Export & AutoSPRINK handoff
Design Studio exports to DWG and DXF, and opening cleanly in AutoSPRINK is treated as a requirement rather than a nice-to-have.
| What | Where you'll find it |
|---|---|
| Export CAD DWG (or DXF) | File → Export CAD DWG…, or the export button in FILE |
| Schematic DXF | Reports → Schematic DXF Export… |
| Full model DXF | Reports → Full Model DXF Export… |
| PDF output | Ctrl+P — see Sheets & plotting |
| Merge / compress PDFs | Tools → PDF Merge / Compress… |
The exports
- File → Export CAD DWG… — the everyday one. DWG goes out through the same converter the import uses; DXF is available from the same place.
- Reports → Schematic DXF Export… — a schematic-level DXF.
- Reports → Full Model DXF Export… — everything.
Dimensions export as real drafted geometry rather than as annotation objects the receiving program might not understand.
What the DXF actually is
Studio DXF is written as R12 (AC1009), without handles, with layer names clamped to 31 characters. That is deliberate: it is the format that opens everywhere without argument. Newer DXF revisions written without handles turned out to show nothing at all in some receiving programs, so R12 it is.
Every change to the exporter is checked by reading the written file back, not by looking for text in it. If an export ever opens empty somewhere, that is worth an F12 with the receiving program named.
Handing off to AutoSPRINK
Two things to know before you export:
- Explode your hatches to lines. AutoSPRINK drops hatch patterns, so a hatch that means something — a ceiling grid, a hazard boundary — must be exploded first. Right-click the hatch → Explode Hatch to Lines.
- Heads export as plain circles, including sidewalls, which draw as triangles inside the Studio. That is on purpose: the line-weight calibration that makes the export look right in AutoSPRINK is specific to circles.
Going the other way, File → Import AutoSPRINK DWG… rebuilds an AutoSPRINK drawing as native Studio objects — real pipe and real heads, not linework.
Other interop
- Export SprinkFlow JSON — the project as structured data. Behind a build flag; it may not be in your copy.
- Export Revit Bridge Handoff and Import Revit Round-trip IDs — also flagged, and part of an unfinished Revit workflow.
- Tools → PDF Merge / Compress… — assemble or shrink a PDF without leaving the program.
Before you send anything
- Clear the Analysis → Issues list.
- Auto → Clean Up Labels, so nothing overlaps in somebody else's viewer.
- Explode any hatch that carries meaning.
- Export, then open the file you exported before you email it. That takes thirty seconds and catches most of what can go wrong.