3.12. Exporting and Importing

3.12.1. Native File Formats

IQcad uses two native file formats:

Format	Description
.iqz	Compressed (gzip-compressed IQML). This is the default format for new drawings. Files are typically 5-10x smaller than uncompressed IQML.
.iqml	Uncompressed XML-based format. Human-readable and suitable for version control or debugging.

Both formats are auto-detected on open. Use File > Save As… to choose between them.

Large drawings with 1 000 000+ entities use a streaming writer that writes directly to the file instead of building an in-memory DOM tree, keeping memory usage constant.

3.12.2. Exporting

3.12.2.1. DXF Export

File › Export › DXF… exports the current drawing to an AutoCAD- compatible DXF file.

All layers, colours, linetypes, and linewidths are preserved.
Supports ASCII (R12, R2000, R2018) and Binary (R2000, R2018) formats, selectable in the export dialog.
AEC Survey Points are exported as standard POINT entities.
Tunnel Section Line deviation annotations are exported as LINE and TEXT entities.
Polyface mesh entities are exported as a DXF MESH (AcDbSubDMesh) on R2000 and R2018, so the mesh stays one object. R12 export does not write the mesh. A DXF POLYLINE with the polyface-mesh flag is still imported.
ACIS-based entities (3DSOLID, REGION, SURFACE) are passed through on export — their SAT/SAB data is preserved unchanged so they can be opened in AutoCAD or other ACIS-capable software.

3.12.2.2. Image Export

File › Export › Image… saves a raster snapshot of the current view.

Supported formats: PNG, BMP.
The exported image represents the current zoom and pan position.

3.12.2.3. SVG Export

File › Export › SVG… creates a Scalable Vector Graphics file.

Suitable for embedding in reports, web pages, or vector editing tools.
All geometry is preserved at full precision.

3.12.2.4. DWG Export

File › Export › DWG…, or File › Save As… with the DWG filter, writes the current drawing to AutoCAD’s native DWG binary format.

Written in process by IQcad’s own DWG writer. No external converter is needed, and nothing is routed through a temporary DXF.
Six target versions — R2000, R2004, R2007, R2010, R2013 and R2018 — chosen once in File › Settings › DWG › Save Version. R2018 is the default; R2000 is the most widely readable.
Survey points and TIN surfaces are exported according to the Survey objects setting: as genuine Civil 3D objects, as plain geometry with or without labels, or not at all.
A drawing opened from DWG and saved again without being edited is re-emitted byte for byte.

DWG Compatibility covers version support, the entity list, the survey-export modes and the fallback converters in full.

3.12.2.5. PDF Export

File > Export > Export PDF or the EXPORTPDF command exports the active layout to a PDF file. Use PLOTALL to export all layouts to a single multi-page PDF.

Supported from model space and paper space (layout) tabs.
Page size and orientation come from the Page Setup dialog.
Plot style tables (CTB) are applied if configured.

3.12.2.6. LandXML Export

File › Export › LandXML… writes survey data to LandXML 1.2 format.

Survey Points → <CgPoints> elements.
Polylines → <Alignments> elements.
Surfaces → <Surfaces> with full <Pnts>, <Faces>, <Boundaries> (outer + island, inline NEZ point lists), <BreakLines> (each polyline as <Breakline brkType="standard">) and an IQcad <Feature code="IQcadEdits"> block carrying the surface edit log.
Point Groups → top-level <Feature code="IQcadPointGroups"> with each group’s name, description, visibility flag and point-number membership. Each surface also emits <Feature code="IQcadSourceGroups"> listing the names of the point groups it was built from.

Polylines that are already attached to a surface as breaklines are not re-exported as alignments — they round-trip as breaklines only.

The IQcad-namespaced <Feature> blocks are vendor-private and are ignored by other LandXML consumers.

Coordinate mapping: World X → Easting, World Y → Northing.

3.12.2.7. GeoJSON Export

File › Export › GeoJSON… exports drawing entities to a GeoJSON file.

Points, lines, polylines, arcs, and circles are exported.
Arc and circle entities are tessellated into line segments.
Bulge arcs in polylines are tessellated.
A coordinate system dialog allows selecting the target EPSG code (default WGS 84). Coordinates are transformed from drawing units to the selected CRS.

3.12.2.8. KML / KMZ Export

File › Export › KML… exports drawing entities to KML format; choose the .kmz filter in the save dialog to write a compressed KMZ archive.

Features are grouped into KML Folders by layer name.
Coordinates are transformed to WGS 84 (longitude/latitude).

3.12.3. Importing

3.12.3.1. Open DXF

Use File › Open… and select a .dxf file. IQcad supports DXF R12 and R2000. Both ASCII and binary DXF files are supported and auto-detected. Layers, colours, linetypes, lines, polylines, arcs, circles, texts, and hatches are imported.

Additional 3D entity support on import:

Polyface meshes — DXF MESH entities, and DXF POLYLINE entities with the polyface-mesh flag, are imported as native polyface mesh entities. Use EXPLODE to break them into individual 3D Faces or MESH2SURFACE to convert to a TIN surface.
ACIS entities — 3DSOLID, REGION, BODY and SURFACE entities are imported as pass-through objects. Their ACIS SAT/SAB geometry data is preserved so that re-exporting to DXF or DWG produces a valid file, but IQcad does not render or edit the ACIS geometry itself. These entities appear in the drawing as bounding-box placeholders on their original layer. See DWG Compatibility for how the solid is carried at each DWG version.

3.12.3.2. Open / Import DWG

Use File › Open… and select a .dwg file, or File › Import › DWG…

Read in process by IQcad’s own DWG reader — no external converter, no temporary DXF.
R2000 through R2018 are read natively, including blocks, attributes, hatches, dimensions, tables, meshes, wipeouts, ACIS solids, layouts and viewports.
Civil 3D objects in the file — COGO points, point groups, TIN surfaces, parcels and alignments — are decoded into IQcad’s own civil objects and appear in the Prospector.
Versions the native reader does not cover (R13/R14, R2025) fall through to LibreDWG or the ODA File Converter if either is installed.

See DWG Compatibility for the full support matrix, the backend preference and how to install the fallback converters.

3.12.3.3. LandXML Import

File › Import LandXML… opens the LandXML import dialog.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  File:  [path/to/survey.xml               ]  [...]          │
│                                                             │
│  Elements found:                                            │
│  ☑ CgPoints  (125)        Layer: [Survey Points     ]       │
│  ☑ Alignments  (3)        Layer: [Alignments        ]       │
│  ☑ Surfaces  (1)          Layer: [Surface            ]       │
│    ☑ Import as points     ☑ Import as faces                 │
│  ☐ Parcels  (0)                                             │
│                                                             │
│                           [Import]  [Cancel]                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

LandXML element	Imported as	Notes
CgPoints	AEC Survey Points	PointNumber, Name, Northing/Easting/Elevation, Description preserved.
Alignments	Polylines	Arc elements are tessellated to line segments.
Surfaces	Points and/or 3D Face tiles, or a native AEC surface	Toggle Import as points and Import as faces independently. When imported as a native surface, `<Boundaries>`, `<BreakLines>` and the `IQcadEdits` / `IQcadSourceGroups` feature blocks are restored automatically.
Parcels	Closed polylines	Boundary curves tessellated.

If the file contains an IQcadPointGroups feature, the survey database’s point groups are recreated and members re-assigned after the <CgPoints> are loaded.

Coordinate mapping: LandXML Northing → Y, LandXML Easting → X.

IQcad auto-detects LandXML versions 1.1 and 1.2 from the xmlns attribute.

3.12.3.4. GeoJSON and Esri JSON Import

File › Import › GeoJSON… imports a GeoJSON file or an Esri feature-set JSON file. The menu item stays GeoJSON. The open dialog is titled Import GeoJSON or Esri JSON and lists .geojson and .json. IQcad tells the two formats apart from the file contents. A document whose root type is FeatureCollection, Feature, or a geometry name is read as GeoJSON.

File › Export › GeoJSON… writes GeoJSON only.

The CRS dialog that follows asks for the drawing coordinate system. The default is EPSG:2100 (GGRS87 / Greek Grid). Its prompt still describes the incoming data as WGS 84. That description matches a GeoJSON file. An Esri file names its own source system, and the dialog choice is the coordinate system the geometry lands in.

The command requires the Civil module.

GeoJSON

FeatureCollection, Feature, and a bare geometry object.
Point, LineString, Polygon, the Multi* variants, and GeometryCollection.
Coordinates are WGS 84 degrees (EPSG:4326) and are projected into the drawing CRS chosen in the dialog.
Each polygon ring, including a hole, becomes its own closed polyline. A line becomes a polyline. A point becomes a CAD point.
The CAD layer is the feature name property, or GIS_Import when that property is empty.

Esri feature-set JSON

This is the JSON from an ArcGIS feature service and from the Hellenic Cadastre map, maps.ktimatologio.gr. There is no GeoJSON type. Attributes sit under attributes. A polygon is stored as rings and a polyline as paths.

spatialReference.wkid is the source EPSG. latestWkid is used when wkid is absent. A Κτηματολόγιο extract uses 2100, so the coordinates are already Greek Grid metres. Leave the drawing CRS at 2100 and the metres are copied as they stand. Another drawing CRS projects them into that system.
A file that names no wkid is placed in the drawing CRS with its coordinates unchanged.
Each ring of a polygon, including holes, is one closed polyline. Each path is a polyline. points and an x / y pair become CAD points. A feature with no geometry is skipped.
The CAD layer is the LAYER attribute. On a Κτηματολόγιο extract that is the layer name written in the file, for example ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΟΥΝ ΚΤΗΜΑΤΟΛΟΓΙΟ.
KAEK is the entity Name. AREA is the entity Description (the official area, shown in the Object Inspector).
Polygons come in as closed polylines, one per ring, so a hole keeps its own outline. Parcel objects are created with CREATEPARCEL.

3.12.3.5. KML / KMZ Import

File › Import › KML/KMZ… imports geographic data.

KMZ archives are decompressed transparently.
Placemarks with Point, LineString, and Polygon geometry are imported.
Folder hierarchy is traversed recursively.
A CRS dialog lets you specify the target drawing coordinate system.

3.12.3.6. Shapefile

ESRI Shapefile is the format used by QGIS, ArcGIS and GDAL for GIS data exchange. IQCAD can both import and export shapefiles, including their sidecar files (.shx record index, .dbf attribute table, .prj projection WKT, .cpg text codepage).

Import

Menu: Files → Import → Shapefile...
Ribbon: Output → Import → Shapefile

The CRS picker dialog opens after file selection so you can choose the target EPSG (the .prj sidecar is auto-matched against 9 known presets; unknown WKT falls through to the dialog).

Export

Menu: Files → Export → Shapefile...
Ribbon: Output → Export → Shapefile

The export dialog asks for a basename without extension. Because the shapefile format requires one geometry type per file, IQCAD splits the output into up to three groups:

<basename>_points.shp – all Point + MultiPoint features
<basename>_lines.shp – all PolyLine features
<basename>_polygons.shp – all Polygon features

Empty groups produce no files. After export, a message lists exactly which files were written.

For full reference (geometry coverage, DBF schema, CRS support, permissive vs. strict modes) see cad/_documentation/io/shapefile.rst in the source tree.

3.12.3.7. GPX

GPX 1.1 (GPS Exchange Format) is the de-facto interchange for GPS units, hiking apps (Garmin, OsmAnd, Strava, Komoot), and OpenStreetMap editors. IQCAD reads and writes GPX 1.1 only; GPX 1.0 files are rejected with a clear error — re-save them in 1.1 first.

Import

Menu: Files → Import → GPX...
Ribbon: Output → Import → GPX

Export

Menu: Files → Export → GPX...
Ribbon: Output → Export → GPX

What round-trips

Waypoints (<wpt>) ↔ point entities
Routes (<rte>) → polyline entities (read only — see below)
Tracks (<trk> with one or more <trkseg>) ↔ polyline entities
Per-vertex elevations (<ele>)
Track-level start/end timestamps stored as time_start / time_end attributes (per-vertex <time> is not preserved)
Names and descriptions

Limitations

All polylines export as <trk> (never <rte>). Major GPX consumers handle <trk> better and CAD geometry has no semantic difference between recorded vs. planned paths.
Polygons, multipolygons, and multipoints have no GPX equivalent and are skipped on export with a warning per skipped feature.
The GPX <extensions> namespace (vendor-specific data such as Garmin heart-rate samples) is read but ignored, and never written.

Licensing

GPX import and export require the Civil module.

Note

Behaviour change as of 2026-05-01: all GIS-format import and export (LandXML, GeoJSON, KML, Shapefile, GPX) now require the Civil module. Customers on Basic who relied on these features will need a Civil license.

3.12.3.8. Point Cloud Import

Point Cloud › Import Point Cloud imports point cloud data from LAS, LAZ, XYZ/CSV/TXT, PTS/PTX, PLY, and E57 files. See Point Clouds in the Civil Tools chapter for full details. E57 (ASTM E2807) requires the libE57CWrapper runtime library next to the executable; without it the format is silently disabled and not offered in the import dialog.

3.12.3.9. Point Cloud Export

Point Cloud › Export Point Cloud exports the active point cloud to LAS, LAZ, XYZ, PTS, PLY, or E57 format. The export includes all points from the octree and runs in a background thread with progress reporting. E57 export emits a single scan with XYZ plus RGB / intensity when the source cloud carries them, and likewise needs libE57CWrapper at runtime.