Autodesk has had DWF (Design Web Format) files available to users for some time now. Since release 2004, AutoCAD has come with a default DWF viewer. More recent releases have discontinued the old viewer and replaced it with Design Review. If you do not have the program, go to Autodesk’s website and download it. It's free. DWF files can serve many roles, and with Design Review they can serve many more.

Design Review is a stand-alone program that can open, view, print, markup, and compare DWF files. It can also do more, but we will get into all of that later. With the old DWF viewer, our tools were limited. We could open the file, look at, and plot it. Not that exciting, but it served a purpose. AutoCAD users are never satisfied—eventually we want more tools! Autodesk gave us that in Design Review.

What’s the big deal? How is it better than the DWF Viewer? Well, it can do more. For starters, it can open and view many different types of files, not just DWFs. Here is a partial list of common file types it can open: JPG, FLC, BMP, CAL, GIF, and TIF. Any file that Design Review can open, it can print, and more. That being said, its main purpose is to handle DWF files.

This article will focus on using Design Review with DWF files that were created from DWG files. This is its main purpose as stated above, but keep in mind that many of these functions can also be applied to other file types. Besides viewing and plotting, Design Review can view the data in the DWF file and use it. How does it use the information? Design Review works similarly to AutoCAD. It recognizes snap points, units, layers, and blocks. If the DWF was created with layer and block information included, then Design Review will be able to use that data. Layers in the file can be turned on and off, just like in AutoCAD. Block information can be extracted and read as well.

Perhaps you noticed that the name Design Review contains the words "design" and "review." This is the biggest difference between it and the original DWF Viewer. With Design Review, users can "review" the "design" and comment on it. Design Review has the ability to redline files. Reviewers have access to tools that enable them to add notes, revision clouds, stamps, custom stamps, lines, arcs, and shapes. Checking procedures can be conducted electronically and sent via e-mail or ftp.

Printing out multiple copies of files is not as necessary. These tools are known as "mark-ups." Every mark-up made is placed in a list and is accessed on the marked-up sheets, or through the mark-up list. Design Review takes these mark-ups even farther. The listed mark-ups can be commented on, which allows the users to comment on the comments. The status of the mark-up can be set to done, question, or no comment (the default setting.) Each of these mark-ups has a place for notes to be provided. If the reviewer making the mark-ups wants to, he or she can provide notes with further instructions. A user reviewing the mark-ups could leave questions or comments about the mark-up. Clicking on the individual mark-up in the list will cause the program to zoom to the sheet and location of that particular mark-up. When the status is changed (to either done or question), the mark-ups themselves will be highlighted with a specific color. There are default settings for these colors, but the user can change them if desired.

AutoCAD comes with a function known as the Mark-up Manager, which allows AutoCAD users to load the marked-up DWF files into AutoCAD with a sheet set-like manager. The Mark-Up Manager opens a tool palette with a list of DWF files. This list is similar in format to the list of files in a sheet set. Clicking any sheet or one of the comments will automatically open that particular AutoCAD file and zoom to the selected mark-up. AutoCAD users will not have to hunt for the proper DWG file—it will come to them.

AutoCAD users will have the same tools available to them in AutoCAD as do Design Review users. Specifically, the AutoCAD user will be able to update the DWG file and then change the mark-up status to Done. If users have questions about the mark-up, comments can be created through the Mark-up Manager in AutoCAD. When the mark-ups are loaded into AutoCAD, (by double clicking them in the Mark-Up Manager) they will appear in the DWG file. They are not selectable or editable objects. They act as a temporary overlay so that the CAD user can see and make the proper changes to the DWG file. This process can help to lesson revision mistakes as the mark-up appears in the DWG file. Having the comments typed in and not handwritten can also eliminate issues caused by poor handwriting on mark-ups. Once all revisions have been completed, the DWG files saved, and comments made in the Mark-up Manager, the DWF file can be republished. This would be done in order to incorporate the updated DWG files into a DWF. The mark-ups still remain, making it easier for a reviewer to check the changes made. The republish process can be initiated through the Mark-up Manager, just like publishing a sheet set to a DWF file in the Sheet Set Manager.

Design Review also has the ability to measure and display distances, lengths, and areas. The proper units can be set and changed through the menu selections. These tools are useful for reviewers to double-check dimensions provided on a drawing, or to determine lengths that are not given. The measurements made are not exact, but very near to the correct length. Dimensioning and commenting are made easier due to Design Review’s ability to SNAP to endpoints, midpoints, nodes, etc., just as is done in AutoCAD.

One last noteworthy feature I’d like to share. Design Review has a tool called Compare, which allows users to compare DWF files of the same drawing. With one file open, start the Compare function. Through it, load a different version of the DWF file on top of it. Any differences will be indicated by color. There are default colors, but any can be used. Additions and subtractions from the file will each be indicated in their own color.

Design Review is a program that allows users to view, plot, comment upon, and compare DWF files. It can provide a digital archive of reviewed comments. It can also be a means of communicating alternate design ideas or changes to others. This makes electronic communications easier. The fact that this program is free is a bonus.

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Submitted by Brian C. Benton, senior engineering CAD technician/designer for Heidt & Associates, Inc, Fort Myers, Florida. Brian has been working with AutoCAD since release 10 in the mechanical, structural, and civil engineering fields. He has been a detailer, drafter, designer, IT assistant, CAD software manager, protector of standards, and proverbial "Help Desk." Brian is also currently one of Cadalyst magazine's "Tip Patrollers." He can be reached at benton.brian@gmail.com