CAD on the Web - Web Graphic File Formats

File extension	Description	Plug-in
CGM	CGM Graphics metafile. Requires special plug-in.	ActiveCGM CSView150
DIR	Macromedia Director file format. Supports animation, audio and programmable interactivity and streaming	ShockWave
DGN	Native Microstation file format. Requires special plug-in.	WebDGN CSView150
DWF	Autodesk’s Web-intended graphics file format. Requires special plug-in.	WHIP!
DWG	Native AutoCAD file format, not compatible between recent AutoCAD versions. Requires special plug-in.	Dr DWG NetView Vdraft Internet Tools CSView150
DXF	Drawing exchange file format. Requires special plug-in.	Dr DWG NetView Vdraft Internet Tools CSView150
GIF	Raster graphics format most commonly used on the WWW. Preferred format for graphics with that can cope with a limited colour palette and supports animation.	supported in browser
JPG	Raster graphics format commonly used on the Web. Preferred format for photorealistic images or images that include colour gradient fills (or blends).	supported in browser CSView150
SVF	SoftSource Simple Vector Format. Supports zoom, pan, layer control and embedded hyperlinks. Requires special plug-in.	Vdraft Internet Tools
SWF	Flash 2 multimedia file format. Supports animation, audio and programmable interactivity and streaming.	ShockWave
VRML	Virtual Reality Modeling Language describes 3D worlds for the Web. Requires VRML-enabled browser or VRML viewer.	supported in browser

Multi-Native Format Viewer Plug-Ins

CSView150 is an interesting plug-in in that it supports many CAD-related files in native format.

Cimmetry Systems also has a freely available plug-in that supports CAD-related files in native format. The plug-in requires Cimmetry's AutoVue software installed on your PC.


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