Save a Drawing

You save drawing files for later use just as you do with other Microsoft Windows applications. You can also set up automatic saving and backup files and save only selected objects.

When you work on a drawing, you should save it frequently. Saving protects you from losing work in the event of a power failure or other unexpected event. If you want to create a new version of a drawing without affecting the original drawing, you can save it under another name.

The file extension for drawing files is .dwg, and unless you change the default file format in which drawings are saved, drawings are saved in the latest drawing file format. This format is optimized for file compression and for use on a network.

The character limit for a DWG file name (including its path) is 256 characters.

Save Part of a Drawing File

If you want to create a new drawing file from part of an existing drawing, you use the WBLOCK command. With the command, you can select objects or specify a block definition in your current drawing and save them to a new drawing file. You can also save a description with the new drawing.

Different Type of Drawing File

You can save a drawing to an earlier version of the drawing format (DWG) or drawing interchange format (DXF), or save a drawing as a template file. Choose the format from Files of Type in the Save Drawing As dialog box.

Visual Fidelity

When working with annotative objects, this option allows you to maintain visual fidelity for these objects when they are viewed in AutoCAD 2007 and earlier releases. Visual fidelity is controlled by the SAVEFIDELITY system variable.

If you work primarily in model space, it is recommended that you turn off visual fidelity (set SAVEFIDELITY to 0). However, if you need to exchange drawings with other users, and layout fidelity is most important, then visual fidelity should be turned on (set SAVEFIDELITY to 1).

Sharing

If you share drawing files with companies in other countries and regions, the drawing file names might contain characters that are not used in other languages.

Large Object Limits Compatibility

Drawings saved to a legacy drawing file format (AutoCAD 2007 or earlier) do not support objects greater than 256MB. With the AutoCAD 2010 drawing file format, these limitations have been removed allowing you to save objects that are greater in size.

When saving to a legacy drawing file format (AutoCAD 2007 or earlier), the drawing cannot contain large objects; there might be compatibility issues with trying to open the drawing. The LARGEOBJECTSUPPORT system variable controls the large object size limits used and the warning messages displayed when a drawing is saved.

The following explains how object size limits for drawings is determined:

• Drawing files cannot exceed an internal size limit of 4GB. This size is based on the total size of all objects in a drawing when uncompressed. Since a drawing file is normally compressed, the final size of a saved drawing file on disk will vary based on the size and number of objects in a drawing.
• Each individual object in a drawing cannot exceed an uncompressed size limit of 256MB. For example, a mesh object, when saved to a file and compressed, might be 75MB in size while the same object when uncompressed might be 257MB.

In these situations, the drawing cannot be saved to an AutoCAD 2007 or earlier file format until the issues are resolved. You can resolve the size limits by breaking the drawing or objects up into several drawings or objects.