getting harder and harder to translate and open dwg and dxf files

[Lester Tobias]

I've always had trouble opening either native autocadd or autocadd dxf files. I usually go in, hide or remove all unnecessary layers, explode all the blocks, remove all text and dimensions. Then I "save down" to auto cad 2010. It used to be a toss up whether or not Powercadd would open the damn file but lately it's virtually impossible and I have to force quit just to try again.

What am I doing wrong?

I am running Mojave 10.14.6 and Powercadd 9

[Matt_A]

In the PowerCADD folder on your computer there might be a Utilities folder with ODAFileConverter.app which can be very handy.

[JeffSnyder]

Thanks for the tip, Matt. I never knew about this app.

Unfortunately, that version of ODA File Converter is from 2018 and doesn't appear to translate recent versions of CAD.

The latest version of ODA File Converter only runs on OS 11. So not happening right now.

Jeff Snyder

[patrickm]

There may be (I haven’t checked) some online translation sites that you could use to downgrade a current DWG file to an earlier version that PC can open. I’ve heard mention of sites like this in the past.

[fred johnson]

Try saving AC back to 2007 version and see what happens.