GIS to CAD Conversion of Contour Data for Use in 3D

Modeling

1. Check the version of ArcGIS you are running.

To convert GIS data into CAD data you must be using ArcGIS ArcInfo software.
There are three different types of ArcGIS licenses: ArcInfo, ArcEditor and ArcView.
ArcInfo is the highest level of ArcGIS.

a. ArcGIS ArcInfo is only located in GIS Lab in Tisch Library

b. ArcGIS ArcEditor is in all other labs One copy of ArcInfo will be

available in the CAD Lab in Anderson.

c. You can check the version of software you

are using in ArcMap or in ArcCatalog. To
check the version, go to the Main toolbar and
click on Help About ArcMap (or About
ArcCatalog). This window will popup and
tell you which version of ArcGIS software
you are currently using.

2. Check for elevation field in the GIS data.

To convert your GIS Data into CAD data and keep the elevation data within the CAD
file, you must first have a field named elevation

a. To check for the elevation field while in ArcMap:

i. Right-click on your contour GIS file Open Attribute Table.

ii. A table with all of the fields present in your contour layer will
appear.

iii. The field must be named elevation not elev or elev_ft. If

you have a field named elevation move on to Step 3 Checking
for a Projection. If not move to Step c.

b. To check for the elevation field while in ArcCatalog:

i. Click on your contour dataset while in
ArcCatalog

ii. Click on the Preview tab.

 iii. Change the Preview from Geography to Table.

iv. The Attributes Table will now appear.

v. The field must be named elevation not elev or elev_ft. If

you have a field named elevation move on to Step 3 Checking
for a Projection. If not move to Step c.

c. To add a field to your GIS dataset:

i. Click on the Options button in the lower right-
hand corner of the Attributes Table.

ii. Go to Add Field

iii. The window to the right will appear. Fill in the

fields as shown and click OK.

iv. Find the existing elevation field in your dataset

it is probably called something like elev_ft or
elev.

v. Right-click on the elevation field you just created and click on

Calculate Values. You will be asked if it is OK to calculate values
outside of an editing session. Click OK.

vi. The Field Calculator window will

appear. Under the Fields window, click
on the incorrectly named elevation field
(in the example to the right this field is
named elev_ft. This will set the
elevation data in the newly created
elevation field equal to the
information in the old elev_ft field.

vii. Click OK and your elevation field will

be populated with the elevation data.

3. Convert GIS files to CAD

ArcToolboxConversion ToolTo CADExport To CAD
Output type DWG _R2000 or DXF_R2000
Uncheck Ignore Paths and Append to Existing files
Do not need seed file
Must use ArcGIS ArcInfo for this step.