Extract text from Design and asset files (CKD)
To convert CKD Design files to another format, you need KeyCreator or other Cad software.
To convert other file formats to the "CADKEY 3D Design File" file type, you need software like KeyCreator or a similar tool.
The .ckd file extension primarily represents a CADKEY Design File, created by the KeyCreator CAD software (formerly CADKEY) developed by Kubotek. These files store 2D and 3D design parts, assemblies, and drafting layouts using a structured Microsoft Compound file format. A secondary, but widespread, use for the .ckd extension is as a Cooked Game Asset for video games built on the Ubisoft UbiArt Framework, such as the Just Dance series. In this gaming context, the files act as containers for compressed textures (often DirectDraw Surface data), JSON configuration files, XML scene logic, or compiled audio tracks.
The major disadvantage of the .ckd CAD file is its heavily proprietary nature. Standard web browsers, basic document viewers, and even competing CAD tools cannot read it natively. Opening or editing the engineering data requires a costly commercial license for KeyCreator. Similarly, Ubisoft's cooked asset files are compiled explicitly for game engine execution. The data is "cooked" (locked and optimized), making it exceptionally difficult to extract or modify without dedicated modding utilities.
For CAD files, converting to standardized interoperability formats like STEP, IGES, or PDF is highly recommended to share designs with engineers using AutoCAD or SolidWorks. If you are handling UbiArt assets, extracting the embedded DDS, JSON, or XML data is usually the primary goal for game modding.
Because these formats are closed and proprietary, standard online converters usually fail to process them. Often, only the original software can properly parse the geometry or decompress the game assets. Our tool can analyze the internal structure - whether it is a Microsoft Compound CAD file, a JSON UbiArt data file, or an XML scene - and reveal readable text or internal code. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your CKD file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PNG, IPK, DWG, SLDPRT, JPG, PDF, WAV, PRT, ACSM, CDL and DXF files.
If you want to convert CKD file to DXF, DWG, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES, SAT, X_T or X_B, you can use KeyCreator or similar software from the "CAD Design & Game Assets" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SLDASM, DGN, PRT, IAM, X_B, CATPRODUCT, SLDPRT, RVT, ASM, DWG, CATPART or DXF files to CKD, try KeyCreator or another comparable tool in the "CAD Design & Game Assets" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our CKD converter.