topic Re: DWG Viewr for macOS in Collaboration with other software

DWG Viewer for macOS

agroni — Tue, 12 May 2026 08:42:25 GMT

Hi everyone,

I have a question related not to Archicad, but a general workflow for architects on macOS. I am sadly struggling with this topic for some time now and still not found a solution. I know this question has been asked in 2004, but not definitive solutions were mentioned, and some time has also passed 🙂

May I ask all Mac users, which DWG viewer do you use?

It is a rather simple answer for all Windows users, but in the mac world it is rather very complicated. I have tested numerous softwares such as EZDrawings, QCad, Vcad, LibreCAD but none fulfilled the criteria. They are either lagging (slow) or the UI is not intuitive. On the other hand, I have also tried the online DWG Viewer from Autodesk. It works very good, but we don't want to use it because of GDPR and other law related aspects.

For any useful information, I would be very thankful.

cheers

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

Rex Maximilian — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 00:57:17 GMT

[Edit]: I just read you tried the viewer before. I'm not sure I understand why there is a problem?

You have two options. They work best inside of Chrome, but I believe work in Safari.

1) You can use the free "Viewer"
https://viewer.autodesk.com

2) Or actually run AutoCAD
https://web.autocad.com

Both of these are web apps. Both require an Autodesk account I believe. They viewer is free, but the web app (where you can actually do AutoCAD tweaks) requires a subscription. I paid $100/yr. I believe. The Viewer actually lets you view and navigate around Revit files.

Anyway, they work GREAT! If you still don't want to use the web viewer, you can simply install AutoCAD for Mac. I believe there is a light version and subscription model.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

schagemann — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 08:11:01 GMT

We have been using the following - with varying success, but at least they are all free...

eDrawings > https://apps.apple.com/GB/app/edrawings/id1209754386?mt=12

DWGSee > https://www.autodwg.com/download/dwgseemac.dmg

... hope you like one of them.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

agroni — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 15:51:55 GMT

@Rex Maximilian

The problem with the Autodesk Viewer has to do with GDPR, respectively uploading data to US servers. If we can, we try to avoid US products because of non-existing privacy shield policy between the USA and EU. Autodesk states, that data is going to be available for 30 dates after upload. Hmmmmmmm...

@schagemann

I have installed DWGSee, but don't seem to be able to open it. My macbook (M2) is getting an error immediately upon opening. I assume, you don't have this problem.

eDrawings on the other hand is super slow. Zooming In and Out a DWG Drawing takes ages and cannot be zoomed properly. The same goes for panning and other options. Which Mac do you use? Ist is also a M2?

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

vlahtinen — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 20:13:10 GMT

Fast CAD Reader is quite fast, but with limited functionality and doesn’t always open files correctly: https://apps.apple.com/fi/app/fast-cad-reader/id1484905765

CorelCAD is slow especially with Apple Silicon, but similar to AutoCAD. Saving is disabled in the free version. https://apps.apple.com/fi/app/corelcad/id531739324

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

DGSketcher — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 22:18:34 GMT

I may be missing the point, but have you simply tried drag & dropping a DWG into an AC worksheet. It may not be genuine Autobad, but it seems to present the files probably as good as any other clone.

It depends what you want to achieve?

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

Marc H — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 17:33:16 GMT

I rarely use a viewer, but use eDrawings when I do. Mainly, I use it to check my occasional AC DWG exports, view a problematic DWG prior to import, or quickly look at a DWG to see if it contains the content I need. I don’t notice a speed problem; seems quite fluid in my experience, but then again I am not using it in high volume sessions.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

agroni — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 20:06:43 GMT

Dropping DWG file in a worksheet goes through the Archicad translator, where changes might be applied to the graphics of the drawing.

In addition, you don't get the same representation of the DWG Element in Archicad as in a DWG Software, for ex. a white line in Autocad is a black line in Archicad. Therefore, evaluating DWGs in Archicad is difficult, if the drawing is going to be presented properly in other DWG Tools.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

DGSketcher — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 20:33:30 GMT

If you truly want to authenticate the quality of your DWGs then based on all the comments above you only have one solution in macOS and that is to take on an Autocad LT subscription. I am still managing to run ACLT 2018 on a perpetual licence but I'm sure it will become unsupported soon, but I also don't rely on it anymore. When sending DWGs to collaborate they are exported from Views, not Layouts and a copy of the Layout is issued as a priority document. I don't have any problems importing DWGs apart from poor layer management on the part of the sender...

I used to worry about my exports, but now I generally take the view I am doing the recipient a big favour, saving them hours of drawing time; if they don't appreciate the DWG, they don't have to use it. I am certainly not going to spend hours cleaning up a DWG for the benefit of someone else when I am on a fixed fee.

Maybe your obligations are different for approvals, BIM compliance etc, but that is my position.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

Marc H — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 21:30:47 GMT

… which is why I use the eDrawing tool. It’s free, and works adequately enough to view incoming and AC exports. If you want to really improve productivity, I suggest challenging the use of DWGs going forward (maybe with a special processing fee?). For several years now, I’ve only needed to exchange PLAs and RVTs for editable team use, and PDFs and BIMx for clients use.

I understand there may be old legacy contract T&Cs, but it’s time to challenge these or receive compensation for the difference. Having been on the ‘client side’ myself, many requirements are merely inertial, and when challenged, are often dropped when educated on the efficacy of newer deliverables.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

agroni — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 14:08:32 GMT

Personally, I hate DWGs. The way that how they are delivered to the client, without any specification and structure of the file, makes no sense at delivering them at all. If the client does not know which layers, colors, etc. he needs for further usage of the data, then why bother delivering it in the first place.

Just for coordination and presentations, in my opinion, the PDF is a more suitable format.

Off course, the best case is delivering IFC documentation, which makes also the DWG obsolete.

Thanks anyway to all of you for your valuable input. I will try to make a meaningful conclusion out of this.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

Rex Maximilian — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 08:19:46 GMT

Well, no lover of DWG files either. However, there's no need to provide a layer and color guide for use of the files. I have a custom translator for my specific ArchiCAD templates' layer name conversion and color/BYLAYER control in an AutoCAD seed file. Also, I export a single DWG Xref file for every placed drawing so there are no layers that aren't meant to be turned on. It works very well. if you have to work with DWGs, a necessary evil, then setting up a custom translator and saving out individual files for placed views help ease the pain.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

schagemann — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 23:42:14 GMT

Yes DWGSee is quite old and not sure if still being updated.

How big is your DWG?

On another note and despite still common industry expectations & contractual obligations, I agree with the others that DWGs are almost obsolete... and when published from paper space pretty useless for the following reasons:

A. DWG's from model space are much more useful / convenient than from paperspace, as they may include correct orientation, no Titleblock, no partial display, etc.

B. DWG's may contain custom fonts, which do not play nice with some operating systems;

C. even Archicad struggles with importing its own DWG's;

As a result we hardly issue a DWG without accompanying PDF, as with the latter we can be sure that the recipient sees what we see.
Although controversial, one could even argue that a DWG (possibly even all other export formats except PDF... ;0) should always be an uncontrolled drawing, i.e. for information / convenience only.

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts...

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

schagemann — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 02:51:03 GMT

Totally forgot to mention ARES Kudo.... https://www.graebert.com/cad-software/ares-kudo/

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

agroni — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 07:07:22 GMT

Our DWGs can range from 100Kb up to 20Mb per file. The big ones make the most troubles while opening them. These are the DWGs that we produce from Archicad. All the receiving DWGs from consultants are not bigger than 5-10Mb.

I agree with your strategy, that you always deliver PDFs when sending DWGs. We also do this practice, because as you mentioned, the DWG cannot guarantee the correct graphical representation. Simply said, DWG is real nonsense, and personally can't wait until this format vanishes from our contracts and daily doing

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

DGSketcher — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 08:05:59 GMT

Only a suggestion, but I think the biggest inflator of DWG collaboration files are hatch patterns. See what happens if you omit them and consider if applying a GO to simplify the hatches for export might help.

Re: DWG Viewr for macOS

agroni — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:48:45 GMT

we have decided to use QCAD.

It delivered the best results in the test. It has all the options as Autodesk Viewer and even more. With small DWG files (up to 10Mb) and small drawing complexity, it is rather fast. By files with 20Mb and more and a lot of Information, it needs time to open.

The UI is also very simply like from the 90s, but that was not the main approval criteria 🙂

Thank you all for your valuable input. I hope it also helps other when choosing a DWG viewer for Mac.