No CAD license on the receiving end
A license costs too much to hold for the occasional look at a consultant’s drawing. So the file sits in an attachment, and the question it was sent to answer waits until somebody with AutoCAD is free.
Drawings · DWG
View a DWG file online without AutoCAD
Owner’s representatives, subcontractors and project managers are sent DWG files all the time, and most of them have no CAD license. This page covers what you can do with a DWG in Fidrel: open it in the browser, mark it up in a review and pass it on. It also says where the DWG view stops, and how a DWG compares with sending the same sheet as a PDF.
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What happens when a DWG lands in your inbox
A PDF is not quite the same drawing
A PDF opens everywhere and is easy to mark up, but it fixes one view and drops the layers. The DWG still has them, so teams end up asking for both files and arguing about which of the two is current.
A stranger’s viewer for a live project
Uploading a project drawing to whichever online viewer comes up first puts it outside the folder rules the project already has. Nobody can say afterwards who opened it.
DWG or PDF: what each one is good for
Send a PDF when the reader needs a fixed picture of one sheet at one scale: it opens on any device, and in an open PDF you can search the text. Send the DWG when the reader needs the drawing’s own layers, which the viewer lists so you can switch them on and off. In Fidrel you do not have to pick one. Both live in the same folder under the same number, and each new upload of that number is stored as a new version with the earlier ones kept.
Documents, drawings & models
What the DWG view is and is not
The product describes the view plainly: external references, specialized objects and fonts may not be fully represented, so check the original when accuracy or complete content is critical. The viewer carries the same warning on the screen, with a compatibility report beside it. Treat the view as a way to read, discuss and mark up a drawing, not as the drawing itself.
From a DWG file to a reviewed sheet
Step 1
Upload the DWG to the right folder
Drag the file into a project folder. The number, title and revision are read from the file name, and a file with an existing number becomes the next revision, so a re-issued DWG stacks on the earlier one instead of replacing it.
Step 2
Open it in the viewer
Select the document and it opens in the browser, with Fit width, zoom, a Layers list and a Display menu offering Paper, Dark and Monochrome. Show all layers and Hide all layers switch the whole list at once. Nobody has to install AutoCAD.
Step 3
Read the notice about the view
The viewer says This view is unverified and that content may be missing or simplified, and a Compatibility report lists what could not be shown. When exact content matters, download the original file and check it there.
Step 4
Mark it up in a review
Start a review on the document, add participants and a deadline, then mark the sheet with revision clouds, arrows, text and freehand. Every markup gets a number and its own thread, so the comments do not scatter across email.
Step 5
Pass it on to the next person
Invite the next person to the folder as a participant or a guest, or send the revision list in a transmittal. The original DWG stays available to download for anyone who has CAD and needs to open it there.
Who can open an uploaded DWG
A DWG follows the same folder rules as every other document. Each folder can be open to all participants, to administrators only or to selected members, and a guest reads and downloads in the folders opened to them. The rules are enforced in the database, not just in the menus. You can invite someone to a single folder and see before the invitation goes out what they will and will not see.
What Fidrel does not do with DWG
A DWG is never edited in Fidrel: it is opened, viewed, marked up in a review and downloaded. The view is not a verified rendering of the original, so check the downloaded original when exact content matters. Anyone you give access to the folder can download the original DWG, and Fidrel cannot take back a copy once it has been downloaded.
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Insights
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Yes. Upload it to a project folder and open it in the viewer in your browser. Nobody needs to install a separate CAD program just to view the drawing, and the original stays available to download.
No. A DWG is viewed and marked up in a review, never edited. If the drawing has to change, the change is made in the design software and the new file is uploaded as the next revision.
Not guaranteed. The viewer says that the view is unverified and that content may be missing or simplified. External references, specialized objects and fonts may not be fully represented, so compare with the original when it matters.
Yes. Start a review on the document and add revision clouds, arrows, text and freehand. Each markup is numbered and has its own thread, and participants get a notification and an email when the review starts.
Only people with access to the folder. Access is set per folder, and removing a person ends it at once while files and history stay. It cannot recall a copy somebody has already downloaded.
Yes. DWG drawings open in the mobile browser inside the project’s document structure, with zoom and pan, so a superintendent can look at the sheet on site.