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A
affectionate_Palette5C8B
Participant
December 7, 2017
Question

Line Color change when exporting DXF

  • December 7, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 3528 views

Adobe Illustrator CC 22.0.1

OS: Windows 10

I'm attempting to export some vector image data from Illustrator as a DXF. To test the export I imported the DXF file back into Illustrator and see that, on all the shapes, the line width and color seems to have been changed. See below:

This is the original data in Illustrator which was used for export:

This is what it looks like in Illustrator  when the exported DXF file is opened:

Has anyone seen this issue before? Are there line spec settings some other place than the import export panels?

Thanks

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    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    watermelon111
    watermelon111
    Participating Frequently
    April 26, 2018

    Hi. Have you tried EXDXF-Pro4? It is a dxf converting plug-in with many option settings for import/export. This might be able to solve the problem.

    AI to DXF Converter - EXDXF-Pro4

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 7, 2017

    What happens if you choose Path > Outline Stroke in Illustrator and check the Preserve Appearance while exporting as DXF?

    A
    affectionate_Palette5C8BAuthor
    Participant
    December 11, 2017

    @Ton Frederiks

    Using Path > Outline Stroke had now effect on the issue. I had Preserve Appearance  already checked.

    @Mylenium

    DXF is the still format I needed to use. It would be great if there wa a way to spec the defautl stroke. It's odd that Adobe doesn't export with enough info to reimport

    I've found a work-around that allows me to export as a PDF. I'd still love to get to the bottom of this but priority is much lower. Any input on setting the default stroke would be apprecated.

    Thanks

    .

    Mylenium
    Mylenium
    Legend
    December 11, 2017

    Arguably of course AI could behave smarter, but I don't see how. For all intents and purposes, DXF is "stroke-centric" because that's what determines the visibility of an element. The format is too simplistic and doesn't have any extra controls beyond that. It doesn't even store actual style info, only references to styles and abstract color definitions. Again, simply limitations of a over 30 year old format originating from the CAD world.

    Mylenium

    Mylenium
    Mylenium
    Legend
    December 7, 2017

    DXF files always have a default stroke applied. This is simply not a suitable format for exchanging files when it's critical to retain the appearance.

    Mylenium

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