this is the first time I have imported a DXF outline and maybe this is already known:
A colleague gave me a DXF PCB outline exported from Altium.
Import went just fine, the outline looks OK.
But then the 3D viewer “said” it can not recognize the outline. On close examination I found that there are small circles made from several even smaller arcs between all segments of the outline !
I deleted these circles/arcs manually and the remaining outline is recognized without problem.
Does anybody here know: is this an Altium setting or a DXF incompatibilty ??
DXF has never been a great file format. It has old roots (40+ years probably) and has become a defacto standard because of that. Over the years has seen multiple revisions.
Maybe there is an option in altium to specify the version in which the DXF gets exported.
It may also help if you post a screenshot of those arcs imported in KiCad.
(Just export it again, make a screenshot and then exit KiCad without saving).
Have you asked that colleague that made the .DXF?
Maybe those arcs are also in altium itself.
They look like the snap points of the segments, have you checked with a DXF viewer if those point are in the DXF file itself ? I have done DXF importing into KiCAD before (not from Altium mind you) and haven’t seen those dots while doing it, however I have seen other artifacts like deleted border or information tables.
Sorry, I do not have another CAD SW, there is only MS Office on this Machine.
I had hoped this is a known effect for people who have altium experience, maybe some DXF option like “include snap points” or similar.
I can delete them by selecting the whole junction with a rectangle, so its not a big problem.
DXF files are usually somewhat readable text files, and all those arcs should be easily recognizable in the file.
It’s almost certain that the arcs are in the file, and in that case it has nothing to do with KiCad whatsoever, but is purely an issue with the software which created the file. So in this case altium.
Just an idea: If you could get altium source file, you could probably import it to nightly (v5.99) version of kicad (presumably with high accuracy), when reexport to some compatible format (DXF?) to be opened into kicad v5.1. (I don’t know if v5.99 will work as “extracted folder”, and if kicad can export board outline to some compatible format which v5.1 can import, never needed this kind of workflow. But, in case v5.99 imports outline correctly, you could get exact coordinates of polygon outline and redraw outline itself into v5.1…)
I know, you mean well , but in this case I would rather stay with my workaround of deleting all circles manually. (this will not become my typical workflow)
Anyway I thank you for your proposal !
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, but in this case I would rather stay with my workaround of deleting all circles manually. (this will not become my typical workflow)