Extract text from LIN files
To convert your LIN file to another format, you need AutoCAD or other Settings software.
To convert other file formats to the "Configuration File" file type, you need software like AutoCAD or a similar tool.
LIN files suffer from a classic file extension collision: they are most commonly either AutoCAD linetype definitions or Bridge Base Online hand records.
If you are a CAD user, your .LIN file is a plain-text configuration file used by AutoCAD to define complex line patterns (dashes, dots, and relative spacing). The frustration here is that while the file is human-readable text, you cannot preview the visual rendering of the line style without loading it into a compiled SHX shapefile or the main CAD interface. Converting these to PDF or standard TXT allows you to document these standards without requiring a licensed seat of AutoCAD.
If you are a bridge player using Bridge Base Online, the file contains data about card hands and bidding sequences. These files are proprietary and difficult to share with players using different software. The ideal workflow is converting .LIN to PBN (Portable Bridge Notation), which is the universal standard for bridge software, or to PDF for archiving and printing hand records.
Less frequently, .LIN files may be compiled game scripts for titles like Final Fantasy X or Grand Theft Auto, or linear programming data for POM-QM. These variants are binary blobs and generally cannot be converted to usable formats outside their native environments.
Convert.Guru analyzes your LIN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted PBN, QM, TXT, DWG, PDF, LNK, SPV, SAV, ENC, DWF, PLT and BPL files.
If you want to convert LIN file to PBN, DWG, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES, SAT or X_T, you can use AutoCAD or similar software from the "Linetype Definition & Game Data" 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 LIN, try AutoCAD or another comparable tool in the "Linetype Definition & Game Data" 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 LIN converter.