DWF files can be accessed by the free Design Review application, where they can be viewed, marked-up and printed. DWF is not intended to replace popular CAD formats, but instead is used to save designs in a more accessible, open format that can be opened in either a browser or similar free application without the need to purchase specific CAD software. This format was designed to be a device and resolution independent drawing format for distributing designs, whereas the PDF was more for general documentation. DWF files are saved in a Zip-compressed format to reduce their file size and was introduced back in 1995 to provide an alternative to Adobe's popular PDF format. It contains design data, which includes graphics and text.

A DWF file is a 2D or 3D drawing saved in the Design Web Format (DWF) developed by Autodesk.