Autodesk Inc. plans to make Autodesk DWF (Design Web Format) 6 files available for Mac OS X. This means that Mac users can view and print design information created by Autodesk design software.
The company will also provide a DWF Developer’s Toolkit for Mac OS X developers to create third-party design applications that leverage DWF files. DWF is an open, non-editable, file format that helps customers share data for design collaboration and communication throughout project life cycles. The developers’ toolkit will allow Mac OS X third-party developers to read and write multi-sheet DWF drawings.
To give Apple users access to DWF files, Autodesk is working with Apple to port the Autodesk Express Viewer to Mac OS X, according to Carl Bass, executive vice president of Autodesk’s Design Solutions Group. The Autodesk Express Viewer is an application that will let Mac OS X users be a part of the design review process, allowing them to view and print design data, without having access to the software used to create them.
What’s more, on May 15 Eric Stover, the AutoCAD product manager at Autodesk, said that the company wanted to hear from people interested in seeing AutoCAD for Mac OS X developed. AutoCAD, currently available for the Windows platform, is an interactive drawing system designed for drafting and design.