PDF vs DWG: Why Arya Always Delivers Both
Every drawing Arya Designs issues goes out as two files: a PDF and a DWG. The PDF is the copy you lodge, print and email. The DWG is the editable CAD file your architect, builder or the next revision actually works in. One without the other leaves somebody redrawing the job.
This page is about that pair on any drawing: redlines, as-builts, permit sets, measured surveys. The liquor-specific version, including what Liquor Control Victoria uploads, is Liquor Redline Plans in Melbourne: PDF vs DWG + PDF. Read that one if the only question is a licensed-area plan.
What the PDF is for
A PDF is a fixed view of the sheet. Council portals, building surveyors, Liquor Control Victoria and a client who only needs to read the plan all work from it. You can plot it, mark it up with a pen, and store it with the permit or the licence.
It is a poor file to design from. The lines are flattened. A dimension on the page is text, not a length a CAD program can trust. Dropping the PDF into a drawing usually produces one lump that someone then traces.
Use the PDF for:
- Lodgement with council, a building surveyor, or the Liquor Portal
- The copy kept on site or in the project folder
- Anyone who needs to read or print the sheet and will not edit it
What the DWG is for
A DWG is the AutoCAD drawing of the same sheets. Walls, doors, dimensions and room labels are objects. The next person can move a wall, check a length, add a revision, or xref the plan under their own work.
That is the file architects and builders ask for when the design continues, and the file you want six months later when the layout changes. Tracing a PDF to get there is where dimensions drift.
Use the DWG for:
- The architect or building designer coordinating the next stage
- The builder marking a site change
- A later revision, so the new issue starts from the drawing rather than a redraw
- A measured survey that other consultants will draw over
A recent measured food shop, Torito Foods in Carlton, was issued this way: an editable DWG plus the PDF. The same pair is what a liquor redline such as Coltivare in Camberwell is delivered as.
Why both, on every job
A lodgement-only PDF looks finished on the day it is uploaded. The next change starts from zero. Issuing both files at the start means:
- The PDF matches the DWG, because they are plotted from the same drawing
- A revision is a new issue of that drawing, with a new PDF, rather than a second unrelated sketch
- You can tell which file is current
The DWG is part of the job, not an upgrade. On a liquor licence redline the pair is included in the $499 flat fee, with a 48-hour turnaround when existing plans are usable. See redline plans. Architectural and council redlines, site measurements, and the rest of the drawing work are a free quote, and they still leave as DWG and PDF.
We do not publish a price for a laser scan. Where a scan is the right way to capture the building, it is quoted with the visit, and the drawings from it are still both files. A call-out fee may apply to a site visit.
If you only have a PDF today
Sometimes the PDF is enough to work from: it is to scale, it matches the building, and the linework is clean. Often it is a scan, a photograph, or a marketing plan. Those get traced, and tracing is where the errors start.
PDF to CAD conversion is the redraw into an editable DWG when the PDF is worth converting. When the PDF does not match the building, the honest step is a measure, then new drawings. We will say which one it is before you pay. Both paths are a free quote, except a standard liquor redline from plans we can already use, which stays at $499.
What to ask for
When you brief any drafter, ask for both files by name. "The plans" often means a PDF only. "DWG and PDF" means you can lodge this week and edit next year.
Send what you have through the quote form, or go to the service that matches the job: redline plans or site measurements. Tell us who else will use the file. An architect, a builder and a council portal do not want the same one.
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