Convert LAS to DXF Online
Upload a LAS point cloud and get back a DXF in which each retained point is written as a POINT entity, so AutoCAD and other CAD programs can open it without a point-cloud plugin. The important caveat: this is points only, not contours, polylines or a surface, and clouds above one million points are thinned before writing.
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Why convert LAS to DXF?
LAS is the ASPRS container for laser-scanning returns: a header plus millions of point records with coordinates and per-point attributes such as intensity, return number, classification and sometimes RGB. It is a survey data format, not a drawing format. Most CAD programs will not place a .las into a drawing directly, because they expect drawing entities or an indexed scan project (which is why searches for "las to rcp" sit right next to "las to dxf"). DXF, by contrast, is the exchange format almost every CAD, CAM and drafting tool reads.
On this page the file is uploaded to our servers and handled by a Python point-cloud reader built on laspy. It walks the point records, keeps the coordinates, and hands them to our DXF writer, which emits an R12 DXF with one POINT entity per point. There is no tracing, curve fitting, contouring or triangulation anywhere in that path, and nothing runs in your browser.
What survives is geometry: the X, Y and Z of each point, with Z still the vertical axis, so you do not have to rotate anything after import. Everything else the LAS carries is dropped, including intensity, classification codes, return numbers, GPS time, scan angle, the coordinate reference system and per-point RGB. No step converts units: the numbers pass through as they are, and the DXF header always declares metres ($INSUNITS 6), even if the survey was recorded in US survey feet. If the cloud holds more than one million points, a uniform random one million is kept, so the result is a sample rather than the full dataset. That makes this the right conversion when you want LiDAR points as plain CAD geometry to snap to or trace over by hand, and the wrong one if you expected contour lines, breaklines or a cutting profile, because nothing in this pipeline creates those from a point cloud.
How to convert LAS to DXF
- Check the size of the cloud first. If it holds far more than a million points, or if the file is over your plan's size limit, thin or crop it in CloudCompare, LAStools or your survey software so you control which points survive rather than leaving it to a random sample.
- Upload the .las file on this page. The target is fixed to DXF, so you only choose the file. Compressed .laz is read by the same engine, but use the LAZ to DXF page for it.
- Start the conversion and wait. LAS to DXF jobs here are small and quick: a typical file of a few megabytes finishes within a few seconds of the upload completing.
- Download the result, named after your file with a .dxf extension. It is a single DXF file, nothing to unzip.
- Open it in AutoCAD, BricsCAD, LibreCAD or your CAM tool, zoom to extents, then set a point style and layer colour so the POINT entities are visible, since many CAD defaults draw points as single pixels. If you needed a surface instead, convert the same LAS to STL, OFF or DAE, which build a gridded height-field surface for terrain-like clouds.
What this converter does
- Reads LAS point records server-side with laspy, so you do not need LAStools, ReCap or any CAD plugin installed to get the points into a drawing.
- Writes an R12 DXF with one POINT entity per point, which is the version oldest CAD and CAM software still accepts.
- Caps output at one million points by uniform random subsampling, so an enormous aerial tile still produces a file CAD can load.
- Keeps Z as the vertical axis, so the cloud does not arrive lying on its side and needs no rotation fix.
- Other targets from the same LAS file if DXF is the wrong fit: PLY, OBJ, GLB and 3DM keep per-point colour, while STL, 3MF, OFF and DAE build a surface from terrain-style clouds.
Video Tutorial
An A-Z video guide on how to use MiConvert to change LAS format to DXF. This is the safest method to convert data without needing to download any applications to your device. 🔗 Format conversion too
LAS to DXF questions
Does the DXF contain 2D contours or polylines I can send to a laser or CNC?
No. The output is 3D POINT entities only. We do not generate contours, outlines or polylines from LiDAR, so there is nothing for a laser or router to follow. For contours use Civil 3D, Global Mapper or QGIS; for a cutting profile, draw the geometry over the imported points in CAD.
Are intensity, classification and RGB kept?
No. Only the coordinates reach the DXF. Intensity, classification, return number, GPS time and the CRS are dropped, and colour is not written to this target. If you need the RGB from the LAS, convert to PLY, OBJ, GLB or 3DM instead, which do carry per-point colour.
My LAS has 40 million points. What happens?
If the cloud is over one million points, a uniform random one million is kept and the rest is discarded. You will not see a notice about it in the page, so if the specific points matter, subsample or tile the file yourself before uploading.
Why is the scale wrong when I open the DXF?
Nothing in the pipeline converts units. The coordinates are written as the numbers found in the LAS, and the DXF header always says metres. If the survey was in feet, the numbers are feet labelled as metres; set the drawing units or scale the points in CAD to fix it.
Can I build a TIN or mesh surface from the LAS here?
Not as DXF. For terrain and aerial clouds, our LAS to STL, 3MF, OFF and DAE conversions grid the points at roughly twice the point spacing and build a surface from that. Object or building scans with overlapping layers are refused for those targets, because this pipeline has no Poisson or ball-pivoting reconstruction; CloudCompare or MeshLab handle that case.
What are the file size limits?
Without an account you can upload up to 50 MB per file, a free account raises that to 100 MB, Plus allows 200 MB and Pro 1 GB. LAS stores every point record uncompressed, so tiles grow quickly; converting the tile to LAZ (LASzip) first, or splitting it, is usually the way to stay under the limit. Files above 1 GB are only handled through the separate pay-once large-file option, which needs an account.
Can I upload a ReCap .rcp or a .rcs scan project?
No. Accepted point-cloud inputs are LAS, LAZ, XYZ, TXT, PTS, PCD and E57 (binary_compressed PCD is not read). Export your scan project to LAS or LAZ first, then convert it here.
What happens to my file after the conversion?
The conversion runs on our servers, not in your browser. Your uploaded LAS is deleted as soon as the job finishes, and the DXF stays available through an unguessable download link for about 4 hours before it is deleted automatically. File names, sizes and outcomes are kept in our logs, and signed-in accounts keep a conversion history row.