Export Manager

The exportmanager command downloads the current drawing to your file system. Two formats sit side by side — DXF for compatibility with other CAD tools and JSON for full-fidelity saves within KulmanLab CAD — and each has its own checklist of what to put in the file.

How to export

1. Click the Export toolbar button (download icon) in the File panel, or type exportmanager in the terminal.
2. The Export Manager popup opens with two columns, JSON and DXF, each listing the drawing’s entity types with a checkbox and a count.
3. Untick anything you want left out. Everything starts ticked.
4. Click Export JSON or Export DXF. The file downloads to your default downloads folder and the popup closes.

Press Escape to close the popup without exporting.

Choosing what to export

Both columns list the same entity types, each with a count of how many are in the drawing:

Lines · Circles · Arcs · Ellipses · Polylines · Splines · Text · Radius Dimensions · Diameter Dimensions · Angular Dimensions · Linear Dimensions · Leaders · Hatches

Everything is ticked when the popup opens, so exporting straight away gives you the whole drawing. Untick a type to leave it out of that one file.

Four things worth knowing:

• The two columns are independent. Unticking Hatches under DXF has no effect on what Export JSON produces. Each format keeps its own selection.
• A type you don’t have is greyed out. A row whose count is 0 can’t be ticked, so the list doubles as a quick inventory of what the drawing actually contains.
• The counts are a snapshot. They are taken when the popup opens and don’t update if the drawing changes behind it. Close and reopen to refresh them.
• Nothing is deleted. Unticking shapes the exported file only — the drawing itself is untouched.

Linear Dimensions covers linear, aligned, and continued dimensions: they are one entity type created by three different commands. Radius, diameter, and angular dimensions each get their own row.

This is what makes a cut file straightforward. Untick Text, the four dimension rows, Leaders, and Hatches, and Export DXF gives you cut geometry and nothing else — see preparing a DXF for laser cutting.

Choosing a format

When to use JSON: anytime you want to save a complete copy of your work. JSON is KulmanLab’s native format and preserves every entity exactly — including dimensions, leaders, hatches, and all layer data.

When to use DXF: when you need to hand off the drawing to someone using another CAD application. The exported file uses AC1032 DXF format and can be opened in most DXF-compatible tools.

What is exported per format

JSON export

Every entity type is included:

• Lines, circles, arcs, ellipses, polylines, splines
• Text
• Dimensions (linear, aligned, continued, radius, diameter, angular)
• Leaders (multileaders)
• Hatches, including their pattern, scale, angle, and origin
• Layers and linetypes

DXF export

Every entity type is included:

• Lines, circles, arcs, ellipses, polylines (exported as LWPOLYLINE), splines
• Text, written as MTEXT with its per-run formatting — font, height, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough
• Dimensions (linear, aligned, continued, radius, diameter, angular), as standard DIMENSION entities
• Leaders, as MULTILEADER
• Hatches, with their pattern, scale, angle, and origin
• Layers and linetypes

The file is written as AC1032 DXF, so a drawing exported from KulmanLab opens with its annotation intact in other DXF-capable tools rather than arriving as bare geometry.

What each receiving application then does with it still varies — DXF support differs between tools, and an older one may ignore entities a newer one reads. If a drawing has to look identical everywhere, Print Manager captures it as a PDF or image instead.

Exported file name

The downloaded file is named after the current drawing file (e.g. myplan.json), with the extension changed to match the chosen format. A drawing that has never been named exports as drawing.dxf or drawing.json.

Difference between Export Manager and Print Manager

Use Export Manager when you need an editable file. Use Print Manager when you need a visual snapshot.

Related commands

• Import — open a DXF or JSON file
• Print Manager — export the canvas as a PNG, JPEG, WebP, or PDF image
• File Manager — browse drawings saved in browser storage