What is DXF?
DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) is an open CAD data format created by Autodesk for exchanging drawings between AutoCAD and other CAD applications.
DXF stores CAD entities on named layers and is a common interchange format for survey drawings, site plans, and engineering geometry. GeoConvert safely imports ASCII DXF points, lines, polylines, arcs, circles, SOLID/3DFACE entities, and straight-edged HATCH boundaries; arcs, circles, and bulges are linearized with a warning. TEXT/MTEXT, INSERT or block-contained geometry, RAY/XLINE, ELLIPSE/SPLINE, and unknown or incomplete entities are rejected instead of being silently dropped. DXF has no GIS attribute table, so geometry and layer names come across but arbitrary feature attributes do not; AutoCAD Binary DXF is not supported by the browser engine.
What is GPX?
GPX (GPS Exchange Format) is an open, XML-based schema for exchanging GPS data such as waypoints, routes, and tracks between devices and applications.
GPX models data through three primary elements: waypoints (individual named points of interest), routes (an ordered list of routepoints describing a planned path), and tracks (recorded paths made of one or more segments of trackpoints, often carrying timestamps and elevation). It is the common tongue of handheld GPS units, fitness watches, and outdoor apps like Garmin, Strava, and Komoot. It is a point- and line-oriented format built around navigation, not a general-purpose polygon or attribute-table format.
Why convert DXF to GPX?
GPX is what handheld GPS units and outdoor apps read, so a point-only or line-only drawing can move surveyed locations or a designed path as a route onto a GPS device or navigation app.
Coordinate systems
DXF is a CAD format and carries no coordinate reference system — coordinates are plain model units. When converting to or from GIS formats you often need to know (or assign) the drawing’s real-world CRS; GeoConvert assumes WGS84 (EPSG:4326) only if you ask to reproject.
The GPX specification fixes all coordinates to WGS84 latitude/longitude with elevation in meters, so like KML it carries no projection information and any exported data is expressed in EPSG:4326.
What to watch out for
- GPX is WGS84 only and DXF has no CRS, so the drawing must be georeferenced to a real coordinate system first.
- GPX accepts one non-empty DXF geometry family: only Point entities or only LineString-producing LINE/POLYLINE/LWPOLYLINE/ARC/CIRCLE entities. Mixed Point and LineString drawings, Polygon-producing SOLID/3DFACE/HATCH, and drawings with no supported geometry are rejected; accepted DXF primitives do not produce Multi* or GeometryCollection. LineString output is written as a GPX route (<rte>), while Point output becomes a waypoint (<wpt>).
- CAD attributes are not preserved.
How to convert DXF to GPX
- Drag your DXF file (.dxf) into the converter above, or click to browse.
- Confirm the source is DXF and choose GPX as the output format.
- Optionally pick a target coordinate system (EPSG) to reproject.
- Click Convert and download your GPX file. Everything runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
- Which DXF geometry can go into GPX?
- Use a non-empty point-only or line-only drawing. Mixed Point/LineString and Polygon entities are rejected; accepted DXF input does not produce Multi* or GeometryCollection. Supported lines are written as GPX routes (<rte>).
- Do I need to set a CRS?
- Yes — since DXF has no CRS, reproject to WGS84 from the drawing’s real coordinate system for GPX to be meaningful.