Latest V9 WIP. Am I right, there is no FlattenLayout command anymore? Is it replaced by ExportLayout?
Hi Screamer -
That’s correct.
-wim
Hi Wim, with ExportLayout is there a way to choose what version of autocad you can save the dwg as ?
@wim Thanks for clarification.
Is there a wish already to have an option to flatten “in place”? Without exporting.
Or I would prefer an option to make a duplicated flattened layout beside current.
Hi Miles - you can use the Options button in the “Save” dialog:
The “DWG/DXF Export Options” dialog should probably not be bypassed when using this command.
→ RH-95100 File IO: DWG: ExportLayout - Options Bypassed
Hi Screamer - other than a -ViewCaptureToClipboard -Paste macro?
I don’t think there is a request for something like this. What is the purpose of the workflow?
-wim
yes the option of dwg version is important, we typically work with people in China and Europe who work with certain versions of Autocad dwg files, (one guy in China still uses Autocad 2004 format)
This will just make an image. I’m thinking of editable curves.
Simplify the layout to basic curves. Some of our designers are too “old school” to start using ClippingDrawings. Having a copy of “modern” layout could help in collaborative work.
Possibility to bring the drawing to the simple linework would be helping in transferring between versions too.
It’s minor use case, I guess, but if it’s easy to implement - could be handy.
“Modern” only because “Fake2D” is currently dead in the water, I’d say, but I suppose that’s beside the point.
The new “FlattenLayout” workflow was worked on for months and then dropped to become “ExportLayout”, which does something rather different. So, no, this is not something that would be easy to implement.
-wim
OK, thanks for the clarification. I am working on this next. See issue RH-96355.
I am looking for exactly this, but when I write exportlayout and choose dwg, the dwg file created is empty (with no objects but it has the layers of the objects on the layout)? Any idea why this is happening?
@Krishna_Jani_ZJA.NL I wrote ExportLayout, and I haven’t see this behavior. Do you have a sample file that you can send me? What version of Rhino are you running? (the full version number and date, available in the Help|About window, it will look like this: “(9.0.26237.15343, 2026-08-25)”)
Hi Bill! Thank you for responding! I am using (9.0.26237.15343, 2026-08-25). Yes I was using a sample file with just basic text and a hatch. I have attached it here.
Test file.3dm (54.0 KB)
@Krishna_Jani_ZJA.NL I have a fix (not yet reviewed internally). It should be in either the next release or the one after that.
Ah it works! Thank you so much!
I am very happy to hear that! Thanks for bringing it to our attention, and I’m glad we could help.
Bill Cook
Robert McNeel & Associates, LLC
Hi @Bill_Cook ,
If I export any layout to 3dm format it is not “flattening” anything, right?
At least, this is what I’m seeing.
Hi Bill! Thank you for the quick responses! I have another follow up question - for a layout setup with multiple detail views when I reimport my exported dwg, the imported drawings are not inside one rectangle as was the layout but with drawings spread out in a random manner and without any text or annotations that were done in the layout sheet. Any idea why this is happening?
For RHino 9, correct, as “Flatten” got to be too large a scope for this release cycle. I hope to look at a Tru Flatten for Rhino 10.
There are some things that don’t round trip, or at least not yet. Annotation scaling is a big one. Again, do you have a sample you can share? You can get a minimum sample by exporting a particular layout to .3dm, and it will give you a Rhino file that only contains that specific geometry.