Autodesk Inventor Tips and Tricks Carsten John Jacobsen
Tips and Tricks Summary If you are new to the Autodesk collection or you have been using the application for a decade you will learn something from this short quick paced presentation of tips and tricks We will outline tips and tricks in the Autodesk applications that are most familiar to you These tips and tricks will outline some of the less obvious commands or features that may be used in your daily design tasks
Inventor
Interface Autodesk Screen Cast Illustrate your point with screencast Capture video and mouse clicks Record, edit and share Share online with other users or keep private Download here, for FREE: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast
Interface Annotation Scale Application Options Tools>Application Options>General>Annotation scale Struggle to see annotation no more with this options Increase the value and watch your annotations scale up Including constraint glyphs
Interface New Window View Tab on Ribbon>Window Panel>New Have multiple windows of your model open at the same time This will not open another session of Inventor Activate the windows by using the open file tabs in the status bar
Interface Supplier Content In combination with Inventor Any CAD function Use supplier content directly in the application Inventor ribbon>collaborate>supplier Content Save and import from PARTSolutions, 3DModelSpace and TraceParts NOTE: try GrabCAD too! https://grabcad.com/
Interface Mini Toolbar Turn on and off the mini toolbar The mini toolbar was introduced in earlier versions, with no on and off Inventor ribbon>view>user Interface>Mini Toolbar When on you will only use the mini toolbar all dialog boxes will be collapsed
Sketch Trim in extend and extend in trim As you use the trim or extend tool in the sketch environment hold shift Trim and extend in one command (as per ACAD) Hold Ctrl to specify the trim segment Left click and drag to get lasso
Sketch Create construction or centerlines lines during line creation When drawing lines in sketches Right click and choose construction or centerline All in one command No need to exit the line command to convert lines
Sketch Disable infer constraints temporarily Hold ctrl when sketch command is active This will disable infer constraints Allow to work with no constraints Release ctrl to work as normal
Sketch Extrude Interfering Sketches Problems selecting extruded profiles? Add sketch points to line intersections, this will allow a clear profile selection when extruding
Sketch Sketch dimensions to line not point Apply dimensions as intended Select lines for linear dimensions If points are selected, when the geometry is edited constraints can fall from the sketch and cause unconstrained sketches
Part Sketch driven pattern Drive the location of a feature using sketch points Stop replicating the same feature and save time One sketch can drive the feature positions
Part Split Tool & Move Bodies When creating Multi-Body designs consider: Using the split tool to split one solid to two solids Then using the move bodies command create gaps Linear or rotation directions
Part Extend start hole creation When using the hole command tick the box for extend start This will extend the start face of the hole The new option removes the fragment that used to be left after certain holes where created
Assembly Perspective View in Assemblies Orthographic view is set as default Changing this view to perspective within and assembly allows: Zoom movement passes through parts/components Allowing visibility of internal parts/components
Assembly Move faces in Assembly Move faces command within the assembly environment: Move faces parametrically within assemblies Changes can be made to reflect future variations (concept)
Assembly Alt-Drag constrain Hold down Alt key on the keyboard Click and hold on a component in the graphics window near where constraint will be placed Drag to location Constraint is created NOTE: When there are options, use Space bar to cycle though constraint placement
Assembly Place and drag constraints Place parts and add constraints by: During placement of parts select faces, edges or points Then select the corresponding face, edge or point Constraints will be placed
Assembly Ground and root components Use ground and root component to move and ground a component to the assembly origin Choose from the new list: Ground at origin Create origin flush constraints Reposition to the top of the browser
Drawings Automated Centerlines After view creation right click and choose automated centerlines This will create centerlines selected by feature or pattern Save time applying each centerline individually
Drawings Hold Ctrl when creating sections When creating Section views Hold down the Ctrl key This will break alignment as you place the view
Drawings Copy drawing recources folder Right click the Drawing resources folder from the drawing browser Then select Copy In the new drawing, right click on the drawing resources folder and paste Any resources that exist in the new drawing with the same name can be replaced or created as new resources
Drawings Text Border Annotate tab>text panel>text or Leader Text Format Text dialog box Border Options dropdown list Detail view will move geometry if change is made NOTE: Text box grips can resize the border
Q & A