DWG to PNG API
Turn AutoCAD drawings into images your users can actually look at.
A DWG file is useless in a browser, an e-mail, a PDF report or a product listing — nothing renders it without CAD software. This endpoint takes the drawing and returns a finished PNG, so you can show a thumbnail in a file list, put a preview in a quote, or generate documentation images automatically.
Example
curl -X POST "https://apimycad.com/v1/dwg-to-png" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
-F "file=@drawing.dwg" \
-o drawing.pngOptions
| Parameter | Values | What it does |
|---|---|---|
bg | white (default), black, transparent |
White gives a printable sheet. Black mimics AutoCAD model space. Transparent lets you composite the drawing onto your own background. |
dpi | 72–600 (default 300) | Lower for fast web thumbnails, higher for print. 300 suits most documents. |
curl -X POST "https://apimycad.com/v1/dwg-to-png?bg=transparent&dpi=150" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
-F "file=@drawing.dwg" -o thumb.pngWhat actually gets drawn
The full entity set — including splines, arcs, hatches, dimensions, hidden-line styles and title-block text. This matters more than it sounds. A common shortcut for DWG rendering only handles "some 2D elements" and silently discards splines; on a real production drawing that quietly destroyed every isometric view while still producing a plausible-looking image. We use a renderer that reports zero unsupported entities on the same file instead.
Text is drawn as vector outlines, so the result never depends on which fonts happen to be installed on a server.
Common uses
- Thumbnails and previews in a document management system or web app
- Drawing images embedded in quotes, work orders and inspection reports
- Product-page images generated automatically from the source drawing
- Visual diffs — render two revisions and compare them side by side
PNG or SVG?
Use PNG when you need a fixed-size image that renders anywhere. Use SVG when you want to zoom without losing sharpness, or to style and script the drawing in a browser. Same drawing, same renderer, different output.