Thursday, June 23, 2016

Importing 2D CAD Data into Inventor Pt. 1

So, to kick off posting tips and tricks again I am going to have a 2 part post showing ways to import 2D Cad data into Inventor for use in the CAM environment.

Let's go ahead and dive into today's tip!

In Autodesk Inventor start a sketch on a work plane.  Once the sketch is active; look for the insert panel on your ribbon bar.  Then pic on the command called ACAD.

Once you do this a dialog box will pop up to select the file you want to import.  Once you have found the file you want select and hit open.
Now starts the actual importing aspect.
There are a couple of ways to select the geometry that is being imported.
1. Red arrow - you can turn on and off certain layers and only those layers showing will be imported.
2. Blue & Green arrow - uncheck the "All" check box and then in the graphics window (Green Arrow) select the geometry you want imported.


After you have done this hit "Next".
This last page of the importing is important because it will affect the geometry imported.  On the last page there is an option for "Constrain End Points" and "Apply Geometry Constraints".  Make sure these 2 options are checked or your geometry will not import as closed loops and you won't be able to create actual features from it.

Click the Finish button and then you will have the 2D CAD data in your Inventor Sketch.  From here you can go ahead and create features from the new geometry.