can you do about it?

Make Sure You Have Enough RAM: The main requirement to work with large 3D CAD models and assemblies is available RAM in your setup. The recommended minimum RAM required to run TransMagic is 16MB. That should cover you for quite large parts or assemblies. For any CAD file except JT (JT is addressed separately below), TransMagic needs at least 10x the CAD file size in RAM in order to open the file and work on it. So, if your CATIA, NX, Creo, SolidEdge, SOLIDWORKS, Inventor, Parasolid, ACIS or STEP part is 1.6GB, or your assembly is cumulatively 1.6GB, multiply by 10x to arrive at 16GB; you should be able to open anything from 1MB to 1.6GB, give or take, with the recommended 16GB of RAM. Once you exceed your RAM, you are forcing the computer to page to the hard drive, which is so slow that it is not a viable option.

Free Up RAM / Install More RAM: CAD applications, as well other applications that are RAM intensive, can rob RAM and hurt CAD or TransMagic performance. As shown in figure 1, non-CAD applications such as Adobe After Effects can take a heavy toll on RAM, and even browsers can use valuable megabytes. When possible, close these applications, and consider installing more RAM so that you can better handle larger files and assemblies.

Double Check Multi-Core Processing: Under “Settings,” select the Performance tab and make sure that “Enable Multi Core Processing” is checked (see figure 2). This should be checked by default. This option allows TransMagic to use all available cores and processors when loading assemblies, as well as when doing comparison analysis using the MagicCheck add-on. Hold off on Repairing: Under “Settings”, select the Repair tab and turn off “Auto Repair During File Loading.” Turning off this option allows the computer resources to focus solely on opening the file. Once the file is open, you can perform the repair functions if required. Save Intermediate Work as TMR: If you are working extensively on a large file, save the file as a “TMR” file – TransMagic. The TMR file is TransMagic’s native format; because it is native to TransMagic, TMR files opens much more quickly which can save time opening and working on the same file. Once you are done working on the file, then you can save it to the desired export format.

Remove Unnecessary Data: Adjust the READ settings for any format you are about to open – making sure free edges, vertices and other unnecessary data types are disabled will keep extraneous data to a minimum (see figure 3); once the file is open, consider setting your selection tool to ‘body’, selecting the main body of the part, hiding it (using the Right Button Menu), deleting everything that remains, and then re-Show the main model (Show > Show All from the Right Button Menu). This can greatly simplify and minimize the model geometry you have to contend with, facilitating the removal of STL meshes, free geometry, hidden geometry and more.

Adjust the READ settings for any format you are about to open – making sure free edges, vertices and other unnecessary data types are disabled will keep extraneous data to a minimum (see figure 3); once the file is open, consider setting your selection tool to ‘body’, selecting the main body of the part, hiding it (using the Right Button Menu), deleting everything that remains, and then re-Show the main model (Show > Show All from the Right Button Menu). This can greatly simplify and minimize the model geometry you have to contend with, facilitating the removal of STL meshes, free geometry, hidden geometry and more. Remove Unnecessary Parts: If you are working with an assembly, it may also be useful to pare down the file to the parts that you absolutely need. If you know the parts you don’t need by name, delete them from the assembly folder and, while TransMagic R12 will note the missing files, it will load what it can find. If you need to open the assembly to see the parts you can live without, delete the unnecessary parts either by selecting them and pressing the delete key, or via the Assembly Browser. Then save the file as a TMR to have a smaller working assembly.

JT is the Exception

JT files are compressed 8x, so you have to allow for 8x expansion when they are being opened. Then, you still have to allow for 10x as with all CAD files. That effectively means you have to multiply JT files by an incredible 80x to allow for sufficient RAM to open and work on them. So, a 200MB JT assembly is actually about 1.6GB in size, and then, you still have to allow for about 10x file size in TransMagic; so you need at least 16GB of RAM to work with it. Many people are aware that JT files can be Vis-Rep (polygonal), or Vis-Rep and B-Rep (B-Rep files are true CAD files). This compression factor applies to all of the above. The rule of thumb is that any JT file is compressed 8x.

MagicCheck RAM Requirements

Managing large files gets a little trickier when using MagicCheck, which compares files for discrepancies and provides a color plot and report showing where the parts are different. Figure 4 depicts two models overlaid exactly so that discrepancies can be easily spotted; there is also a side-by-side mode.

Recently, we worked with a customer who was attempting to compare two CATIA files using MagicCheck. The source and destination files were about 950 MB and 850 MB, respectively. Since MagicCheck works by having both models loaded simultaneously, that means we need enough RAM for 950 + 850 MB, or 1800 MB. When we multiply that by 10x, we get 18 GB. If they were only opening the two parts to put them into an assembly together, 24 GB might be enough RAM, but during a part to part comparision, MagicCheck is creating a sample set of data which also needs RAM. It turns out this operation requires a minimum of 27 GB of RAM.

A Practical Example of RAM Utilization

How fast does a CAD file demand 10x in RAM? I was curious about this myself so I loaded a medium-large (70MB) STEP assembly into a single TransMagic session, and took a look at memory usage:

Just opening our 70 MB step file used up 471 MB of RAM, according to Windows Task Manager. What you can’t see in Figure 5 are the other applications that are also using up RAM. CAD/CAM/CAE software as well as graphics-intensive applications like Photoshop can easily consume a gig or more of RAM each, depending on what you are using them for at that moment. Typical applications like browsers, Word and Excel, consume less RAM but these can also add up, so it can help to close unnecessary applications before wrestling with large parts or assemblies.

I then worked with the assembly for a few minutes, changing display modes to hidden line and then, back to rendered, making the car glass transparent, using Precise Positioning to move the tire away from the car, cutting a section, adding some notes, opening one of the tires in a new document, and running hidden line removal on the tire. Just these few operations brought the RAM usage up to 616 MB, roughly 9x file size.

RAM is the Key

If just opening the file can consume 7x filesize in RAM, and performing a few operations can bring us up to 9x CAD file size in RAM, it’s easy to see how we would recommend having 10x file size in RAM available for working on any given file. Once you run out of RAM, TransMagic (or any other application) will start to move incredibly slow; your system will start paging to the disk, attempting to get the work done using hard-disk speeds. Even if you have a solid state drive (SSD), you can forget getting any practical work done at these speeds; there is no substitute for RAM.

Batch Translation

A final way you can work with large CAD files is by automating the process; there are times when you don’t necessarily need to view the file, you just want it converted into the format of your choice. This article on MagicBatch describes that process.

We hope that this post is helpful to you in your large CAD part and assembly challenges! If you have a technique that has helped you open large files or assemblies which we neglected to mention in either of these posts, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Boeing 787 model courtesy of Rodger St. John via GrabCAD.

Related Articles

Dude, where’s my CAD data? Part 1 – Empty assemblies, missing PMI, data turned off in Settings, data off screen and invisible data.

Dude, where’s my CAD data? Part 2 – Updating to access the latest CAD formats, decoding the CAD file.

Dude, where’s my CAD data? Part 3 – View settings, version incompatbilities, and suppressed CATIA models.

These are what you can do to make your AutoCAD files smaller

When working with AutoCAD, sometimes you can see that your files get unusually large. It may slow your system down and it might crash the system. You might want to try to reduce the file size.

Other reason why you want to reduce the file size is because you need to send it as attachment or upload it.

So let’s see what we can do to reduce AutoCAD file size.

Audit

Audit doesn’t reduce file size. But it is recommended to do file audit before we continue with other process. It will maintain the drawing integrity and fix errors that might prevent us to remove unnecessary objects.

If you are not familiar with audit, you can run it by typing AUDIT at command prompt then press enter.

Or you can access AutoCAD menu (the big red A) > Drawing utilities > Audit.

Purge

After you audit the drawing you can run PURGE. You can type PURGE at command line then press enter. AutoCAD will open a dialog box like below.

As you can see in the list, you can purge or remove unused objects. Block definitions, styles, materials and layers.

Remember, if you still need to use them, do not purge all items.

Purge regapps

Regapps stands for registered applications. To purge regapps you need to type –PURGE (with the – prefix) then enter. Type R for regapps then enter again.

In many cases, purge regapps can significantly reduce the file size.

If you want to know more about regapps, check this post by Donnie Gladfelter: Ditch excess RegApps & Speed Up Your Drawings.

WBLOCK

Purge removes unused objects. WBLOCK works differently. With WBLOCK you choose objects that you need and save it to a new clean file. So you left the excess in the origin file.

You can activate WBLOCK by typing WBLOCK then press enter. Using this command is very similar to creating block. This command was originally for create block as external DWG, but we can use it for this purpose as well.

I would recommend you to select only objects you want to write to new file. Do not type ALL when AutoCAD ask you to select objects.

AutoCAD issues related to file size

If you have done all above but you think your file is still unnecessarily large, it might be because there issues with your file. There are also some known issues related to this bloated file size. Some famous issues are:

Scale list issue

This issue was found in AutoCAD 2008, when Autodesk first introduce annotation scaling. You can have so many scale list in your drawing, especially if you work with reference file.

You can clean up the scale list by using available clean up utility.

You can download scale list clean up utility for AutoCAD 2014 here.

DGN Lineweight

Another issue that can cause DWG file to increase file size is because DGN linetype issue. This can happen if you work with DWG that contains DGN linetype.

There is hotfix available for this issue, and the hotfix also provides clean up utility.

You can download DGN hotfix here.

Remember to read the readme file because you need to manually copy files before you can run the utilities.

Other optimization

Thank you for all emails and comment I received after I published this article. These are some more things that you can do:

Tips from Jacob Dunkelman:

Delete layer filter, on same cases, after DLF the file size was reduced to 5% from its original size

Delete groups. Mainly the unnamed groups. Some add-on are heavy users of unnamed groups

Delete layer state managers

Detach unreferenced XREFs and IMAGES Tips from Billy Stang: Use the “overkill” command to reduce file size and clean up a drawing. Tips from Tawfik Shehata: Use of blocks for repeated instance of objects. Remove unused annotative scales from objects. To prevent applying unnecessary annotative scales to objects, make sure that ANNOALLVISIBLE is set to 0 and ANNOAUTOSCALE is set to -4 these 2 system variables are set per layout/model.

How big a DWG should be?

A drawing file may be large if it’s a complex drawing. Especially if you work with 3D model. However, if your drawing is quite simple but the file size is more than 10 MB then something might be wrong.

If you have done all above procedure but your file is still large, then it might be because the complexity of your drawing.

Are there any other issue that you know can increase the file size? Or is there any other method that we can do to reduce file size?

Share your experience with us here!

How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD

Issue: How to reduce the size of a DWG file in AutoCAD.

Solution:

Use the following commands to reduce the size of a DWG file.

Detach all unneeded xref files using the XREF command.

Select all objects in a drawing and enter the OVERKILL command. This could be needed more than once.

command. This could be needed more than once. Enter the -PURGE command and choose R egapps.

command and choose egapps. Enter the PURGE command and select all options.

command and select all options. Enter the -SCALELISTEDIT command and reset the scale list.

command and reset the scale list. Enter the FILTERS command and delete layer filters.

command and delete layer filters. Use SAVEAS to save a new file or save overtop of the original.

Additional workflows

Use the WBLOCK command to resave parts or the entire drawing (see Export objects to a drawing file with WBLOCK command).

command to resave parts or the entire drawing (see Export objects to a drawing file with WBLOCK command). Use the BLOCK command to combine and replace repeating objects or groups of line segments.

command to combine and replace repeating objects or groups of line segments. Use the JOIN command to combine small line segments.

command to combine small line segments. Divide a large drawing into multiple smaller drawings and then attach them into a master drawing (see About Attaching and Detaching Referenced Drawings (Xrefs)). Child drawings can then be loaded/unloaded from the parent drawing as needed.

Use EXPORTLAYOUT to save layouts to new model space drawings.

to save layouts to new model space drawings. Use CONVERTPOLY if the drawing has many 2D polylines and convert them to normal polylines. 2D Polylines are old-format Polylines which store their vertex information inefficiently compared to the normal Polylines. Polylines are better optimized and considered as lightweight.

The amount of data in a drawing (used and unused), object types, and complexity all attribute to the size of a DWG file. Some drawings may not reduce very much in size while others may show a significant change.

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