Vector import

The importer chains loose entities into contours: each connected open or closed chain becomes one Design shape. Arcs and curves are tessellated into polylines at a tight fixed tolerance, so imported geometry follows the same line-only contract as everything drawn in Design. Nesting is detected on import — a top-level contour is automatically grouped with its holes, its islands, and any open chains it contains, so a traced logo arrives as one selectable unit per letter or emblem rather than hundreds of loose contours.

A DXF carries its own unit setting, and Design honors it: a drawing made in millimeters imports at its true millimeter size, not blown up to inch-sized dimensions. When a file has no unit information, the import falls back to your Settings → Preferred Units — the same rule the Drafting sketch importer uses. Shapes from the built-in Shape Generator always come in at their exact intended size.

DXF polylines keep their source layer names; other DXF entities and all SVG content import under Default. Imported layer rows are prefixed with the (truncated) source filename so two files with a "Cut" layer don't collide, and each new layer picks up the next palette color in creation order.

Export… in the Import / Export row (or Export Design in the File menu) writes the whole document — or right-click a layer for Export Layer as DXF / SVG — scaled to your preferred units, with a units badge in the export dialog confirming what the file will contain. A design drawn in millimeters exports at millimeter coordinates, ready for any downstream CAM program. To hand a design straight to a cutting workspace instead of writing a file, use Send To… in the same row.

Artwork can also come from a Drafting sketch rather than a file — see Import from Drafting.