Extract text from HiCAD drawings (SZA)
To convert SZA drawings to another format, you need HiCAD or other Cad software.
To convert other file formats to the "Proprietary CAD Drawing" file type, you need software like HiCAD or a similar tool.
The .SZA file is a proprietary CAD drawing format created by HiCAD, a professional 2D/3D CAD engineering software developed by the ISD Group. It is primarily used in mechanical, plant, and sheet metal engineering to store complex 3D assembly models and detailed 2D manufacturing drawings.
The major disadvantage of the .SZA format is its highly closed and proprietary nature. The files cannot be opened in standard web browsers, and reading or editing them requires an expensive, specialized commercial license for HiCAD. Because the data structure and geometric kernel are undocumented, standard online converters routinely fail to process or render these files accurately.
To share these designs with external clients or manufacturers, engineers must export the .SZA file from within the native software to universal interoperability formats. The best conversion targets are PDF for simple viewing, DWG or DXF for 2D CAD drafting interoperability, and STEP or IGES for transferring 3D solid models. Converting to these standard formats strips away proprietary parametric feature histories but guarantees universal access.
Because this is a closed format, it is difficult to open or convert externally. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the mathematical geometry. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SZA file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted DWG files.
If you want to convert SZA file to DWG, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES, SAT, X_T or X_B, you can use HiCAD or similar software from the "CAD Drawing Storage" 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 SZA, try HiCAD or another comparable tool in the "CAD Drawing Storage" 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 SZA converter.