What is DWG?

DWG (drawing) is an AutoCAD (Computer Aided Design) file format used for storing two and three dimensional design data and metadata. It is one of the most commonly used design data formats, which is also supported by IntelliCAD and all its variants, PowerCAD, and several other software applications.

DWG was originally developed in the late 1970s by Mike Riddle and licensed in 1982 by Autodesk. Since then the format has been updated several times, the latest version being of 2007. The important thing to remember here is that even though the newer versions can read files created in older versions, the older versions cannot read newer ones.

Today DWG is the de facto format for all CAD interoperability as well as being the base format of all its applications. Since DWG is a proprietary file format, in 1998, several software developers and vendors came together and formed an association called OpenDWG Alliance. The intention was to make DWG an open standard but it hasn’t succeeded so far. At the same time, Autodesk have not been able to obtain a trademark for DWG. The struggle between Autodesk and OpenDWG Alliance proves the popularity and usefulness of DWG as an image file format.

DWG files, with the file extension of ‘.dwg’, can be viewed using the free DWG TrueView program on Windows. Other than this, the programs that can open the files on Windows are Autodesk AutoCAD, SolidWorks eDrawings Viewer, IMSI TurboCAD, and DWG converters such as AutoDWG or Solid Converter DWG. DWG files can also be opened on Mac OS using Microspot DWG Viewer, PowerDWG Translator, IMSI TurboCAD, and SolidWorks eDrawings Viewer.

If you don't have those expensive CAD programs you can still view DWG files after you convert them to PDF, TIFF or JEPG. Use Total CAD Converter for that.

Total CAD Converter supports the following conversions with DXF files:

DWG to DXF

DWG to WMF

DWG to PDF

DWG to JPEG

DWG to TIFF

DWG to PNG

DWG to BMP