Custom symbols can be made from 2D content in DWF files. You can create a separate symbol from each object, or block, if the block template information was included in the DWF file when it was published by a design application, such as AutoCAD. (For nested objects, only the top-level object is imported.) You can also create a separate symbol from each 2D sheet in the DWF file, regardless of how many objects are on a sheet.
As a type of markup, symbols can be used and reused on any 2D sheet. The benefit of symbols is the easy access to and consistent reuse of common symbols.

In addition to DWF files with drawings and text, you can also use DWF files with images or snapshots as symbols. Image types include:
- Sheets created by the Snapshot tool.
- JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif)
- PNG (.png)
- TIFF (.tif, .tiff)