export DXF invalid shape

_Shorty · Post by **_Shorty** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 4:22 pm

Hi there. I'm trying to export an STL file to DXF for a sheet metal project I have and I'm at a roadblock. Exporting the Shape2DView to DXF results in an "Export failed" error that states the "Shape is invalid." This is the very first model I've ever made and I have really no clue what I am doing. I didn't make it in FreeCAD, as I didn't know about FreeCAD at the time. I made it in eMachineShop's newb-friendly CAD program and exported it to STL from that. Now when trying to get a local machine shop to look at it they are asking for a DXF file, so I'm trying to use FreeCAD to do that STL->DXF export. If anyone has a spare moment to take a look at the file and see why I may be getting this error, which hopefully doesn't actually take a significant amount of anyone's time, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Willem · Post by **Willem** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 4:46 pm

Welcome to Freecad and the forum
For the problem:
- go to Part workbench
- In the pull down menu choose: Create shape from mesh
- export the shape to DXF

Post by **openBrain** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:36 pm

Hi _Shorty, Welcome,

After creating shape from mesh, I'd advise to use "Refine shape" (also from Part WB) so you get rid of all extra lines in your model and thus has a clean DXF.

As a side note (this isn't required here) notice that you can then use several times Draft Downgrade on the shape to explode it to faces, then wires, then edges ...

TheMarkster · Post by **TheMarkster** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 1:41 am

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_Shorty · Post by **_Shorty** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 11:42 am

Thanks for all the answers! I really appreciate it.

vparthas · Post by **vparthas** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:59 pm

openBrain wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:36 pm Hi _Shorty, Welcome,

After creating shape from mesh, I'd advise to use "Refine shape" (also from Part WB) so you get rid of all extra lines in your model and thus has a clean DXF.
As a side note (this isn't required here) notice that you can then use several times Draft Downgrade on the shape to explode it to faces, then wires, then edges ...

Hi,
I did all the steps above (Create shape from mesh, refine shape).
When I do a Draft Downgrade, the system just hangs. Help. I have attached my initial STI file.

Post by **openBrain** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:13 pm

vparthas wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:59 pm I did all the steps above (Create shape from mesh, refine shape).
When I do a Draft Downgrade, the system just hangs. Help. I have attached my initial STI file.

What do you want to achieve ? If you just want a DXF, you don't need to Draft Downgrade.
This is normal FC hangs as your shape (even refined) is composed of thousands of faces. This is the problem when recovering from mesh format as STL.

_Shorty · Post by **_Shorty** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:55 pm

Just wanted to say thanks again! File exported, and in queue for the water jet at a local shop. Get my parts in a couple of weeks. (They're busy!)

easyw-fc · Post by **easyw-fc** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 2:16 pm

vparthas wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:59 pm Hi,
I did all the steps above (Create shape from mesh, refine shape).
When I do a Draft Downgrade, the system just hangs. Help. I have attached my initial STI file.

Simply view the shape from top and use Draft Shape2DView, then export it to dxf.
https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Draft_Shape2DView
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ef-002-canopy.dxf: (537.48 KiB) Downloaded 28 times

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