Convert PTS to DXF (Scan Points for CAD)
This converter writes your PTS scan as a DXF full of POINT entities, one per point, in the older R12 flavor that almost every CAD and CAM program reads. It is a 3D point set you can snap to, not a surface and not 2D outlines for laser cutting.
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What ends up inside the DXF
PTS is about as simple as scan data gets: a text file where each line carries X, Y and Z, usually followed by an intensity reading and an R G B triplet. Survey and scanning software writes it happily, but AutoCAD, BricsCAD, Civil 3D and most CAM tools expect DXF, and a point cloud in a text file gives them nothing to work with unless it is translated into entities they understand.
Our point-cloud engine, running on our servers, parses the rows and writes a DXF in the R12 format with one POINT entity per point. Nothing is triangulated and nothing is joined up: you get the same points you scanned, placed in CAD space, ready to snap to, measure against or use as the reference for drafting breaklines, spot heights and sections by hand.
It is worth being blunt about what this is not, because most DXF converter searches are about something else. There are no polylines, no contours, no hatches and no 2D profiles here, so this file cannot be sent to a laser cutter or a CNC router as a cutting path. There is also no surface: if you need a mesh of the same terrain, convert the PTS to STL for a closed solid, or to OFF or DAE for an open surface, which both require a height-field cloud.
Two practical limits shape the output. First, clouds over one million points are reduced to a uniform random sample of one million before anything is written, so a dense scan arrives thinned, and the page does not display a notice when that happens. Second, the DXF is geometry only: intensity values and the RGB columns are not carried into the entities, so the points come through uncoloured. No step scales coordinates either, so the numbers in the DXF are the numbers in your PTS file, but the header always declares metres whatever your scanner used; open the result next to a known station or control point to confirm the scale and position your CAD assumes.
This pair makes sense for surveyors and engineers who need scan points as a drafting reference, for anyone checking as-built geometry against a drawing, and for workflows where the next tool in line reads DXF but not PTS, LAS or E57.
How to convert PTS to DXF
- Decide which points you actually need in CAD. A DXF with hundreds of thousands of POINT entities is slow to draw and awkward to select, so crop to the area of interest or thin the cloud in CloudCompare or your scanner software first.
- Check the file size against your plan: 50 MB as a guest, 100 MB with a free account, 200 MB on Plus, 1 GB on Pro. PTS text files reach those ceilings quickly, and trimming columns or points is the fastest way under them.
- Confirm the rows are plain text beginning with X Y Z. Space, comma and semicolon separators are all accepted, and trailing intensity or RGB columns are fine.
- Upload the PTS here. One file is converted per job; a batch can hold several files, but each produces its own DXF.
- Download the .dxf within about four hours, then open it in your CAD, set the drawing units you expect and verify a known distance before you draft on top of the points.
Details of this conversion
- One DXF POINT entity per retained point, written in the R12 flavor so older CAD, survey and CAM software can read the file without a converter
- Handles the real PTS variants: space, comma or semicolon separated rows, with or without the intensity and RGB columns
- Clouds above one million points are sampled down to one million, keeping coverage across the whole scan rather than cutting off a corner
- No coordinate scaling and no re-tessellation: the Z values in the DXF come from the elevations your scanner recorded
- Each engine step has a ten-minute ceiling before it is stopped, which only very large clouds approach
- A DXF that would contain no entities is rejected rather than delivered, so you never download an empty drawing
Video Tutorial
Detailed guide on how to convert PTS files to DXF quickly, for free, and without losing original quality. Perfect if you need to process file formats, reduce size, or upload files to systems that only
PTS to DXF questions
Can I get 2D outlines or contours for laser cutting or CNC from a PTS file?
No. This conversion writes points only, and the mesh-to-DXF path on other pages writes a single 3D MESH entity, not flat profiles. Contours and cutting outlines have to be drafted or generated in a CAD or GIS package after you import the points.
Does the DXF contain a surface or a TIN?
No, only discrete points. For a surface built from the same cloud, use the PTS to STL page for a closed solid or PTS to OFF and PTS to DAE for an open surface. All three need a terrain-style, height-field cloud and will refuse an object or room scan.
Will the colour or intensity from my scan show up in CAD?
No. The DXF output here is geometry only, so RGB and intensity columns are read and then left out. If you need coloured points, convert the PTS to PLY, OBJ or GLB instead.
My CAD session crawls after importing the DXF. What can I do?
That is the point count, not the file format. Thin the cloud before converting, or crop it to the area you are drafting. Working with a few tens of thousands of points per drawing is far more comfortable than loading the full one-million ceiling this converter allows.
What scale will the drawing be at?
Whatever your PTS coordinates already are. No step scales or converts anything, so the numbers in the DXF are the numbers in your file. Note that the DXF header declares metres ($INSUNITS = 6) no matter what your scanner used, so if your scan is in millimetres or feet, set the drawing units yourself and check one known length right after import.
Why would my upload be rejected or fail to read?
Files over your plan's size limit are blocked before conversion with a message naming the limit. Beyond that, the reader needs plain-text rows starting with coordinates; a binary export, a header-heavy proprietary variant or a truncated file comes back as a read error. Re-export the cloud as plain PTS, XYZ or LAS and try again.
Can I convert a folder of scans in one go?
You can add up to 10 files per batch without a subscription, 25 on Plus and 50 on Pro, and each one is converted individually into its own DXF. The converter does not combine several scans into one drawing, so merge them in your point-cloud software if they belong together.
How long do you keep the files?
The conversion runs on our servers, not in your browser. Your uploaded PTS is deleted as soon as the job ends, and the DXF plus its download link disappear automatically roughly four hours after the conversion completes. Anyone with the random download URL can fetch the file until then, so do not share it. We log file names, sizes and the outcome of each job.