Files

A LiberoDraft drawing is a single file with the extension .cad2d. It lies where you save it — on the computer, in the network or in a cloud folder. LiberoDraft itself stores nothing on a server.

The file menu#

All file commands are in a drop-down menu behind the button File — in the ribbon in the group File & import/export, in the classic toolbar at the far left. Both layouts open the same menu.

left half

right half

What the file contains#

The file is readable text (JSON) and contains everything that belongs to the drawing: geometry, dimensions, hatches, constraints, layers, groups, block definitions, sheets of the paper space, the entries of the drawing info, the dimension style of the drawing and the last view. Not in the file are the program settings (grid, snap automatic, layout, favourites) — they belong to the computer: Storage locations.

Saving: two ways depending on the browser#

Chrome and Edge offer the native save dialog: at the first Save you choose location and name, every further Ctrl + S silently writes back to the same file — also on a NAS or network drive. Firefox and Safari do not know this dialog; there the file is placed as a download in the browser's download folder (message Downloaded: …), and every save creates a new file.

The file name is proposed from the drawing info (drawing no., title, revision, for example Z-2026-017_Lagerplatte_RevB); without entries the drawing is called Unbenannt or zeichnung.

Unsaved changes#

As soon as the drawing has been changed, a dot ● precedes the file name in the browser tab, and the tooltip of the file name in the status bar reads … (ungespeichert). Before New drawing, Open and closing the tab LiberoDraft asks Discard unsaved changes?. A click on the file name in the status bar is a shortcut for Save As.

Drag and drop#

Files can be dragged from the file explorer directly onto the drawing area:

• .cad2d (or .json): replaces the current drawing — after a prompt if changes are pending.
• .dxf and .svg: are imported into the current drawing, the view is fitted.
• Images (PNG, JPG …): are inserted as an image in the centre of the picture.

Other file types are rejected by the status bar with Only .cad2d, .dxf, .svg or image files.

Opening foreign formats#

Open accepts .dxf and .svg besides .cad2d and creates a new drawing from them; Import DXF and Import SVG on the other hand insert into the existing drawing. For the exchange with other CAD programs use Export DXF and the DXF profiles; for web pages and office documents Export SVG.

Drawing into drawing#

Import drawing… fetches another .cad2d file into the open drawing — as loose elements or as a block, placed at the mouse or at the original coordinates, optionally with its sheets. Dialog: Import drawing.