Hello, AutoCAD users,I have a file which has become large  --10.6 MB, yet when I rename it  remove most of it, purge, it stays big @ 10.0 MB.  A similar .dwg is ~~~900k  I have renamed it again, erased and purged, so that there is only ONE line on the drawing, and it still shows 10.0 MB.  The original .DWG works OK, a bit slow, but with purges which maybe take a minute or two.What now?????    /s/    Bob

Is there any chance that the drawing has some content that was brought over from Microstation?  Even if it is one line this will be enough to balloon the file size.Speaking of lines, how many linetypes are loaded?  I'd be curious to know.

Ahoy ,John,Sorry about the 'double post'.  I don't come on often, and made an error.Than you.  I believe Thai did copy a few text things from 'outside'.  That's as good an explanation as there could be.I've done all the other thing called for, and still have a 10mB file.I'll investigate further, and see if I can clean it up by trying to remove any 'outside' text.I'll reply after.Thanks    /s/     Bob  

It isn't so much the text as it would be the linetypes.  I've outlined the initial steps to take in a very similar post.  If those steps don't solve the problem then you might have to try a hotfix available from AutoDesk however you are running 2011.  I'm not sure if the hotfix would work.  See the thread with the perplexing title of DUVIDAS.

John Connor2014-03-07 21:28:22

DUVIDAS = doubtsphilippe JOSEPH2014-03-08 21:35:21

Duvidas = Doubts.It might have been more helpful had the OP used a descriptive title related to the problem he was experiencing.
John Connor2014-03-09 00:09:45

The best solution that worked for me was using the  [CMD]WBLOCK[/CMD] command and choosing the "entire drawing" option. It will ask you for the units in the next file and a new name.Try this and let us know the results.

Hello, Admann, JohnI did the wblock and entire drawing, renamed and the new file went to 11.7 MB  The line types are continuous, center, hidden.????????????Thanks     /s/   Bob  

Another step you should do is selecting everything in the drawing and selecting all the colors, linetypes, linewidths "by layer".If this doesn't work either, then probably the conversion from .dgn to .dwg is the reason of the big filesize.

[QUOTE=rhbelter]
Hello, Admann, JohnI did the wblock and entire drawing, renamed and the new file went to 11.7 MB  The line types are continuous, center, hidden.????????????Thanks     /s/   Bob  [/QUOTE]You can try the DXFOUT/DXFIN trick then -purge regapps and -purge > all.  Do an audit.  Use overkill to check for duplicate and/or overlapping lines.The option would be to upload it to this website so someone here can investigate further.

[QUOTE=admann27]Another step you should do is selecting everything in the drawing and selecting all the colors, linetypes, linewidths "by layer".If this doesn't work either, then probably the conversion from .dgn to .dwg is the reason of the big filesize.[/QUOTE]The "ByLayer" suggestion won't reduce the file size.It's possible there are .dgn linetypes but the OP has yet to confirm this specifically nor has he indicated how many different linetypes are referenced.

Hello, John , Adman,Never did save as .dgn, or convert from.  Saved from .dwg (12MB) as .dxf (92 MB) opened from, .dxf, saved .dwg  10MBI've been looking, and do not know how to post the file(s) to this web??Thanks    /s/    Bob 

I never said that you saved the drawing to DGN file format.  I asked if it were possible some content was brought into your drawing via another drawing that was a by-product of a "save as" or an "export" from a Microstation drawing.  Sequence....Microstation drawing (DGN) saved as or exported in DWG file format.  Let's call this the "alpha" drawing.Content is copy and pasted from the "alpha" drawing to your drawing.Now do you follow what I mean?If you want to share you drawing file with us then you'll have to upload it to Dropbox or another file sharing website and post a link to it here.
John Connor2014-03-10 22:42:12

Thanks, John,Now I understand.  I did import a few trivial things which were not useful, and I got rid of them.  That must have been the source.  I have earlier 'clean' .dwg files which are close to my present state. I can start over with them and bring them up to my present condition, so further effort on this is not needed  I'm beginning to suspect that my AutoCAD has been to a raunchy  'singles bar'.I'll keep it out of there from now on.QQ: Is there any way to tell that a drawing was sourced from DGN? Enjoy    /s/    Bob 

You might get a warning when you first load the drawing stating it was not created with an authorized AutoDesk product.  Other than that the only other way I know of would be to check the linetypes that are loaded.  Normal ACAD linetypes are easily identified; anything else might very well be from Microstation.

Hello, John,Thanks for all your help on this issue.This occurrence is very disruptive to 'good order and discipline'.  In my case, hobby level, and a small drawing, it is an inconvenience.  For a large professional drawing to become 'infected' in this manner would be of serious impact. Unless it is extremely rare, I believe that it would be appropriate that Autodesk create an mod to the program which precludes this, or establish a way to clear it.Enjoy     /s/   Bob 

AutoDesk issued a hotfix for it in 2012.  I would have mentioned it but I'm not sure it works with 2011.  Maybe it does.It is not as rare as one might think.  I've seen quite a few similar posts to this one lately,