CADcompatible

CADcompatible is a designation used to describe software, files, or workflows that are compatible with one or more computer-aided design (CAD) systems. It indicates that data can be exchanged and used across different CAD platforms with minimal loss of information, enabling collaboration among teams that rely on different vendors.

Common CADcompatible data formats include DWG, DXF, STEP, IGES, and IFC. Native formats may vary by vendor, while neutral formats like STEP and IFC are designed to preserve geometry, topology, and metadata when transferring between systems. Rasterized or mesh formats such as STL are also widely used for manufacturing or 3D printing, but they may omit parametric and feature information.

In practice, CADcompatible workflows support product design, engineering, and architecture activities that involve multi-software environments. Key concerns include preserving units and tolerances, maintaining proper coordinate systems, and retaining metadata such as material specifications, BOM, and assembly relationships. It also involves validation steps to verify that critical features transfer correctly.

Limitations remain: advanced parametric features, constraints, and histories in one system may not map cleanly to another. While CADcompatible workflows aim to minimize translation errors, users should verify geometry, perform interoperability checks, and consider using neutral formats as an interchange layer.