Built specifically for sharing data-rich engineering designs, Autodesk DWF Composer helps companies in the building, manufacturing, and infrastructure industries reduce costs, errors, and cycle times with powerful workflow capabilities for digital design review.  If you've ever attended AU (that's Autodesk University) I'm sure you've heard key staff preach the company's mantra of keeping your data and workflows digital... well here's another enabling solution. The DWF data format has been developed to streamline the review, markup, and revision phases of the design workflow.

The DWF file format - The DWF file format is more compact and easier to distribute than a DWG sheet set, enabling easy distribution and communication of design information over the Internet or via email. Unlike JPG, TIF, or PDF files, DWF files preserve design intelligence from the original CAD drawing and ensure that you are seeing what the designer intended.

I know what DWF is but what's Composer?

As I mentioned above, DWF is the enabling solution from Autodesk to develop and manage design data in digital format. Building on that, Autodesk DWF Composer includes workflow and productivity enhancements, AutoCAD® 2005 product integration, as well as the ability to derive, extract, and view design data in sheet sets. Specifically:

• Markup features that are integrated with AutoCAD 2005 family of products
• Markup browser, listing all markups for ease of navigation and review of markups
• Status-tracking capabilities, including the ability to change status and add timestamps and comments
• Complete sheet set organization, enabling you to manipulate DWF sheet sets to create subsets and supersets with discipline-specific information
• Ability to directly measure and dimension to scale in the DWF file to maintain design intelligence in the sheet set

Using standard Microsoft® Windows® conventions and building on the Autodesk® DWF™ Viewer interface, the DWF Composer interface is easy for anyone to learn. You can easily browse sheet sets, navigating through sheets with thumbnail, list, bookmark, or markup views. You can also jump between sheets with hyperlinks, access rich details about objects, and show or hide layers in a drawing.

Some Compelling Features:

• Easy-to-Use Interface - Autodesk DWF Composer is built on the same technology as Autodesk DWF Viewer, with the same easy-to-use interface offering real-time pan and zoom, layers, and access to object sheet properties.
• Multi-sheet Navigator - Intuitively navigate sheet sets in the Sheet Set Navigator window. Select from thumbnail, list, bookmark, and markup views to browse a multi-sheet sheet set faster and more easily than on paper.
• Hyperlink Support - Jump between sheets and views when hyperlinks are used, to browse as easily as you browse a website.
• Sheet & Object Properties - Access properties of objects in a drawing and review status in the Properties pane, which lists sheet properties like sheet name, drawing author, and timestamp; object properties like door size, height, and materials; and markup properties displaying reviewer name, status, history, and notes.
• Real-Time Pan and Zoom - Use real-time pan and zoom with PanAround™ mouse support to easily navigate sheets.
• Layer Control - Turn layer visibility on or off to see only the information you need. Note: The AutoCAD user must enable this option when publishing the DWF file.
Other features:
• Access object and sheet properties
• Perform quick and easy measurements using the Dimension tool
• snapping precisely to drawing geometry using the auto-snap feature
• Easily mark up drawings with markup tools
• Supports rich text capability, including bold, italic, underline
• Add shapes, including lines, polylines, rectangles, ellipses
• Select from preconfigured stamps to monitor design status
• Markups are automatically recorded in the Markup tab
• Use the free Autodesk DWF Writer to create DWF files from any printing application
• Add timestamps to markups
• Use Autodesk DWF Composer with Autodesk Buzzsaw
• Share designs and protect with digital signatures
DWF files include rich design information, such as layers, views, sheet properties, units, and scale. When printing DWF files, you see an accurate rendition of the original design. You can also print to scale with precision

For users who need to view or print designs in the native DWG file format, Autodesk DWF Composer comes with a DWG viewer that enables viewing, plotting, and publishing to DWF format from DWG files. To view a raster, simply drag the image into Autodesk DWF Composer.

User Spotlight

The City of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, NC is a fine example of a local government who has taken advantage of the benefits of DWF. The city has integrated DWF into its digital infrastructure in order to streamline and support their digital design and review process. Using DWF Composer, the city has improved the entire design review process which typically would require input from as many as 12 agencies for a typical premit. Using DWF, reviews, markups, edits are streamlined, with each agency adding comments using a unique color code, easily identifying the recording agency. Multisheet DWF files are used and features like thumbnails and bookmarks  streamline the entire process - all the while the data and markup process remains digital.

DWF Viewer 5

Autodesk DWF™ Viewer is a free, lightweight, high-performance application for viewing and printing DWF™ (Design Web Format™) files. Autodesk DWF Viewer enables users to view DWF files that preserve the intent of the designer, without requiring the original design application. Autodesk DWF Viewer has a very flexible printing system that enables users to print to scale, fit to page, tile, or selectively print a variety of sheets from a DWF drawing set.

Example: In the figure above a standard USGS DRG was easily imported and used in Autodesk Map 3D 2005 for preliminary analysis. The data was then shared with a client using DWF Composer and the resulting DWF was marked up, stamped, and saved. The data can now be shared with non-Autodesk users who have the free Autodesk Viewer.

Autodesk DWF Viewer is available as both a standalone application or as an ActiveX control that is embedded within Microsoft Internet Explorer, providing a simple, easy to use interface for even the novice user to master viewing and printing of design data. Autodesk DWF Viewer ActiveX control also allows users to embed DWF files in other Windows Office applications like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

In order to share the DWF data that you just created, colleagues will require the Free DWF Viewer available as a 2.98 MB Free download from AutoDesk.

Sharing your DWF data with users is very simple, particularly using the insert Object function within common apps like MS Word & PowerPoint

Features:

• DWF Viewing - High-fidelity DWF files display rich design information such as layers, views, and measurements.
• DWG Viewing - A stand-alone DWG Viewer lets you view, print, and publish DWG files.
• Open and View Raster Images - Use the Open Raster Images command to scale, measure, and mark up raster images. Raster images can then be saved as DWF files
• Flexible Print Options - With flexible printing options you can print files to scale or specified scale, fit to page, print selected views, tile across multiple pages, and print multiple pages or page ranges.
• DWG Plotting - Uses the same plot technology as AutoCAD software
  

System Requirements

Intel® Pentium®-based PC, 200MHz processor or faster

Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional, Windows 2000 (SP1 or higher), Windows 98 SE, Windows Me or Windows NT® 4.0 (SP6 or higher)

32MB RAM (minimum)

800x600 video display or higher

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher (IE 5.5 required for Windows NT and recommended for all users)
 
Got it straight now? If you need to review DWF and digital design data then the DWF Viewer is all you need. If you need to review, mark-up and revise your design data then DWF Composer is the solution for you.

According to a rep from Autodesk, the company is finding that many existing customers are interested in extending Autodesk DWF Composer for field force automation; in short, enabling staff/crews in the field to markup maps remotely with DWF Composer’s redline markup tools – and then send them back to the office where they’re updating the original CAD (DWG) files.  Sounds familiar?

Note: Autodesk DWF Composer is integrated with the AutoCAD 2005 family of products

Suggested Weblinks

• Download a Free 30 eval of DWF Composer
• Download the free DWF Viewing client
  

Source: Some of the information and specifications in this article have been derived from the paper "Autodesk DWF Composer Features & Benefits"

NOTE: Autodesk, DWF, Buzzsaw, and Autodesk MapGuide are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries.