Skip to main content
Participant
May 15, 2026
Question

Accuracy when opening DXF files

  • May 15, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 20 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

    3 replies

    Anubhav M
    Community 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

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

    Participant
    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.