Convert AutoCAD DWG files to a GIS-compatible file geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro

Summary

Instructions provided describe the steps to convert AutoCAD DWG files to a GIS-compatible file geodatabase using ArcGIS Pro. 

Before performing the following process, the projection for the CAD data must be defined. Refer to the following Knowledge Base article: How To: Identify the spatial reference, projection, or coordinate system of data. See also the related articles in that procedure.

After defining the projection for the DWG file, the file can be imported into a newly created file geodatabase using the CAD to Geodatabase geoprocessing tool. However, text from the CAD file is converted to points, and the descriptive text is saved as an attribute of the point feature class.  You can label the points, then convert the labels to annotation in the geodatabase. Using the method outlined below, the original text can also be converted directly to annotation in the geodatabase.

Procedure

1. In ArcGIS Pro, open a new Map, and in the Add Data dialog navigate to the folder where the AutoCAD drawing file (DWG) is stored. Double-click the name of the file, and add the Annotation, Points, Polylines, Polygons and Multipatch feature types to the map.  Additional data layers such as <dwgname>_anno and <dwgname> should not be added to the map.
2. In the Catalog pane, create a new file geodatabase to contain the CAD features. Right-click the folder where the file geodatabase will reside, and click New File Geodatabase. Rename the file geodabase if desired, but the .gdb extension must be retained. If possible, create the new file geodatabase in a folder on the local hard drive.
3. Right-click the new file geodatabase in the Catalog pane, and select New > Feature dataset. Name the new feature dataset using underscores instead of spaces, and set the coordinate system of the feature dataset to match the projection of the DWG file. Click Run to create the feature dataset.
4. In the Catalog pane, right-click the feature dataset, and select Import > Feature Class(es). In the dialog, navigate to the DWG file and double-click it.  Select the Point, Polyline, Polygon and Multipatch features types and click OK. Click Run to import those data types into the feature dataset.
5. Import the annotation. This step will not work correctly unless an appropriate spatial reference is defined for the data. In the map, zoom in until the DWG annotation text appears at an appropriate size for viewing in the map, publishing or printing.
   1. In the map, select the DWG annotation layer on the Contents tab, and click the CAD Data button.
   2. Click the Copy Features button on the ribbon.
   3. In the geoprocessing tool dialog, navigate to the file geodatabase, and open the feature dataset. Type the name of the new annotation feature class, and click Save. Run the Copy Features tool to copy the annotation to the annotation feature class.

It may be necessary to adjust the size or relative position of the Annotation in an Edit session after the conversion process is complete.