Source: Deutsche Nachrichten
Tech Soft 3D, developer of the SpinFire family of CAD visualization, conversion, and collaboration user applications, has published new guidance on how you can use 3D PDF to protect your intellectual property when sharing designs. 3D PDFs allow designs to be shared without needing to provide the original CAD file. Plus, additional protections can be added for an extra layer of security.
Design data is one of the most valuable assets an engineering and manufacturing company owns, yet collaboration depends on sharing it. This creates genuine concerns around intellectual property and control, but partners and suppliers often need access to accurate design information. This guidance explains how 3D PDFs can help address this challenge by providing an accurate representation of a CAD model without sharing the native file.
Share Design Intent Without Sharing the CAD File
Per these security guidelines, one of the most effective ways to ensure data integrity is to restrict access to sensitive CAD files. 3D PDFs are documents containing an interactive model taken directly from the native CAD file. They can be opened by anyone with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader without a CAD application, allowing design information to be reviewed without providing the original design file.
From this secure foundation, Templates allow 3D PDF to be tailored to the audience, ensuring recipients receive only the information they actually need. For example, product manufacturing information (PMI) may be provided to design and manufacturing teams but be omitted from a document given to a sales team.
Apply Security Protections to 3D PDF Documents
Once a file leaves an organization, you can no longer control who has access to it. Tech Soft 3D advises companies to take full advantage of 3D PDFs’ additional security features. Adobe Acrobat provides options for password protection and encryption, helping organizations restrict access to documents and control how they are shared with intended recipients.
Further protections can be added through third-party tools, including watermarking, restrictions on editing and copying, as well as adding expiry dates to documents. These all give organizations an additional level of control over how published design information is accessed and used after it has been shared.
Meet Military and Government Compliance Requirements
Teams working with military and government organizations need to meet specific requirements around the content and presentation of technical data packages. Tech Soft 3D recommends leveraging standardized 3D PDF templates to help organizations consistently create compliant documentation.
A More Controlled Way to Share 3D Design Data
Balancing effective collaboration with intellectual property protection is a challenge across engineering and manufacturing. Following these guidelines and utilizing 3D PDFs allows you to share an interactive representation of a CAD model rather than a native CAD file. Along with this, you can also apply additional document-level security controls where required, enabling organizations to make 3D design information accessible to partners and suppliers while retaining greater control over who has access to what they share.
SpinFire Convert ships with a range of out-of-the-box templates for publishing CAD data to 3D PDF, including bill of materials, PMI analysis, and technical data packages. Custom templates can also be built where a specific output is required. Tech Soft 3D’s CAD Viewer includes 3D PDF templates designed to support technical data packages aligned with MIL-STD-31000 requirements.
Learn more about publishing CAD data to 3D PDF with SpinFire Convert.