File viewers for electrical & electronic CAD/CAM formats

Last update 2017-12-06

Software tools work with their own data file format or may use industry-standard formats. These formats often use separate file viewers that you can download and install. If the data file format you want isn't found below or through a web search, contact the CAD tool publisher for their recommendations.

PDXplorer™ can view a PDX package, which can contain design files. These files (package "attachments") can be viewed by the following file viewers. For information about PDX packages and PDXplorer, see: PDXplorer free viewer for PDX packages (IPC-2570).

Altium Designer Viewer allows read-only access to Designer files.

Altium offers a "legacy" P-CAD viewer at no cost (last product on page):

Cadence supports their OrCAD and Allegro CAD applications using several different viewers:

Cadence OrCAD Capture/OrCAD Capture CIS ViewReader:

Autodesk/CadSoft EAGLE doesn't exactly offer a viewer, but their free EAGLE Light Edition product can view and print (but can't edit) full-sized designs:

BronzeWare has free Gerber and Protel ASCII PCB viewer called GerbMagic:

There are also no-charge Gerber file viewers from PentaLogix (ViewMate), GraphiCode (GC-Preview), Mark Mayhew and Jérôme Vuarand:

Mentor Graphics offers two different products, the Expedition PCB Browser and Design Capture Browser:

For PADS users, Mentor's PADS Free PCB Viewer:

Mentor also has a visECAD Viewer Software:

You can download a free CADSTAR Design Viewer from Zuken:

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