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How do I copy existing parts to a new project?

13 REPLIES 13
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Message 1 of 14
steambc
10175 Views, 13 Replies

How do I copy existing parts to a new project?

I have a project with 5 parts in it. I'd like to create a brand-new project and import or copy these 5 existing parts into it.

 

What would be the proper procedure for accomplishing this?

 

Thanks!

Steam

Using Inventor Pro 2015
13 REPLIES 13
Message 2 of 14
JDMather
in reply to: steambc

Do you want to maintain associativity, or do you want these to be new, separate parts from the originals?


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Message 3 of 14
steambc
in reply to: JDMather

New and separate, as if the original veber existed.

 

I created a new project, then opened each of the 5 parts from the original project folder. Then I "saved as" each part into the current brand new project.

 

It worked fine, but I was wondering if there was a more elegant way.

 

Thanks.

Steam

Using Inventor Pro 2015
Message 4 of 14
JDMather
in reply to: steambc

I would have used Save As Pack and Go to a new folder.


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Autodesk Inventor 2019 Certified Professional
Autodesk AutoCAD 2013 Certified Professional
Certified SolidWorks Professional


The CADWhisperer YouTube Channel


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Message 5 of 14
steambc
in reply to: JDMather

Ahhh, that sounds interesting. I'll definitely give that a go tonight. Thank you.
Steam

Using Inventor Pro 2015
Message 6 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: steambc

For a five-part project, I would simply copy the whole folder (including the project [.ipj] file) to a new location, change to that project file and you're good to go.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2015 SP1 Update 1
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
HP EliteBook 8770w; 8 GB RAM; Core™ i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz; Quadro K4000M

Message 7 of 14
steambc
in reply to: SBix26

Sam, I don't have to make Inventor aware in some way that this is a different project? Do I rename to the individual project file (after copying the folder and contents)?

 

Thanks,

 

Steam

Steam

Using Inventor Pro 2015
Message 8 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: steambc

Sorry, hit "Post" too soon...

Message 9 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: steambc

You wouldn't have to rename the project file, though it makes it much easier to select the correct project if they have different names.  The project file is how Inventor knows where to look for files.

 

So, for your simple project, if MyAssembly.iam contains five parts (Part1.ipt ... Part5.ipt), and six associated drawings (.idw or .dwg), as long as your project files define their workspaces correctly (separate from each other), there will be no problem for each MyAssembly.iam to find its components, and likewise for all the drawings to find their models.  If you change the names of the files, then you will need to resolve links in each affected drawing and assembly, but this isn't too difficult for five components.  For bigger assemblies you would want to use Design Assistant to rename files.

 

Keep asking if this isn't helping.  Project files are a bit mysterious and complicated at first, but very powerful.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2015 SP1 Update 1
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
HP EliteBook 8770w; 8 GB RAM; Core™ i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz; Quadro K4000M

Message 10 of 14
Mark.Lancaster
in reply to: steambc

You might want to take a look at iLogic Design Copy.

 

This Inventor menu option is only avaliable when there are no files  opened in Inventor and located on the Tools ribbon tab.

 

Check out my co-workers article on the subject matter: http://synergiscadblog.com/2014/09/23/copy-files-easily-with-ilogic-design-copy-even-without-ilogic-...

 

Mark Lancaster


  &  Autodesk Services MarketPlace Provider


Autodesk Inventor Certified Professional & not an Autodesk Employee


Likes is much appreciated if the information I have shared is helpful to you and/or others


Did this resolve your issue? Please accept it "As a Solution" so others may benefit from it.

Message 11 of 14

I've never had any problem with the normal copying of parts (right click, copy) and then renaming.

Matt Johnson
CAD Project Development Specialist
Inventor 2014
Message 12 of 14
dan_inv09
in reply to: SBix26

Are you guys talking about copying the whole thing, project file and all?

 

I usually make the new project then copy the parts, assemblies and drawings, etc..

 

Sometimes I use Design Assistant from the old project to copy - but that can seem frustrating: it feels like it should allow me to say, "Take these 15 files and tack ' for S.O. xxx' on the end and put them in this folder" but I'm doing each one individually (I think, if you're using Vault, there's a way). Eventually I figured out to put the shop order number at the beginning and skip trying to get them in the right folder (something always gets missed), then it's easy to grab them all from the old folder and move to the new one.

Message 13 of 14
dan_inv09
in reply to: Mark.Lancaster

That's great. (iLogic Design Copy)

 

The drawings and assemblies are all updated for the new prefixes/suffexes?

Message 14 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: dan_inv09

For a small project such as the OP is talking about, if you don't want to or need to change file names, copying to a new location along with the project file is the simplest.  Change to the new project and everything is just fine.  Of course, if there are complications, such as needing to change most or all filenames, other techniques (Vault Copy Design, iLogic Design Copy, Design Assistant) will be more useful.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2015 SP1 Update 1
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
HP EliteBook 8770w; 8 GB RAM; Core™ i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz; Quadro K4000M

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