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Currently PDF pages are unhelpfully imported stacked on top of each other with a small offset. It would be much more helpful if they were brought in and auto-arranged in a grid - the width/height or spacing of which could be part of the import dialogue. I believe this was requested years ago too.

I have heard the reasons for not implementing .FBX import ability for Vectorworks and I have decided they are wrongheaded. VW has but a tiny fraction of the CAD/Modeling world. If it is to survive, working with the big players in the field is a must. At this point in time, .fbx is the export/import format that is best supported by Autodesk. For that reason, Vectorworks must not only export .fbx (which, in my experience has been working very well) but MUST also import this format. OBJ is too old and is no longer adequate in a professional environment. It is actually making it harder to make the case for Vectorworks in a mixed environment--and I find it hard to blame them. There is no reason not to do have .fbx import capability; I hope to see this implemented within the year. It needs to be a top priority if VW is to stay in business. Thank you, MH Brown

Hi, Having spent an hour or so on the phone with one of your very helpful support team I thought it prudent to add this feature request to save time and effort for others in the future. I have imported several DWGs into separate reference files and used reference viewports to view/snap to them in my main working file. However I want to grey out these backgrounds in the sheet layers so that my content (not the architect's) is clearly visible against their background. By using viewport class overrides this should be possible (setting the line and fill colours to grey). I was advised today that this only works if ALL the reference file objects have their attributes set by class. The DWG import doesn't have an option to do this. Setting all objects to by class manually after the import doesn't always work well since the AutoCAD layer definitions (which are converted directly to classes - which is the right thing to do) may not have been used by every object in the drawing (colour by layer/fill by layer etc) but instead set manually. Is there any clever way around this problem (perhaps creating more classes where manual overrides have been used). Creating and using classes based on an objects current line type/colour/fill type/colour etc to create a class automatically and apply the same class to objects with identical attributes and then setting all attributes by class? (I envisage hundreds of 'sub-classes' being created) The other problem arises when dealing with hatches. AutoCAD, unless I am mistaken, allows you to use hatches where the hatch line colour is determined by the layer, VW has individual hatches one per colour if needed .... adding to my problems. I went through and changed all the pen colours and set them to grey (but I don't think that a good idea). Love to hear your thoughts. R

If a layer is set to invisible, it should be invisible when initially referenced, like classes. This way if we set resource layers to invisible in the source file, we don't have to turn them off after referencing them. We do this with 'non-plot' classes.

The new MAC OS Sonoma 14.1 no longer supports .EPS files and Vectorworks 2024 has removed the import EPSF feature! All existing EPS graphics in past and current drawings now show-up as grey boxes with an X. For many of us, this change is crippling our ability to work and generate service to clients as we use dark background for presentation and titleblocks. For example, many graphics such as our corporate logo and professional seal needs to be inserted with a transparent background which predominantly .EPS would have offered. The next logical vector based graphical format that can do transparent backgrounds is .SVG (which stands for Scalable Vector Graphics). To our amazement and surprise, this format is not supported by Vectorworks! Please consider this as a "formal request to have Vectorwoks add the ability to import .SVG file type" into drawings ASAP. We also note that PDF format that was suggested by Vectorworks as an alternative does not work. Specifically, PDF with transparent background is ignored and comes in with solid background. PDF also has limitation on pixel and is not as flexible as vector graphics. We note that MAC does support .SVG as we are able to import into native applications such as pages. This issue is a major step back and NEEDS to get fixed. This can't wait for the next quarterly update and NEEDS to be incorporated fast and in a hurry. Please and thank you, i

With more and more fixture manufacturers making GDTF files available, I frequently have to import several of these when making a new drawing. The current workflow requires multiple steps to import through the File > Import menu, which is quite awkward to navigate since it currently contains 30 options. It would save time and be a lot more convenient if I could simply drag-and-drop onto the application window as can be done with PDF's. For extra credit, allow the user to re-order or hide items on the Import submenu so the more commonly used ones are easier to find. For extra extra credit, allow all valid file types to be imported via drag and drop.

I'm a landscape architect in Norway and in working with government-projects the most common rule is that we need to deliver our data in an open format. Non-proprietary. In most cases it is the IFC-format that is being used, but in some projects we need to deliver our terrain model and 3D-data in a LandXML-format. Also source data from a survey can be provided as LandXML that we need to import. To my knowledge this is most common in projects within transportation, such as road and rail planning. We can do this in Civil 3D, but it would be much easier of course, if we could do this directly in Vectorworks, and not being dependent of Civil 3D to do the job. And also possibly loosing data from Vectorworks to DWG before going to Civil 3D.

I've got a lot of Revit content I'd like to use in VW. There's also a lot available online. However, so much imports so badly, if at all, it's unusable.... Please improve the importing and usability of Revit Families and content. Thanks, Rudy Beuc

Is there a way to import an Illustrator CS5.1 file into Vectorworks? Best I can get is a bitmap. I need to be able to edit text.

There should be the possibility to import settings for the export of ifc models. The Button "Einstellungen speichern" is really lonely and not really helping ^^ Also an option to sort the levels (Geschosse) would be nice, the setting is really complicated and a lot of work every time you have to change something or deactivate some Levels. First to set how many levels and then the editing of the several levels

When I use the Landmark > Survey input > Import Survey File ... and want to create Stake objects for every point in the survey file, the preferences in the Stake Object must be set before importing. If the Stake object is set to Mode: Set elev to site model, and if there is a site model in the file, the elevation / z-value from the imported Stake Objects will be overridden and set to the elevation of the Site Model. In order to prevent this the preferences for the Stake must be set to Mode: Use as 2D/3D graphic only, or one of the other modes. If you forget to set the Mode-pref before importing (...) the elevations can be completely wrong (it took me a while to notice that the elevations were wrong...). There should be a warning or an option in the Import Survey File dialogue to prevent this. In the Modify > Convert > Stake Object from 3D Locus the prefs for the Stake Object pops up. Could you do the same for the Survey Import File ?

I would like to import 40+ Sheets from another drawing. I want to include the title block and work sheets. I know, I can't import the viewports, and wouldn't want to. I have been able to import the Sheets, but they come in empty. Please add a checkbox marked 'import layer objects' for Sheet Layers too.

Current behaviour… you can reference using layer import or you can reference using design layer viewport while you can create a design layer viewport from a referenced layer you cannot create a ‘referenced’ design layer viewport at the same time as using layer import referencing both methods have been around since 2009? both have been independent isn’t it about time the two co-existed? then we can do what Revit and autoCAD do

Hello Could we please have a similar situation when geo-referencing is present in a VW file, and have the DWG import options detect the presence of a pre-ordained user origin, and use that instead of default to the insidious 'centre on import' option? We spend a lot of time preparing template for projects with pre-defined user origins and the last thing we want is for Vectorworks 'recommended' settings to intervene. The same goes for the subsequent message asking if we want to do what Vectorworks recommends! Often causes problems when the user fails to read that message and assumes it's asking if they want to do what they have spent time setting up, only to find out it's doing what Vectorworks recommends. Thanks.

I really wish Vectorworks had the ability to at least open and edit .eps or .svg filetypes. I know it’s possible to convert those files to .dwg and then import them to Vectorworks but in my specific instance I can’t convert them to a .dwg first. I need to be able to open them in Vectorworks as an editable .eps or .svg files. Is there any way that this will ever be possible?

It would be far more helpful if this dialog also contained the 'Sheet Title' alongside the 'Sheet Number' and 'Sheet Description', or at least have an option to display it. In addition, if this import process could also import the titleblock object, that would save a step whereby the titleblock needs to be added afterwards.

I don't know if this was proposed earlier, and if that's the case, just putting it up again. Wanted to request the ease of importing stories and levels from another file, or as a template, or choose to import part of stories from a different file more easily. This is especially the case if a referenced file uses stories, but the annotation file requires them to be added once more.

Hi to all, I use a file with a list of standard classes to be used to be imported i my files but it is so difficult to browse a long list of classes without a search field to filter them. (Something similar to the one provided in the organization palett to filter layer and class names). Would be great to have it. Thank you

Hi This isn't much of an issue normally but right now trying to maintain sets of Design Layer names for referenced files to help in Project Sharing workflow. Would be useful to add the imported DWG's contents into a specific existing Design Layer and not creating a new one based on the DWG name only. I am able to organize the incoming ACAD layers by prefix them in the classes area which is very valuable. The time I take waiting on the beach ball to go away in moving from the importing Design Layer to the existing one is a complete waste of work time. we should have the option to merge into an existing.

It would be helpful to be able to drag multiple species into a document from the resource browser, in one action, to create concept-level plant schedules. The numbers aren't important at this stage, but the fact that at least one representative symbol is, so that a worksheet can see it. I suppose another way might be to have various 'physical' examples of the plant groups in another document to copy/paste from. Be better to be able to just 'see' the file in the library list without actually having to open it. ALSO: it would be very helpful to be able to set the style-options at a global / workspace level. 'Latin name', instead of 'no prefix', so I don't have to go in and change them every time.

I vote for a DGN Import/Export Option for VW. Meanwhile ODAs DGN Import SDK works reasonably good, (As I can see in Bricscad, mostly Solids and even Materials coming in) I would also like to have that DGN Import/Export Option in Vectorworks.

Please allow Stories and Levels to be imported into a new file. When confronted with a file that gets corrupted and refuses to open without crashing Vw, the suggested method to try and recover the file is to use the Layer Import trick (outlined in THIS thread). The problem with this method is that Stories and Levels are NOT imported; Any object that was either bound to a Level or a Story is broken as they do not exist in the new file. You end up with a bunch of objects in the OIP saying Top / Bottom Bound "doesn't exist". Stair objects refuse to be created. If the file is so corrupted that you are unable to open the file, you cannot see how the Stories and Levels were constructed. Which leaves you with a new file that is better than having to completely starting over, but not ideal.

If I create a class, I have the option to: give it a unique name name it based on classes in a template file source a file in Finder and pull those class names Could there be an option to pull class names from another open file? ...or even a file in your favorites or resource manager?

Literally every single OBJ that I have ever imported from any third-party source/program has come into Vectorworks rotated -90° on the X axis, meaning once it's imported I have to go into the Right view, rotate 90°, then align the imported model to the Z ground plane (which might involve guesswork). This isn't a big deal until you start needing to import OBJs from a collaborating vendor multiple times a day. Then it becomes a huge headache, particularly if the imported models are dense meshes, and it takes several minutes to do these steps each and every time. Furthermore, having to manually rotate & place the model removes any possibility of importing design iterations and automatically keeping the 0,0,0 origin in the same place upon each import. For reference, below is a screengrab of Blender's OBJ import window which has settings for "Forward" and "Up," meaning once I've set these appropriately I never have to worry about it again. Blender is free, open-source software, and I'd expect Vectorworks to be just as capable with a model format as common as OBJ. Blender: VWX: (Also, why is Vectorworks' default "Up" axis for OBJ seemingly different than every single other software that handles OBJ? I've never had a single one import in the expected orientation). VE-102716

The ability to build a ton of classes faster from an .csv import, export class list .csv (or .xlsx) I know the classes wouldn't have the characteristics yet, but some times you need the speed of excel editing to develop a plan in the first place, especially for a lot of fresh classes.