How To: Retain elevation values when converting from a shapefile to CAD

Summary

Instructions provided describe how to retain elevation values when converting from a shapefile to CAD.

Procedure

1. Open the attribute table of the shapefile, add a new field of type Double and name it 'Elevation'.
2. Calculate the Elevation field equal to the field within the attribute table that contains the elevation values.
   
   · If the shapefile is a polyline or polygon and there is no field that contains the elevation, populate the field manually.
   
   · If the shapefile has a pointZ and there is no field that contains the elevation, navigate to ArcToolbox > Data Management Tools > Features > Add XY Coordinates. This creates an X,Y, and Z field within the point shapefile. Calculate the Elevation field to equal the Z field.
3. Export the shapefile to CAD by navigating to ArcToolbox > Conversion Tools > To CAD > Export to CAD.
4. Open the attribute table of the CAD output. The 'Elevation' field is populated.