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JamesSommer
Participating Frequently
May 15, 2026
Question

Accuracy when opening DXF files

  • May 15, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 80 views

Opened a DXF file in Draftsight to confirm size. When opened in Illustrator 2026, the size is not accurate. When opened in 2024 and 2025, the size is correct. Tested on  different computers and the results are the same. What should be .044 inches in size shows up as .0474, which is not acceptable. Opening in Affinity Designer2 or Corel, the sizes are correct. Working with a part that is only .414 in diameter, any inaccuracy is unacceptable. Original DXF file was created in inches and I have tried all possible options to achieve the correct sizing in version 2026 without any success. Opening and placing produce identical results. Scaling is not an option, as the results produce closer values, they too are not exact due to the percentage factor limitation.

Bottom line, newest version or Illustrator is inaccurate and any other program that can handle DXF files works just fine. Fortunately I discovered the error after producing 3 new parts. Never had issues and I failed to verify the size of the DXF import. Have used the same procedure for perhaps 750 designs like this and never thought something like this could happen.

 

Windows 10, 64 GB ram

    4 replies

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    May 26, 2026

    Hi @JamesSommer @Ton Frederiks,

     

    Thanks for your patience on this. I'm currently looking into it with the product team and will update this thread as soon as I have more information.

     

    Anubhav

    J
    JamesSommerAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    May 26, 2026

    I found the issue. For some reason when opened Illustrator is taking the stroke into consideration and I have since deactivated preview bounds. When I updated to the newest version of Illustrator I assumed that my previous preferences would carry over, but in this case they did not.

     

     

      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      June 3, 2026

      Hi @JamesSommer,
       

      Thanks for sharing the additional details. I've passed everything along to the product team for further investigation and will update this thread as soon as I hear back.
       

      In the meantime, feel free to reach out if you need any help.

      Anubhav

      Anubhav M
      Community Manager
      Anubhav MCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      May 15, 2026

      Hello ​@JamesSommer 

       

      I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind sharing a sample file along with screenshots of the issue in Illustrator 2026 compared to earlier versions, as well as in DraftSight, so we can check this further with the team?
       

      Looking forward to hearing from you.
      Anubhav

      J
      JamesSommerAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      May 18, 2026

      If this file is opened in AfinityDesigner or an older version of Illustrator and scaled 25% it shows the proper sizes as shown in the native DXF file. Here is a step by step that I have always followed on the more than 500 designs created to date. Open in Illustrator with original size 1:1 inches selected. I then select all of the elements on the left side, copy and scale to 25% and compare the sizes to the dimensions shown. I then take the 4:1 version and copy into my Illustrator template for processing which includes adding real text and adjusting the placement to avoid the holes. Illustrator always produces the same values as the ones in the file but not in version 2026. I did some testing and 2025 produces the proper sizes.

       

      I also took the reduced 2024 version and pasted into 2026 and although the sizes were correct in 2024, they changed when pasted into version 2026. Opening the 2024 version in 2026 also results in the wrong dimension being shown.

      J
      JamesSommerAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      May 18, 2026

      The issue is with the stroke; Illustrator 2026 is adding the stroke to the overall dimension, while the older versions are not, causing the inaccuracy.

      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 15, 2026

      ​@JamesSommer Thanks, I post your report here, so others can vote for it:

      https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/51302350-accuracy-when-opening-dxf-files

      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 15, 2026

      I would suggest to report this here:

      https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

      and use an older version in the meantime.

      J
      JamesSommerAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      May 15, 2026

      I usually drag my feet when it comes to newer versions. In this case waited almost two years jumped in with both feet and now have major issues. Size issues would not be high up on the list of things to check for, at least not for me. Thanks for the information, did re post there.

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