DWG

[Farnoush Pourmoradi]

Hi. When I import a DWG into ArchiCAD and drag the view to the publisher set, it's empty. When I go back to the view, the drawing is gone. Can you please help?

[Farnoush Pourmoradi]

I used the "placed external drawing " option for the external drawing, and it appeared to be a photo. When I exploded it, all the lines looked thicker. I'm not using the xref tool.

[Barry Kelly]

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@Farnoush Pourmoradi wrote:

I used the "placed external drawing " option for the external drawing

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That is the same as using the drawing tool to place a drawing.

You can place DWG, DXF, PDF, etc.

You can then explode into individual elements.

Barry.

[Barry Kelly]

Change the pen used for that element.

Barry.

[StefanV_BCP]

Hi Farnoush,

Can you tell us for what purpose do you import the dwg?

I am asking you this so we can give you better answer to the question.

Cheers,

Stefan 

[Farnoush Pourmoradi]

Hi Stefan. Because I don't have AutoCAD software on my system. I need to amend the drawings.

[StefanV_BCP]

Hi Farnoush,

Unfortunately editing dwg files in Archicad is similar to asking any cad software to edit IFC files. 
Some of them could but not with many hassles and hurdles. Simply put, Archicad is not meant for 2D workflows. (dwg-dwg)

For this kind of workflow, you need to set good translators for import and export, which is time-consuming and often does not give desired results

An easy fix would be to explode everything and then adjust the pen set so you could control the thickness, of the elements and then save it as dwg.

Cheers.

Stefan

[Farnoush Pourmoradi]

"Is that the reason it's gone every time?"

[StefanV_BCP]

I am not sure what you mean by this sentence.

Cheers,

Stefan

[Barry Kelly · Accepted solution]

@Farnoush Pourmoradi ,

If you use the 'attach reference' or 'place external drawing' option or use the drawing tool, the DWG will be placed in one layer as a drawing.

It will be placed in the layer that is set as default in the drawing tool.

It will not add layers to your file, but you can select the drawing and open the settings, you will see the layers of the drawing (as in my first attached image ... https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Modeling/DWG/m-p/614663/highlight/true#M172588 )

You have the option to 'explode' the drawing if you want to work on it further.

You will be given the option to 'Use Drawing's Layer' or 'Import Embedded Layers'.

'Use Drawing's Layer' means all elements in the drawing will now be placed in the one layer that the drawing was in.

'Import Embedded Layers' will create new layers (used in the original drawing) that you will have to manually set to be on/off in your layer combinations.

If you use the 'Attach Xref' option, then the original drawing layers will be appended separately to the layer list (as in my second attached image ... https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Modeling/DWG/m-p/614669/highlight/true#M172591 )

You have to manually turn them on/off for each of your layer combinations.

You can 'Bind' the Xref to your file which is basically the same as exploding the drawing.

The drawing layers will now be a part of your file and you have to show/hide, lock/unlock them for each of you layer combinations.

So if you find a drawing has 'disappeared', check that the layer (or layers if exploded or Xref) are turned on in the layer combination that you are using for the view where you want to see the drawing.

Barry.