Dwg2Pdf
Batch-plot layouts to PDF with merging, color policy, CTB and block-level filtering.
AutoCAD 2021–2027 · English / 日本語 / 简体中文
Merge mode, color policy, CTB and PDF annotation options alongside the file and layout lists.
The problem
PUBLISH is fiddly to configure, cross-file merging is weak, and applying CTBs in bulk is tedious.
How Dwg2Pdf works
These are the tabs inside the actual app, in the order they appear — every screenshot below is a real, unedited capture of Dwg2Pdf running.
One screen: pick layouts, set output rules, plot
Add drawings, choose exactly which layouts get plotted and in what order, decide how the output PDFs are merged, and set color/CTB policy for the whole batch — all before a single page is generated.
- 1Add Files or Add Folder to build the batch. Layouts are scanned automatically, with a live preview per layout, and Model/Paper checkboxes let you include or exclude each space.
- 2Use Check All / Uncheck All plus Top / Up / Down / Bottom to control exactly which layouts are included and the order they'll appear in a merged PDF — the order in the list is the order in the output.
- 3Pick a Merge Mode: Merge all files into one PDF, Merge all layouts into one PDF (grouped across files by layout name), or One PDF per layout — matching how submittal sets actually get assembled, instead of PUBLISH's rigid all-or-nothing behavior.
- 4Pick a Color Mode: As-is (no override), Black and white, Grayscale, or Custom plot style (CTB) — Add CTB… lets you attach a specific .ctb file, optionally restricted to an entire range or a specific page range within it.
- 5Set Paper (A4/A3/A2/A1), Rotate 90°, and Scale to fit for consistent output sizing across drawings that weren't all set up the same way.
- 6Fine-tune with Plot line weights, Scale line weights, and Model space: plot extents (uncheck to plot to drawing limits instead).
- 7Optionally enable Add block attributes as PDF annotations to stamp attribute values as real, selectable PDF annotation layers over the plot — with an adjustable Opacity slider and an option to Paint annotation interior color — useful for searchable or markup-ready PDFs rather than flat plotted geometry.
- 8Set the Output folder (or Browse… to change it), then Plot. Cancel stops after the layout currently being plotted finishes; Open Output Folder jumps straight to the result.
Options on this screen
- Merge all files into one PDF
- Every layout from every file lands in a single output PDF.
- Merge all layouts into one PDF
- Layouts are grouped by name across files into one PDF per layout name.
- One PDF per layout
- Every layout gets its own separate output file.
- As-is / Black and white / Grayscale / Custom plot style (CTB)
- Color policy applied uniformly across the whole batch instead of per drawing.
- Add block attributes as PDF annotations
- Stamp block attribute values as selectable PDF annotations, with adjustable opacity.
A standalone Merge PDF mode, for PDFs you already have
A second mode alongside DWG to PDF, for combining PDF files that already exist — scanned sheets, PDFs from other software, previous Dwg2Pdf output — into one file, without opening AutoCAD or plotting anything.
- 1Switch to the Merge PDF tab from the DWG to PDF screen.
- 2Add Files to pick one or more existing PDFs, or drag and drop them straight into the list.
- 3Drag a row's ⠿ handle to reorder it, or select a row and use Top / Up / Down / Bottom — list order is the page order in the merged output.
- 4Remove Selected drops the highlighted files; Clear All empties the list.
- 5The output path defaults to Merged.pdf in the folder the added files came from the first time files are added; Browse… picks a different name or location.
- 6Click Merge. If the output file already exists, Dwg2Pdf appends " (2)", " (3)", etc. instead of overwriting it. Open Output Folder jumps straight to the result.
Also included
Layout order is output order
The Top/Up/Down/Bottom controls on the layout list aren't just for tidiness — they directly determine page order in a merged PDF, so a submittal set can be assembled in the right sequence without post-processing in a separate PDF tool.
CTB and color policy, applied in bulk
Choosing a plot style once and having it apply across every layout in the batch removes the most tedious and error-prone part of a manual PUBLISH-based workflow: confirming the right CTB is attached, drawing by drawing, before a submission run.
Dry-run scan before any PDF is generated
Scanning a batch populates the layout list with previews before anything is plotted, so a wrong paper size or an accidentally-included layout gets caught before a 200-page run rather than after.
Cancel mid-batch without losing finished output
Canceling a plot run finishes the layout currently in progress and stops before the next one — PDFs already written for earlier layouts are kept, not discarded.
Merge PDF works on files Dwg2Pdf never plotted
The Merge PDF tab combines any existing PDFs — scans, output from other software, PDFs plotted in a previous Dwg2Pdf run — in a chosen order, without needing AutoCAD installed or a DWG in sight.
Environment & requirements
Everything that determines whether Dwg2Pdf will run on your machine, and how it behaves once it does.
- Output is standard PDF, viewable in any PDF reader — no proprietary viewer needed.
- CTB plot style files are the standard AutoCAD .ctb files already on your system (or ones you provide) — nothing proprietary to Dwg2Pdf.
- Dwg2Pdf doesn't touch Excel at any point — it's a DWG-to-PDF tool end to end.
- Windows 10/11, 64-bit only.
- Requires a licensed, full version of AutoCAD (2021–2027). AutoCAD LT is not supported — LT can't run the background automation Dwg2Pdf depends on.
- If more than one AutoCAD version is installed, pick which one to use under Settings → AutoCAD, or leave it on "Auto (newest installed)" — if that version fails to load for any reason, it falls back to another installed version automatically.
- Built on .NET 8. If the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime isn't already on your machine, the installer prompts to fetch it from Microsoft (free, one-time, roughly 60 MB).
- Network access is used only to check your license at startup and periodically afterward. Scanning, reading and writing all happen locally through AutoCAD's own engine — no drawing content is ever uploaded.
- Interface language: English / 日本語 / 简体中文.
- Batches of many files can process several drawings in the background in parallel — tune "Max parallel AutoCAD instances" in Settings to trade speed for CPU/memory headroom.
- Every long-running action shows a progress bar with a percentage and estimated time remaining, and can be canceled mid-run.
- Settings → Diagnostics → Open Log Folder gets you straight to the host and plugin logs if something needs troubleshooting.
See also the site-wide system requirements page comparing all tools.
Scenarios
A few of the situations Dwg2Pdf is built for — if yours isn't listed, it's probably still covered by one of the tabs above.
Bulk delivery set
Before
Publishing 300 layouts one config at a time before a submission deadline.
After
One merge rule and CTB policy, run once, get a single reviewable report.
Time saved
~5 hours → 20 minutes
Weekly progress set for a client
Before
A recurring weekly submission needs the same 40 layouts across a growing drawing set replotted with the same merge rule and CTB every time — re-configuring PUBLISH or clicking through each layout weekly is a standing chore.
After
Re-run the same batch with the same settings each week — add newly issued drawings to the file list, plot, done.
Time saved
~1.5 hours every week → 10 minutes
Multi-discipline set with different CTBs
Before
A combined issue includes electrical, piping and structural drawings that each use a different plot style (CTB), and PUBLISH's single global plot-style setting makes batching them together awkward without manual per-file steps.
After
Run one batch per discipline with its own CTB and merge rule, or filter layouts by naming convention — each group merges into its own submittal-ready PDF.
Time saved
~3 hours across a combined issue → 30 minutes
As-built PDF archive at project close-out
Before
At project close-out, every final-revision layout across the whole project needs to be archived as PDF with attribute data preserved for searchability — plotting each drawing individually and later manually noting tag numbers is slow and error-prone.
After
Batch-plot the entire as-built set in one run with Add block attributes as PDF annotations turned on, producing a searchable archive where equipment tags are real PDF text, not just plotted lines.
Time saved
~1 day for a large project → under an hour
What early testers are saying
Dwg2Pdf hasn't had a public release yet, so there's no customer roster to quote — these are real notes from early testers, attributed by role rather than name.
“PUBLISH asks you things like whether to apply the settings to every layout, and if you're not deep into AutoCAD's plotting internals, that's a scary question to answer — one wrong click and you don't know what you just changed.”
“Adding each drawing one at a time, picking which layout, choosing the printer, over and over for a whole set — it's just too many manual steps for something this repetitive.”