Giraffe imports and exports a variety of GIS and BIM formats.

Here we describe how to import line drawings in DXF (dwg) format.

Quick Links

Layers

Add Spatial data to your project

Set the project CRS

<aside> 🚨 Importing CAD (.dxf) vector data is often complex. DXF files are not typically geolocated, and depending on how they are authored, they may consist of many line segments rather than the line-strings and polygons which are native to Giraffe.

On the other hand, even line segments can be very useful to allow tracing using Giraffe's snap feature (holding down "s" will snap to any vector features on the map).

If there is a large amount of useful data that is only accessible as DXF files, you can follow the steps in How to import DXF files into Giraffe. Reach out to us using the in-app chat for support doing this.

</aside>

If you know your drawing's projection

  1. Click Main menu (☰) -> Project -> Project Settings.
  2. Navigate to “other”
  3. Click “Add a project CRS”
  4. Paste the CRS into the field
  5. Click Main menu (☰) -> Layers -> Vector (Geojson and Shapefile)
  6. Upload your .dxf file and follow the steps to add a layer or import as Giraffe features.

<aside> 🎓 Learn more about how to ‣

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If you don't know your drawing's projection

  1. Click Main menu (☰) -> Export Project -> DXF (CAD Format) to download giraffe-[your file id].dxf
  2. Import giraffe-[your file id].dxf into your CAD program and add and align your content with it. Don't move the Giraffe content.
  3. Save the aligned content to [your filename].dxf. You can delete the Giraffe content after you have aligned everything to it.
  4. Click Main menu (☰) -> Layers -> Vector (Geojson and Shapefile)
  5. Upload your [your filename].dxf file and follow the steps to add a layer or import as Giraffe features.

If your Drawing doesn’t need to be geolocated:

  1. Click Main menu (☰) -> Layers -> Vector (Geojson and Shapefile)

  2. Upload your .dxf file

  3. Follow the steps to import as Giraffe features.

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  4. Move the linework to its correct location on the map as needed.

Note: