To open an AutoCAD drawing in MicroStation, open its DWG file directly: choose File > Open, select the DWG file type, choose the drawing, and review DWG Options before opening. Pay particular attention to units and the DGN seed file. The exact labels and supported DWG formats vary by MicroStation release. This means opening an AutoCAD drawing file in MicroStation—not running the AutoCAD application inside it.
Open a DWG and check its import settings
- Choose the file. In MicroStation, select File > Open. Set the file type to DWG or DXF, browse to the drawing, and open DWG Options if available. Bentley’s detailed instructions are in a support article dated July 15, 2002 and republished for reference; menu labels may differ in newer releases. Bentley support.
- Confirm the units. Architectural and engineering drawings commonly use inches displayed as feet and inches. Bentley recommends retaining MicroStation inches for that convention unless the AutoCAD unit conventions were ignored. Decimal, scientific, or fractional coordinates may not reveal the intended units by themselves, so verify them with the drawing’s author or project documentation. A mismatch can make the geometry appear at the wrong scale.
- Check stored DWG units. If the drawing’s Design Center units are available, inspect them rather than assuming they are correct. Bentley notes they may be absent in AutoCAD formats earlier than AutoCAD 2000 and may be missing or incorrect in some later files. Its article documents the
DWG UNITSkey-in for inspecting or changing the stored choice; changing MicroStation Working Units does not change units for DWG or DXF files. - Review the seed file and display settings. MicroStation takes many settings from the DWG and fills in settings that are absent from the selected DGN seed file. DWG does not store model or sheet background colors, so choose the background in the options dialog if it matters to your work.
- Use 2D model creation only for known 2D content. Selecting 2D creation for model space or paper space can flatten 3D geometry onto the XY plane.
- Open and inspect the result. Check scale and extents, levels (MicroStation’s term for layers), fonts, lineweights, references, and paper-space layouts against the source or a known view. These are among the settings and translation behaviors that can affect how a drawing appears or prints.
Choose whether to reference or open the drawing
If the DWG is background context for a DGN project and should not become the active design file, reference it instead. Bentley identifies DWG referencing as an interoperability capability on its MicroStation product page.
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Open the DWG when you need to work with it as the active file. Save to DGN if the project requires a DGN deliverable; save as DWG when the recipient or next editing step requires AutoCAD format. The right choice depends on the intended editor, deliverable, and reliance on references, layouts, fonts, units, or custom symbology.
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Understand DWG mode and DGN mode
MicroStation’s DWG Restriction mode disables some features by default so the software creates information that can be stored in DWG. Bentley says opening a DWG automatically enables DWG mode in MicroStation V8, V8i, CONNECT Edition, and 2023, regardless of MS_WORKMODE. You do not need to change the workmode before opening a DWG in those releases. Setting that configuration variable for a DGN file is a separate situation.
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Bentley’s workmode guidance lists releases through 2023; consult the installed release’s documentation for later-version behavior.
Check compatibility if the drawing will not open
MicroStation’s supported DWG formats depend on the RealDWG version used by the installed release. Bentley’s version support article describes entering version in MicroStation’s key-in window to identify the MicroStation and RealDWG versions. It provides historical mappings, including AC1032 for AutoCAD 2018–2023 and AC1027 for AutoCAD 2013–2017, alongside listed Bentley versions. These examples are not a complete current compatibility matrix; check the article and the documentation for your specific release: Bentley version support.
As a diagnostic, Bentley says a binary DWG header begins with an ACxxxx format code; for DXF, inspect the $ACADVER line. Do not edit or save a binary DWG in a text editor. Autodesk’s general compatibility rule is that current AutoCAD products can open older DWG formats, while older products cannot open newer ones. That is an AutoCAD rule, not a guarantee about MicroStation. See Autodesk’s DWG compatibility guidance.
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When the output must be an AutoCAD file, use File > Save As, choose DWG, then open Options. Set the target DWG version and units deliberately; Bentley’s reference guide notes that AutoCAD does not offer a convenient way to alter units later.
Before saving, consider how the receiving workflow handles:
- DGN references that may need to become DWG references.
- Font translation and non-default DGN models that must map to model space or paper-space layouts.
- Lineweight scaling between MicroStation pixels and AutoCAD millimeters.
- Levels, display, and symbology, which do not always map one-to-one.
- Line styles and area patterns unsupported by the target format. Bentley describes expanding some patterns into individual entities, which can increase file size.
These settings can change how a drawing is represented; they do not imply that every file will lose information. Bentley also documents preservation of MicroStation-specific data in DWG for later MicroStation editing. Review the saved file in the application and format the recipient will use when fidelity matters. The detailed options are described in Bentley’s DWG opening and saving reference, republished from 2002.
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