What is KML?
KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is an XML-based format for expressing geographic annotation and visualization, adopted as an OGC standard and popularized by Google Earth.
KML describes Placemarks, geometries (points, lines, polygons), and their presentation using an XML tree that also supports folders for organization, rich styling (icons, colors, line widths, fills), balloon descriptions, and ground overlays. It is designed for display and sharing rather than analysis, and is opened natively by Google Earth, Google Maps, and most GIS packages. Because it targets a single global view, it has no concept of reprojection.
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.
Why convert KML to DXF?
It lets placemarks and paths sketched in Google Earth become CAD entities for drafting, siting, or design work in AutoCAD.
Coordinate systems
KML coordinates are always geographic WGS84 longitude, latitude, and (optionally) altitude in that order; the format has no CRS or projection field, so any data written to KML is expressed in EPSG:4326 by definition.
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.
What to watch out for
- KML is WGS84 lon/lat; a DXF in raw degrees is unusably small for drafting, so reproject to a projected CRS (meters/feet) first.
- KML attributes and styling are not written to DXF — only geometry and layers.
- Polygon placemarks become real DXF HATCH entities with boundary loops, preserving holes. MultiGeometry results (Multi* or GeometryCollection), empty or invalid geometry, standalone LinearRing, Model, gx:Track, and gx:MultiTrack are rejected.
How to convert KML to DXF
- Drag your KML file (.kml) into the converter above, or click to browse.
- Confirm the source is KML and choose DXF as the output format.
- Optionally pick a target coordinate system (EPSG) to reproject.
- Click Convert and download your DXF file. Everything runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
- Why should I reproject first?
- Degrees produce a drawing a few units wide. Reprojecting to UTM/State Plane gives real meters or feet, which is what CAD expects.
- Do placemark names survive?
- DXF has no attribute table, so names aren’t stored as fields — expect geometry and layers only.