Export DXF with Custom Names

This guide explains how to export your SOLIDWORKS parts, assemblies, or drawings to DXF format and define custom file names using CADshift.

Quick Start

1. Open your SOLIDWORKS document (Part, Assembly, or Drawing)
2. Click the CADshift tab in the ribbon
3. Click the DXF Export button
4. The DXF Export PropertyManager page will open

Step 1: Select What to Export

When the PropertyManager page opens, you’ll see different options depending on your document type:

For Parts

• Select bodies or faces you want to export
• You can select multiple bodies from multi-body parts
• Selected items will be highlighted in the graphics area

For Assemblies

• Select components you want to export
• You can select multiple components
• Each component will be exported as a separate DXF file

For Drawings

• Select items from the Bill of Materials (BOM), or
• Select drawing views to export

Step 2: Configure Export Settings

Click the Settings tab in the PropertyManager page. This is where you’ll define how your DXF files are named and saved.

Defining the File Name Pattern

In the File Name section, you’ll see a text box where you can enter a naming pattern using special tokens.

Available Tokens:

• <THICKNESS> - Part thickness (e.g., “2mm”)
• <MATERIAL> - Material property (e.g., “Steel”)
• <MODEL_TITLE> - The original CAD file name (e.g., “Bracket”)
• <CONFIGURATION> - Configuration name (e.g., “Default”)
• <BODY_NAME> - Body or component name
• Custom properties - Any custom SOLIDWORKS property you’ve defined

Using Tokens:

You can click the buttons below the text box to insert tokens, or type them manually. Combine tokens with separators to create your naming pattern.

Examples:

Common Separators:

• Tilde: ~
• Underscore: _
• Dash: -
• Space: (will be preserved in filename)

Choosing the Output Location

In the Directory section, you can specify where to save your DXF files:

Option 1: Custom Folder

1. Click the Browse button
2. Navigate to your desired folder
3. Select the folder and click OK

Option 2: Same Folder as Document

1. Check the “Save in this document’s folder” checkbox
2. DXF files will be saved in the same location as your SOLIDWORKS file

Step 3: Sheet metal, thin parts & metadata

The Settings tab has a few more groups. These decide what SOLIDWORKS puts into the flat pattern and what extra data rides along. (The look of the file — layers, colours, bend labels, etching, trimming, laser clean-up — is handled afterwards by your Output Profile.)

Sheet metal options

Switch on whatever you need in the flat-pattern DXF:

• Export bend lines - Include the bend lines (turn this on if you want bend labels or bend-line trimming later)
• Include hidden edges
• Include sketches
• Merge coplanar faces
• Export library features
• Export forming tools
• Do not process hidden bodies - skip bodies that are hidden in the part
• Replace DXF files - overwrite files that already exist
• Export bounding box - add a material-size rectangle (Professional)

Export thin parts (Professional)

• Export thin parts - also export flat plates that aren’t modelled as sheet metal, up to a maximum thickness you set.

Export metadata (Basic)

• Export meta data - write a block of part information (material, thickness, quantity, mass, …) into the DXF as text, built from the same kind of tokens as the file name.

Step 4: Open the Preview window

When you’ve chosen what to export and set your file name, click the green checkmark (OK) in the PropertyManager.

Instead of writing files straight away, CADshift opens the DXF Export Preview window. This is your chance to look everything over before anything is saved. You’ll see a grid with one row per part, showing its output name, material, thickness, quantity and output folder — all of which you can tweak right there in the grid.

Step 5: Pick an Output Profile

Layers, colours, line types, bend labels, etching and laser clean-up are no longer a tab on the PropertyManager — they all live in an Output Profile, chosen from the Profile drop-down at the top of the Preview window.

• Pick a ready-made profile (Generic — Metric, Generic — Imperial, or Bendex / RAS), or
• Click the gear button beside it to build your own.

Need to set layer names for your laser or change a colour? That’s all in the profile editor:

➡️ See DXF Output Profiles for the full walkthrough of layers, bend annotations, etching and more.

Step 6: Export and read the report

1. Click Export DXF in the Preview window.
2. A progress bar shows each file as it’s written.
3. When it’s done, an HTML report opens in your browser with a preview of every part, its settings, and a download link for each DXF.

What happens during export:

1. For sheet metal parts, the flat pattern is exported automatically.
2. For non-sheet-metal flat parts, the widest face is flattened (Professional — see Thin Part Detection).
3. File names are built from your naming pattern, with each token replaced by its real value.
4. Your chosen Output Profile is applied — layers, bend lines, etch text, laser clean-up, and so on.
5. The DXF files are saved to the folder shown in the grid.

Tips and Best Practices

File Naming Tips

1. Use descriptive tokens - Include enough information to identify parts later
2. Consider sorting - Start with tokens that help with alphabetical sorting (e.g., <MATERIAL> first)
3. Avoid special characters - Use simple separators like ~, -, or _
4. Test your pattern - Export one part first to verify the naming works as expected

Common Naming Patterns

For Fabrication:

<THICKNESS>~<MATERIAL>~<MODEL_TITLE>

Result: 2~Steel~Bracket.dxf

For Inventory:

<MATERIAL>_<THICKNESS>mm_<MODEL_TITLE>

Result: Steel_2mm_Bracket.dxf

For Assembly Components:

<MODEL_TITLE>-<BODY_NAME>

Result: Assembly1-Component1.dxf

Simple Model Name:

<MODEL_TITLE>

Result: Bracket.dxf

Output Location Tips

1. Create a dedicated export folder - Keep DXF exports organized separately
2. Use project-specific folders - Create a folder structure like Projects/ProjectName/DXF/
3. Check folder permissions - Ensure you have write access to the target folder
4. Avoid network drives - Export to local drives for better performance

Troubleshooting

Advanced Features

Metadata in DXF Files

You can embed metadata text directly in your DXF files:

1. In the Settings tab, enable metadata options
2. Text containing part information will be added to the DXF
3. The text is placed on a specific layer (configurable in your Output Profile)

Bounding Boxes

Two types of bounding boxes can be added:

1. Axis-Aligned Bounding Box - Aligned with X/Y axes
2. Minimum Bounding Box - Smallest rectangle that contains all geometry

These help with:

• Material size estimation
• Nesting calculations
• Manufacturing planning

Bend Line Trimming

For sheet metal parts with bend lines:

1. Enable “Trim Bend Lines” in Settings
2. Specify trim size
3. Bend lines will be trimmed to small stubs
4. Useful for laser etching bend marks without cutting through

Next Steps

Once you’re comfortable with basic DXF export and file naming:

• Explore Output Profiles to customize layer organization
• Try the Laser Cutting Filter to optimize DXF files for manufacturing
• Use Thin Part Detection to export non-sheet metal flat parts
• Experiment with different naming patterns for your workflow