AutoCAD WS mobile – Offline Editing & Viewing of DWG Files

With the free AutoCAD WS mobile app you can view, edit and markup DWG files via mobile devices.

Your portable project. No Internet connection, no problem.

The AutoCAD WS mobile version includes the ability to sync files to your mobile device and view, markup, and edit even without an Internet connection. Your DWG and DXF files are synced from your free online AutoCAD WS account. If you make changes to the files while offline, the changes will automatically be saved and available for sharing once the device is connected to the Internet. The files are stored on a secure web location also commonly called “cloud” storage, but instead of that “cloud” term, think of it as portable data access anywhere. There are no limits for storage at this time but there is a 15MB single DWG upload restriction.

New school. On site or in flight. No big roll of drawings

I wish I had this back when I was working as a Mechanical Designer in the design and construction industry. I cannot tell you how often I marked up as-built drawings in the shop, field, or a contractors facility. I had to carry a big roll of drawings under my arm to check information and mark it up. Now that method is old school, just like designing on the drafting board as a graphite slinger. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest changes for people in the construction and design industry—to have your design documents with you on a mobile phone or tablet device, and to edit or mark them up even on a flight to a design review meeting.

Hmmmm…slick smartphone or tablet, or dog-eared paper?

Let’s say you want to check a dimension for an opening in a construction building. You could use an old school method: unrolling the dog eared paper drawing set and placing it on the floor, sawhorse, or a colleagues back and then searching for the dimension and hoping you actually are looking at the current version and the info will not be obstructed by a coffee stain.

Or, you can go new school by opening the drawing on your mobile phone or tablet. You can carry more drawings on your mobile device than the paper drawing sets you can carry into a construction site, unless you have a team of blueprint sherpas.

You can also add comments and notes in at the job site and sync them when a connection is available instead of marking up the paper drawings and carrying those back to the office, and then laying them out on your table to incorporate into the design or share with the team. (Whew, just that sentence was exhausting). In addition to all the benefits mentioned of having all your project drawings with you and being able to markup on-site, let’s be honest you’ll look way cooler with your mobile device on the jobsite.

Oh, and by the way, if you are an Android mobile device user, register here to be the first to know: http://autode.sk/iewFAD

Cheers,
Shaan