DGN to DXF Converter

Most CAD offices use AutoCAD or an AutoCAD-like program, while road, rail and utility owners often work in MicroStation. So DGN files keep landing with people who cannot open them: a contractor who needs the alignment on a site drawing, a structural consultant tracing a bridge plan, a surveyor adding new levels to an old map, or a student given a DGN from a project archive. Converting the file to DXF, the open drawing exchange format, is the usual fix. MicroStation and AutoCAD can both do it, but each needs a licence, and most free converters online upload your drawing to their server first.

This converter reads the DGN in your browser with an open-source engine, shows it on screen so you can see that the right drawing came through, and then writes the DXF on your device. Both V7 files (MicroStation 95, SE and J) and V8 files (V8 2004, XM, V8i and CONNECT Edition) work. A V8 file with several models gives one DXF per model you pick, named after the model. The output is an AutoCAD R12 DXF, the most widely readable kind, so it opens in old and new CAD programs alike.

Lines, line strings, shapes, arcs, circles, curves and text come across as LINE, POLYLINE, ARC, CIRCLE and TEXT. Ellipses and B-spline curves are converted to fine polylines, and each element inside a cell is written where it sits. Coordinates stay in the file's master units, such as feet or metres, with their real positions, so a converted plan still lines up with survey coordinates. Each element keeps its MicroStation colour as the nearest AutoCAD colour number, and MicroStation level numbers become layers named Level 1, Level 2 and so on, with Default for the default level.

Before you send a converted file on, open it once in your CAD app and compare a few dimensions with the DGN view here. Measure on this page gives the distance between two clicked points in the drawing's units. The file info shows the number of elements that were written, and a note lists anything that was left out, so you know exactly what the DXF does and does not contain.

The drawing stays on your device from start to finish. The DGN engine is downloaded once from taskninja.ai and runs in this browser tab. The DGN is not uploaded, stored, logged, or sent to an AI model, and the DXF is made on your computer or phone. That matters for project drawings that carry plot numbers, owners' names and site details.

The DXF is a faithful copy of the geometry, not a perfect copy of every MicroStation feature. Shared cells and dimensions in V8 files are not converted yet, line styles become solid lines, fills become outlines, and fonts become the CAD app's standard font. Reference files and raster images are separate files and are not included. 3D designs are converted as a flat plan view. A damaged file shows a message instead of a broken DXF.