To convert a DWG to PDF without AutoCAD, open CADdillo’s converter, drop the .dwg in with PDF selected, sign in with the one-click link we email you (free account, no card) and download the PDF. It reads DWG from R11 through the 2018 format, files up to 30 MB, and plots black lines on white as a vector PDF.
Drop in the DWG your vendor sent and get back a print-ready PDF — black on white, real lineweights, the way a CAD sheet is meant to print. Reads DWG r11 through r2018. No AutoCAD, no install — free account, no card.
| AutoCAD release | DWG format | |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 and later | AC1032 | Vector PDF |
| 2013 to 2017 | AC1027 | Vector PDF |
| 2010 to 2012 | AC1024 | Vector PDF |
| 2007 to 2009 | AC1021 | Vector PDF |
| 2004 to 2006 | AC1018 | Vector PDF |
| 2000 to 2002 | AC1015 | Vector PDF |
| R14 | AC1014 | Vector PDF |
| R13 | AC1012 | Vector PDF |
| R11 / R12 | AC1009 | Vector PDF |
Most drawings plot in a second or two; a heavy drawing can take a minute or more. The page takes the drawing’s own proportions, and because the PDF is vector it prints sharp on any paper size.
Checked against the converter on .
Most free "DWG to PDF" tools render the drawing the way it looks on screen — yellow and cyan lines on a black field — and the result is unreadable on paper and unusable in a submittal. CADdillo plots the way a CAD program plots.
Need a different output? The same converter also produces DXF for editing, PNG for documents, and SVG for infinite-zoom vector work.
The full package. Overwhelming overkill if you just need a PDF.
Still a real drafting tool, still a real annual commitment.
Free permanently. The editor is the paid part, and only if you want it.
Prices are Autodesk’s published US list rates and change from time to time. If you draft full-time, LT is a more complete tool and we say so plainly.
Use a browser-based converter. Drop the .dwg on CADdillo’s converter page, leave PDF selected, and download the result. It reads DWG r11 through r2018 and needs no software install — just a free account (no card). AutoCAD costs about $2,030 a year and AutoCAD LT about $500 — neither is necessary just to turn a drawing into a PDF.
Yes. Email sign-in required: files are converted on our servers, so we verify every user. One-click link, no password. We never sell your email to third parties. A free account (no card required) converts files up to 30 MB. The converter is free permanently — it is not a trial.
Yes. The plot follows CAD plotting convention rather than screen convention: black geometry on a white background, with the drawing’s own lineweights honored, drawn as vector lines. It is a plot, not a screenshot of a dark CAD window, so it prints and reads properly on paper.
The full extents of the model space are plotted to a single page shaped to the drawing — nothing is cropped. For a very large plan that means the detail is dense at letter size; printing to 11x17 or larger, or converting to SVG for infinite zoom, both handle that better.
A small detail sheet is nearly instant. A large facility plan with tens of thousands of entities takes up to about a minute, because plotting renders every entity in the drawing. Converting to DXF instead is a format transcode rather than a plot, so it is much faster if you do not specifically need a PDF.
No. DWF is a published-plot format — a finished, view-only output that does not carry the editable geometry a DWG or DXF does. If someone sent you a DWF, ask them for the source DWG or DXF instead; the result is better and you get a file you can actually edit.
The conversion runs server-side because reading the binary DWG format requires it, and the uploaded file plus its converted output are deleted immediately after the response is returned. They are transient artifacts, never stored. If you only need to view a DXF, the in-browser viewer parses it entirely on your machine with no upload at all.
Not yet — conversion is one file at a time. Batch conversion is a planned feature; if it would be useful to you, say so on the contact page, since that is how features get prioritized.
If a file fails to convert or display, we keep that one file privately so we can find and fix the cause. It is reviewed anonymously, with no name or email attached, never shared with or given to any third party, sold, or used to train AI, and deleted once the bug is fixed (within 30 days at most). Files that convert successfully are never kept.
Free account, no card, about fifteen seconds.
