File formats Backsight reads and writes
What you can bring in, what you can take out, and what each format carries.
3 min read
The list
| Format | In | Out | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSV / TXT points | yes | yes | You map the columns; the original rows are kept |
| DXF | yes | yes | Layers, geometry, text; blocks export as their geometry |
| LandXML | yes | yes | Surfaces, alignments, points |
| LAS | yes | yes | Point formats 0–3 and 6–8; derived clouds are written as LAS |
| LAZ | yes | original | Read exactly; Download original returns the LAZ you uploaded, byte for byte |
| GeoTIFF | yes | original | Orthophotos and DEM rasters; Download original returns your file, byte for byte |
| Image + world file | yes | original | For a scanned or supplied background |
| no | yes | Plot sheets, locate reports, cut sheets | |
| DWG | no | no | Proprietary; use DXF, which every CAD reads |
The rule behind the list
Backsight only claims a format it can handle honestly. Where something cannot travel, it is named rather than silently dropped, a file that opens and is quietly wrong is worse than a refusal with a reason.
“Original” means your file back, not a conversion
Uploads are stored unmodified, and Download original, on the imagery table and the point cloud page, returns exactly the bytes you gave us, under the name you gave them, with the checksum to prove it. Backsight does not write new LAZ or GeoTIFF files: a derived cloud is written as LAS, and display copies of imagery are renditions, not replacements.
Read next
- Importing and exporting drawingsDXF and LandXML in and out, and what a format can honestly carry.
- Point clouds: reading, clipping and thinningUpload LAS, LAZ, E57, PLY or XYZ/PTS, see what is in it, and cut it down to the part you care about.
- Orthophotos and background imageryBring a georeferenced image in, place it under the drawing, clip it and drape it.
Something here wrong or missing? Tell us and we will fix it.