Import Export Preference

The preferences for the importing and exporting tools are found in the Preferences Editor, in the menu.

The number of tabs varies depending on the file types available to perform conversion.


 * Provided by the Arch Workbench: DAE, IFC
 * Provided by the Draft Workbench: DWG, DXF, OCA, SVG
 * Provided by the FEM Module: INP, VTK
 * Provided by the Mesh Workbench: Mesh Formats
 * Provided by the PartDesign Workbench: IGES, STEP

The Import-Export settings affect how files are imported and exported to and from FreeCAD. Note that the Import-Export preferences dialog offers file type settings for most workbenches but not every workbench is able to import/export all file types.

FreeCAD supports many file formats. For the following file formats it offers to apply special settings:

DAE
The Collada DAE (Digital Asset Exchange) format is a standard file format for exchange of Mesh data. The Arch workbench can import meshes from files, and export Arch and other Shape-based objects to the  format. The Collada import functionality in the Arch module depends on pycollada. If it is not installed on your system, Collada import/export will be disabled.

For the DAE format you can specify the following:

DWG
DWG (from drawing) is a proprietary binary file format used for storing two- and three- dimensional design data and metadata. Since it is a closed source file format it cannot be directly supported by FreeCAD. Therefore the external file converter ODA is required.

For the DWG format you can only specify the path to ODA. note: All settings for DXF file format also apply to DWG.

DXF
AutoCAD DXF (Drawing eXchange Format) is a proprietary format to exchange CAD data between AutoCAD and other programs.

For the DXF format you can specify the following:

IGES
The Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) file format is a file format that allows the digital exchange of information among CAD systems. Since the specification for the STEP file format was published, the development of IGES was stopped in 1996. It is nevertheless still supported by many CAD programs.

The tab IGES is only shown in the preferences if you are in the Part or PartDesign workbench or if you have been in these workbenches before. For the IGES format you can specify the following:

IFC
Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is a wide spread format to interchange data between BIM applications, used in architecture and engineering.

For the IFC format you can specify the following:

INP
INP is the input file format for the FEM software Abaqus. It is used for the solver CalculiX in the FEM workbench.

The tab Abaqus INP is only shown in the preferences if you are or if you have been in the FEM workbench before. For the INP format you can specify the following:

Mesh Formats
Meshes are a special type of 3D object, composed of triangular faces connected by their vertices and edges. They are widely used for additive manufacturing. The FreeCAD provides the Mesh workbench to create and handle meshes. FreeCAD supports the file formats AMF and its predecessor STL, OBJ, OFF, PLY and SMF.

The tab Mesh Formats is only shown in the preferences if you are in the Mesh workbench or if you have been in this workbench before. For the Mesh formats you can specify the following:

OCA
The OCA file format is a community project to create a free, simple and open CAD file format. OCA is largely based on the GCAD file format generated by gCAD3D. Both formats can be imported in FreeCAD and the OCA files exported by FreeCAD can be opened in gCAD3D.

For the OCA format you can specify the following:

STEP
The standard for the exchange of product model data (STEP) file format is an ISO standard for the computer-interpretable representation and exchange of product manufacturing information. STEP is therefore commonly used to exchange 3D data between CAD software. STEP files have the suffix or sometimes.

The tab STEP is only shown in the preferences if you are in the Part or PartDesign workbench or if you have been in these workbenches before. For the STEP format you can specify the following:

SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a vector image format for two-dimensional graphics. The vectors make SVG are very useful for technical drawing programs like FreeCAD's TechDraw because a vector image can be scaled to any size without losing its shape or amount of details. SVG can be scaled to any required resolution and converted to bitmap formats like PNG or JPEG for printing.

For the SVG format you can specify the following:

VTK
The Visualization Toolkit (VTK) is an open-source, freely available software system for 3D computer graphics, image processing and visualization. VTK files are used by the FEM workbench for the post processing of simulation results.

The tab VTK is only shown in the preferences if you are or if you have been in the FEM workbench before. For the VTK format you can specify the following: