Software to open and edit DWG files

LinceCAD is a 2D and 3D CAD program for Windows and Linux that opens, edits and saves DWG and DXF files on its own, without AutoCAD or intermediate converters. The drawing is not translated into a format of its own: the open document is the DWG itself.

DWG and DXF versions

The DWG 2018 format is the one used by AutoCAD 2018 to 2027, so drawings from current versions open directly. To deliver to someone working with an older version, just save to the version they ask for.

What is kept

Objects the program does not edit, such as proxies or objects from vertical applications, are kept when saving. Layers, blocks, dimensions, text, styles and layouts stay as editable DWG objects.

What you can edit

• 2D geometry: lines, polylines, arcs, splines, hatches and gradients, with move, copy, rotate, trim, extend, fillet, arrays and grips.
• Annotation: SHX and TrueType text, associative and annotative dimensions, multileaders and tables.
• Blocks and attributes, dynamic blocks with their parameters, external references and raster images.
• Layers with filters and states, colors, linetypes, lineweights and transparency.
• Layouts with viewports and plotting to vector PDF, SVG and PNG.
• ACIS solids and meshes in 3D.

A familiar way of working

Users coming from AutoCAD will find the ribbon or the Classic workspace with menus and toolbars, a command line with autocomplete and aliases, and dockable Properties, Layers and Blocks palettes. Commands also accept their global name, such as _LINE, and F1 opens the help for the current command.

Large drawings and damaged files

An 80 MB DWG with almost 490,000 entities opens in about 4 seconds on a current computer. The program offers autosave, .bak backups and safe saving, which never leaves a half-written file. For drawings with errors there are AUDIT and RECOVER.

Working with several drawings

You can open several drawings in tabs and copy objects between them through the clipboard. DWGCOMPARE marks the changes between two versions of a drawing, ETRANSMIT packs the drawing with its references, images, fonts and plot styles into a ZIP to send it, and DIGITALSIGN adds a digital integrity signature.

Other formats

Besides DWG and DXF, LinceCAD converts PDF to vector DWG, vectorizes raster images and recognizes their text with OCR, imports SVG, imports and exports SHP, KML/KMZ and GeoJSON, and exports STL, OBJ and STEP. The guide how to convert a PDF to DWG explains it step by step.

Without opening the program

The Python API includes a wheel that reads and writes DWG and DXF without opening LinceCAD, useful for batch processing drawings from a script.

Windows and Linux

On Windows there is an x64 installer. On Linux, a .deb package for Ubuntu and Debian and a .tar.gz for other distributions. The guide how to open and edit DWG on Linux reviews the options on that system, and the page Linux CAD with DWG lists the tested distributions.

If you only need to view drawings

During the 30-day trial you have every feature. Afterwards, without a license, the program stays in read-only mode: it still opens, displays, measures, exports to PDF and prints DWG files. Editing and saving require the perpetual license.

Frequently asked questions

Open your DWG files with the 30-day trial. Download · Pricing · All features

See also: AutoCAD LT alternative · Linux CAD with DWG · Perpetual license CAD.