Convert E57 Point Clouds to DXF
Upload an E57 scan and get back a DXF that holds the scan points as POINT entities, which almost any CAD program can read. It does not trace walls, build surfaces or produce a 2D plan: what goes in as points comes out as points.
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What this conversion does, and what it cannot do
E57 is the ASTM exchange format that terrestrial scanners and LiDAR tools write: one container holding several scan setups, their positions, and often per-point color. It is a good transport format between scanning programs, but most CAD and CAM applications will not open it without a point-cloud plugin or a ReCap-style indexing step, which is why people look for a DXF on the way in.
On our servers the E57 is read with pye57. Every scan inside the file is read and the points are merged into a single set; above one million points, a uniform random subsample of one million is kept, which is the ceiling the point-cloud engine works to. Our DXF writer then emits an R12 drawing made of POINT entities, one per surviving point. Nothing in the chain reconstructs a surface, fits planes or joins points into polylines.
What survives is the XYZ geometry and nothing else. Per-point color and intensity are not written, scan names and setup structure are flattened away, and there is no layer organization: it is a single cloud of points. No step in the pipeline scales coordinates, and the DXF writer never converts units (it labels files as metres), so verify size and placement after you import rather than assuming the numbers were adjusted for you.
This is useful when you need raw scan points inside AutoCAD, BricsCAD, ZWCAD or a CAM package that reads DXF but not E57, for example to snap to measured positions while checking as-built geometry. It is the wrong tool if you want a floor plan, a laser-cutting outline or a watertight mesh, all of which need a drafting or reconstruction step this converter does not perform.
How to convert an E57 scan to DXF
- Export or locate the E57 from your scanner software (FARO, Leica, Trimble, ReCap and similar all write it). Registered multi-scan files are fine; all setups will be merged.
- Crop and subsample the cloud to under a million points in CloudCompare first; above that our engine keeps a random million points and does not tell you.
- Check the size against your plan: 50 MB without an account, 100 MB on a free account, 200 MB on Plus, 1 GB on Pro. Raw scans often exceed these, which is another reason to crop first.
- Upload the .e57 file on this page and start the conversion. Processing happens on our servers, and each engine step has a 600-second limit; very large clouds can hit it, in which case the job fails rather than returning a partial DXF.
- Download the result, named after your file with a .dxf extension, while the link is live.
- Import it into your CAD program with point display enabled, then check the origin: scans recorded in a projected coordinate system can land a long way from 0,0,0.
What the converter actually handles
- Reads multi-scan E57 files through pye57 and merges every scan in the container into one point set
- Writes R12 DXF with POINT entities, the plainest point representation the format has
- Needs no ReCap license, scanner software or plugin on your side; the conversion runs server-side and works without an account up to the guest size limit
- Accepts files up to 1 GB on Pro, with a separate pay-once route for scans above 1 GB (up to 40 GB, signed in, result emailed as a link valid five days)
- Delivers a single .dxf file per upload, with no archive step to undo
Video Tutorial
Changing a E57 file to DXF has never been easier! Watch this detailed guide on how to do it completely free right in your web browser. 🔗 Visit MiConvert: https://miconvert.com/en/e57-to-dxf?utm_sour
Questions people ask about E57 to DXF
Will the DXF contain a floor plan, sections or 2D outlines?
No. The output holds POINT entities only, with no lines, polylines or hatching. To get a plan you still need to slice the cloud (CloudCompare cross sections, ReCap, or a point-cloud plugin in your CAD app) and trace the walls yourself, using these points as the snapping reference.
Does it turn the scan into a mesh or a solid?
Not for DXF. There is no Poisson or ball-pivoting reconstruction here. The only meshing we do is for height-field clouds such as terrain and aerial surveys, and it is offered on the STL, 3MF, OFF and DAE targets, not DXF; object and interior scans are refused there with an explanation. Mesh in CloudCompare or MeshLab first if you need a surface.
My scan has 300 million points. What happens?
Two limits apply. The file size: a raw scan that large will exceed your plan's per-file cap unless you crop it or use the pay-once large-file route. And once loaded, anything above one million points is reduced to a uniform random sample of one million, with no notice on this page. Decimate to a spacing you choose before uploading.
Is the per-point color or intensity kept?
No. E57 color is read when every scan in the file carries it, but the DXF writer stores positions only, and intensity is not carried either. If color matters, convert the same E57 to PLY, OBJ or GLB, where point colors are written, or to 3DM, which stores a Rhino point cloud with colors.
Are units and real-world coordinates preserved?
No step converts units, and the writer never adjusts coordinates. Measure a known distance after import before you trust the scale, and expect survey-grade easting and northing values to place the cloud far from the drawing origin.
Can I convert E57 to RCP, RCS, LAS or XYZ here?
No. From an E57 this site writes mesh and point targets such as DXF, PLY, OBJ, GLB, FBX and 3DM, not other point-cloud containers. RCP and RCS are Autodesk's indexed formats, produced by ReCap; for LAS, LAZ or plain XYZ text, export from CloudCompare or your scanner software.
Why did my DXF open slowly or hang my CAD program?
A DXF with hundreds of thousands of individual POINT entities is heavy for any CAD editor, because each point is a separate database object. Reduce the cloud before converting, or work in sections rather than loading the whole site at once.
What happens to my scan after the conversion?
The upload is deleted as soon as the job finishes its last attempt, and the converted DXF stays available through its random download link for about four hours, after which it is deleted automatically. The link is not one-time, so anyone holding it can download within that window. We do log file names, sizes, formats and outcomes, and signed-in accounts keep a conversion history entry.