How to set the base scale when exporting DXF/DXG Drawings from SOLIDWORKS

To avoid incorrect dimensions when exporting SOLIDWORKS drawings to DXF/DWG file format, the export scale factor needs to be taken into consideration. When SOLIDWORKS drawings are exported to DXF/DWG format, the drawing views and sheet formats are converted using a single scale factor. If the SOLIDWORKS drawing views contain different scaling factors, then some of them will be exported with dimension values either too small or too large depending on the scale factor selected when exporting.

NOTE: Changing the scale in a SOLIDWORKS drawing view does not affect the actual dimensions of the part or assembly shown in the view as they are parametrically linked to the actual part or assembly file. Changing the scale only changes the size of the view itself and how the entities are exported.

In the SOLIDWORKS save-as dialog or in Tools > Options > System Options tab > Export > DXF/DWG from the dropdown menu, the ‘Scale output 1:1’ options can be set. The ‘Base Scale’ is used to determine which scale factor is used when exporting all views of a drawing.