File viewers for mechanical CAD/CAM formats

Last update 2019-02-19

Software tools work with their own data file format or may use industry-standard formats. These formats often use separate file viewers that you can download and install. If the data file format you want isn't found below or through a web search, contact the CAD tool publisher for their recommendations.

PDXplorer™ can view a PDX package, which can contain design files. These files (package "attachments") can be viewed by the following file viewers. For information about PDX packages and PDXplorer, see: PDXplorer free viewer for PDX packages (IPC-2570).

Actify SpinFire Reader can be used to view SpinFire Professional .3D files:

Autodesk has offered DWG as a drawing standard, similar to how Adobe has established PDF as a document publishing standard. Autodesk's free viewer is DWG TrueView:

More interesting is the Autodesk Design Review software product for DWG and Inventor files:

Bentley Systems' MicroStation (DGN), as well as DWG, files can be read using the Bentley View utility:

CADCAM-E.Com, Inc. has free EnSuite-View multi-format 3D tool: a viewer/translator and a simpler viewer-only:

Kubotek's CAD formats, KeyCreator and Cadkey, can be viewed using the free-after-registration KeyCreator Viewer:

Kubotek also offers a paid tool, K-Display View, for a wide variety of mechanical CAD formats:

OpenText™ publishes the OpenText™ Brava!™ DWG Viewer utility, which opens DWG, DWF and DXF files:

The Siemens free Solid Edge Viewer can also open DXF and DWG files:

SolidWorks Corporation offers a free eDrawings publisher tool, and separate reader, which allows many different CAD applications to publish to a common CAD drawing format. Formats include SolidWorks, Autocad, Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER, CATIA, Unigraphics and CoCreate's OneSpace:

SpaceClaim Corporation has a free SpaceClaim Professional file viewer:

If you use ACIS 3D Modeler, you can download the HOOPS 3D Part Viewer for ACIS from Spatial Corporation here:

Users of STEP (ISO-10303) can get the free IDA-STEP Viewer and IGES2STEP Viewer and Converter at:

Regrettably, IMSI/Design doesn't publish a viewer for native TurboCAD files, but a converter to PDF/DWG.

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