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Autodesk Inventor 2018 Essentials Plus Full Chapter
Autodesk Inventor 2018 Essentials Plus Full Chapter
Autodesk Inventor 2018 Essentials Plus Full Chapter
Essentials Plus
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Autodesk
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Inventor 2018
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Essentials Plus
Daniel T. Banach & Travis Jones
SDC
P U B L I C AT I O N S
Better Textbooks. Lower Prices.
www.SDCpublications.com
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Autodesk Inventor 2018 Essentials Plus manual. This manual provides a
thorough coverage of the features and functionalities offered in Autodesk Inventor.
Each chapter in this manual is organized with the following elements:
Objectives. Describes the content and learning objectives.
Topic Coverage. Presents a concise, thorough review of the topic.
Exercises. Presents the workflow for a specific command or process through illustrated, step-by-
step instructions.
Checking Your Skills. Tests your understanding of the material using True/False and multiple-
choice questions.
User Prerequisites
It is recommended that you have a working knowledge of Microsoft® Windows 7 or Windows 8
as well as a working knowledge of mechanical design principles.
Manual Objectives
The primary objective of this manual is to provide instruction on how to create part and assembly
models, document those designs with drawing views, and automate the design process.
Upon completion of all chapters in this manual, you will be proficient in the following tasks:
• Basic and advanced part modeling techniques
• Drawing view creation techniques
• Assembly modeling techniques
While working through these materials, we encourage you to make use of the Autodesk Inventor
help system, where you may find solutions to additional design problems that are not addressed
specifically in this manual.
Book Description
This book provides the foundation for a hands-on course that covers basic and advanced
Autodesk Inventor features used to create, edit, document, and print parts and assemblies. You
learn about the part and assembly modeling through the real-world exercises in this manual.
Exercise Files
The files that are used in the exercises can be downloaded from:
www.SDCpublications.com/downloads/978-1-63057-089-7.
Projects
Most designers and engineers work on several projects at a time, with each project consisting of a
number of files. To accommodate this, Autodesk Inventor uses projects to help organize related
files and maintain links between files.
Each project has a project file that stores the paths to all files related to the project. When you
attempt to open a file, Autodesk Inventor uses the paths in the current project file to locate other
necessary files.
For convenience, a project file is provided for the exercises.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Autodesk Inventor team for their help and insight, and the
SDC Publications staff for their expertise, knowledge, and attention to detail, as they have added
a great deal to this book.
– Getting Started
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter you learn about the following: Inventor’s user interface, application options that
control how Inventor looks and acts, how to start commands, create and control projects, and how
to change your viewpoint to view parts from different perspectives. The knowledge that you learn
in this chapter will lay a strong foundation for you to master Inventor.
OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you will be able to do the following:
List the main areas of Inventor’s user interface
Open files
Create new files
List the file types used in Autodesk Inventor
Explain how to use the three save commands
Use the Application Options to control how Inventor looks
Start commands
Describe how to use Inventor’s help system
Describe the purposes of a project file
Create a project file for a single user
Use navigation commands to change how you view a part
Figure 1-1
USER INTERFACE
The default sketch environment of a part (.ipt) in the Autodesk Inventor application window is
shown in the following image.
Figure 1-2
Tabs
Change available commands by clicking on a tab.
Panels
The panels will change to show available commands for the active tab; click on a tab to display a
set of new panels and commands.
Commands
Access basic Windows and Autodesk Inventor commands. The set of commands will change to
reflect the environment in which you are working.
Information Toolbar
Displays common help commands as well as Subscription services.
ViewCube
Displays the current viewpoint and allows you to change the orientation of the view.
Navigation Bar
Displays common viewing commands. Viewing commands can be added by clicking the bottom
drop arrow.
Capacity Meter
Displays how many occurrences (parts) are in the active document, the number of open
documents in the current session, and how much memory is being used. Note: The capacity meter
that shows memory usage is available only on 32-bit computers.
Status Bar
Displays text messages about the current process and lists common commands for setting how
Inventor operates.
Document Tabs
Each open file will be displayed on its own tab, and the My Home tab takes you to the Home
screen if it has not been closed.
Browser
Shows the history of how the contents in the file were created. The browser can also be used to
edit features and components.
Graphics Window/Canvas
Displays the graphics of the current file.
FILE TAB
Besides selecting commands for working with files, you can control how the recent or open
documents are listed in the menu. The following image shows the functionality available from the
File tab.
Figure 1-3
Recent Documents
Displays documents that were previously opened.
Open Documents
Displays documents that are opened.
Display
Controls what is displayed in the list: icons or images and what size.
Pin to Menu
Click the push pin to keep the file in the list no matter when it was last opened.
Preview Image
Hover the cursor over a file to see a larger image of the file when it was last saved.
Double-click on the Inventor Application button, and a dialog box will appear
asking you to save each unsaved document and then Inventor will close.
RIBBON
The ribbon displays commands that are relevant to the selected tab. The current tab is highlighted
in green and is also green if it supports the current environment. The commands are arranged by
panels. The most common commands are larger in size while less used commands are smaller and
positioned to the right of the larger command. Commands may also be available in the drop list of
a command or in the name of the panel. For example, there is a drop list available under the
Circle icon located in the Create panel, as shown in the following image.
Figure 1-4
The ribbon can be modified by right-clicking on the Panel; the following image on the left shows
the main options or you can click the down arrow to the right of the panel to turn panels on / off
as shown in the following image on the right. Note that you must exit the sketch environment to
turn panels on / off.
Figure 1-5
• Ribbon Appearance – Changes how the Ribbon is displayed, turns text off, and changes
the size of the commands
• Show Panels – Adds and removes Panels
• Customize User Commands – Adds commands to a User Panel
• Undock Ribbon – Allows the ribbon to be freely moved
• Docking Positions – Changes the location of the Ribbon
Figure 1-6
To remove a command from the Quick Access toolbar, follow these steps:
1. Move the cursor over the command to remove and right-click.
2. Click Remove from Quick Access Toolbar as shown in the following image.
Figure 1-7
OPEN FILES
To open files follow one of these techniques:
• Click the Open command in the Quick Access toolbar as shown on the left of the
following image.
• Click the Open command in the Get Started tab > Launch panel as shown in the
following image in the middle.
• Click the File tab in the top-left corner of the screen and click Open as shown in the
following image on the right.
Press CTRL + O.
Figure 1-8
The Open dialog box will appear as shown in the following image. The directory that opens by
default is set in the current project file. You can open files from other directories that are not
defined in the current project file, but this is not recommended. Part, drawing, and assembly
relationships may not be resolved when you reopen an assembly that contains components
outside the locations defined in the current project file. Projects are covered later in this chapter.
Figure 1-9
Figure 1-10
Document Tabs
When multiple documents are open in Inventor, each document appears in a tab in the lower left
corner of the graphics window. The current document is represented with an “x” to the right of
the file name and the tab has a white background. You can see a preview of an open document by
hovering the cursor over the tab. In the same area, you can cascade, arrange, tile horizontally, tile
vertically, or list the open documents as shown in the following image.
Figure 1-11
NEW FILES
Like the Open command there are many ways to create a new file. To create a new Inventor file,
follow one of these techniques:
• Click the New command in the Quick Access toolbar as shown in the following image on
the left.
• To start a new file based on one of the default templates click the down arrow next to the
New icon in the Quick Access toolbar as shown in the following image, second from the
left.
• Click the New command in the Get Started tab > Launch Panel as shown in the following
image, third from the left.
• Click the File tab in the top-left corner of the screen and click New as shown in the image
on the right.
• Click New on the Home page as shown in Figure 1-1.
• Press CTRL + N.
Figure 1-12
The Create New File dialog box will appear as shown in the following image. Begin by selecting
the type of file to create or one of the folders from the left column, and then click on a template
from the Part, Assembly, Drawing or Presentation section. A preview and a description will
appear on the right side of the dialog box. To start a new file, double-click on a template or after a
template is selected, click Create on the bottom-right of the dialog box. If Autodesk Inventor
Professional is installed, a Mold Design folder will exist in the list of template folders.
Figure 1-13
FILE INFORMATION
While creating parts, assemblies, presentation files, and drawing views, data is stored in separate
files with different file extensions. This section describes the different file types and the options
for creating them.
File Types
The following section describes the main file types that you can create in Autodesk Inventor, their
file extensions, and descriptions of their uses.
Part (.ipt)
Part files contain only one part, which can be either 2D or 3D.
Assembly (.iam)
Assembly files can consist of a single part, multiple parts, or subassemblies. The parts themselves
are saved to their own part file and are referenced (linked) in the assembly file. See Chapter 6 for
more information about assemblies.
Presentation (.ipn)
Presentation files show parts of an assembly exploded in different states. A presentation file is
associated with an assembly, and any changes made to the assembly will be updated in the
presentation file. A presentation file can be animated, showing how parts are assembled or
disassembled. The presentation file extension is ipn, but you save animations as an AVI or WMV
file. See Chapter 6 for more information about presentation files.
Project (.ipj)
Project files are structured XML files that contain search paths to locations of all the files in the
project. The search paths are used to find the files in a project.
iFeature (.ide)
iFeature files can contain one or more 3D features or 2D sketches that can be inserted into a part
file. You can place size limits and ranges on iFeatures to enhance their functionality.
Figure 1-14
Save
The Save command saves the current document with the same name to the location where you
created it. If this is the first time that a new file is saved, you are prompted for a file name and file
location.
To use the Save command, click the Save icon on the Quick Access toolbar, use
the shortcut keys CTRL + S, or click Save on the File tab.
Save All
Use the Save All command to save all open documents and their dependents. The files are saved
with the same name to the location where you created them. The first time that a new file is
saved, you will be prompted for a file name and file location.
Save As
Use the Save As command to save the active document with a new name and location, if
required. A new file is created and is made active.
Save Copy As
Use the Save Copy As command to save the active document with a new name and location, if
required. A new file is created but is not made active. You can also save the current file as
different file formats that other CAD systems can open.
Pack and Go
Use the Pack and Go command to copy all the files that are used to create the current file to a
specified location.
Save Reminder
You can have Inventor remind you to save a file. Inventor will NOT automatically save the file.
After a predetermined amount of time has expired without saving the file, a notification bubble
appears in the upper right corner of the screen as shown on the left of the following image. The
time can be adjusted via the Application Options Save tab as shown on the right of the following
image. The time can be adjusted from 1 minute to 9999 minutes, or uncheck this option to turn
off the notification.
Figure 1-15
APPLICATION OPTIONS
Autodesk Inventor can be customized to your preferences. On the File tab, click Options, or from
the Tools tab > Option panel > Application Options, to open the Application Options dialog box
as shown in the following image. You set options on each of the tabs to control specific actions in
the Autodesk Inventor software. The application options affect all Inventor documents that are
open or will be created. Each section is covered in more detail in the pertinent sections
throughout this book. For more information about application options, see the Help system.
Figure 1-16
General
Set general options for how Autodesk Inventor operates.
Save
Set how files are saved.
File
Set where files are located.
Colors
Change the color scheme and color of the background on your screen. Determine if reflections
and textures will be displayed.