Title Block & Border – Inventor 2011

[GordonvE]

A limited selection of Inventor default Title Blocks combined with comments from users in need of a Title Block that offer a more streamlined solution for individual company needs urged me to design the attached Title Block.  The Title Block & Border was designed for our company’s specific needs, some information may not suit your preferences, please feel free to change or alter the design to your preference.  Constraints were kept to a minimum to simplify edits by the user.  The provided Title Block & Border was designed in Inventor 2011 for an ANSI B (11 x 17) sheet size.  I have provided a PDF drawing for an overview of the design as a reference prior to download.  In view of numerous comments over the internet and mixed emotions of Autodesk Inventor’s default Title Blocks, I feel compelled to share our Title Block with others.  Hope this will be of help!

Best wishes, 

Gordon van Ekstrom, Chairman / Co-Founder

GDK Technologies, Inc.

Ps.  To edit the text:  Right-click on ‘Border’, ‘TITLE’ or ‘REVISION HISTORY’ in the Model Browser to select  the intended text to edit – select edit definition, then right-click on the actual text to edit – select Edit Text, edit the text - OK, right-click again in a neutral area of the drawing and select ‘Save title Block’ or ‘Save Border’.  Don’t forget to save again inside Inventor or your changes may be lost!)  

[bobvdd]

Way to go Gordon,

I think we spoke over the phone a couple of months ago.

I have contacted our Autodesk techpubs folks to see if we can reuse your template somewhere in our Help or in our Tutorial or Samples. I assume you don't mind if we give these files a more extended life 🙂 But no promises.

Bob

[GordonvE]

Dear Bob,

I posted this file as an aid to the Autodesk community.  In it's current form, the template should provide Autodesk users with a template that they can modify as needed for their particular needs.  I have no objection to Autodesk reusing the template and would be pleased if the file would help the Autodesk community. 

My sincere thanks,

Gordon van Ekstrom, Chairman / Co-Founder

GDK Technologies, Inc. 

[HarryP108]

I would like to know how you constrained the title block to the right bottom corner, but not the extreme right bottom corner. I have had a play with it and if you "edit sheet" then constrain the title block to the left bottom corner it does go to the extreme left bottom corner. Obviously you have tweaked it somehow. I have been trying to figure that one out for some time...

Regards.

[GordonvE]

You need to specify a distance from the corner where the title block attaches itself from the selected default corner location. 

Best wishes,

Gordon van Ekstrom, Chairman / Co-Founder

GDK Technologies, Inc.

[HarryP108]

OK. Any chance you could give me a little more information? ie a brief procedure...

Regards.

[msklein]

here look at one of my first tepletes.last time it was used was back in IV8 i beleave, i created it back in IV3 i think. So there have been styles changes to IV in 9 YEARS. BUT SHOULD BE A BIG HELP. I don't see any problem as the Court sold them off in parts after chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

good luck

msk

[davesonger]

Mr. Gordon, Thanks very much for sharing this Title Block Data with the Community. I am new to inventor, but not to modelling, but the Title Block Stage is where I am at now. I just have a few questions, if you have a minute sir. 1. I will use this block as a basis for my new block that I am working on, however, how can I make this my standard Border and Titleblock that IV will use all the time? 2. I see this is 11x17, I would like to use a variation of the TB in a 24x36, 18x24. and 8.5x11 sheet, what would be the best step for that? Thanks so much Mr. Gordon for sharing this data. David

[GordonvE]

Dear David,

Our standard sheet size within the organization is 11 x 17, as I am a newcomer in creating a title block and border I have not ventured into creating additional drawing sizes.  I beleive that in order to generate a custom title block and border for varied sheet sizes each sheet size needs to be generated with the title block and border separately.  I am wondering if you could possibly scale and adjust the existing title block and border for varied sheet sizes?  I totally understand how frustrating this issue can be and wish that I could be of more help.  I am sure that there are a number of forum members that would appreciate your comments in resolving this question.

Best wishes,

Gordon van Ekstrom, Chairman / Co-Founder

GDK Technologies, Inc.      

[Anonymous]

Attached is a simple IDW (2011 format) that has a border with margins constrained to the sheet size to update automatically when the sheet size is changed, and a very simple Titleblock that pulls from the IPT properties. It's generally adavisable to pull Tblock info from the IPT or IDW iProps rather than manual "prompted" entry, because that allows you to swap out Tblocks later and still pull in the same info from the IPT or IDW iProps. See below for more info. By advise is just to take some time to play around with this stuff, using simple examples. You'll find it's really quite simple once you're familiar with it.

"1. I will use this block as a basis for my new block that I am working on, however, how can I make this my standard Border and Titleblock that IV will use all the time?"

Create drawing templates

All new drawing files are created with a template. A default template is provided for each drafting standard or you can create your own templates.

You can create a template from a drawing, preserving annotations on drawing sheets, such as custom symbols, notes, and revision tables. In addition, your borders, title blocks and view definitions can be retained in the template. View annotations and general notes are not saved in a template.

Note: The default drawing templates are named standard.[file extension] and are located in the Templates folder. To replace the default template, rename standard.[file extension] to avoid deleting it, and then replace it with the customized template named standard.[file extension].

To replace or create a IDW default template

1. Create a drawing using an existing template based on the appropriate drafting standard (such as ANSI, ISO, or DIN).
2. Customize as needed:
   • Modify, create, or import title blocks and borders to conform to your requirements.
   • Create custom symbols for reusable standardized content.
   • Review style definitions and settings contained in the active, default standard style and modify or add settings as needed.

     If appropriate, save changes to the styles in the style library. Otherwise, the changes are only saved in the template file.

   • Customize the default sheet and add any other sheets that you want in new drawings.
   • Set the properties for the drawing file.
3. Copy drawing resources:
   • To copy a drawing resource from one template or drawing to another, right-click the resource in the browser, and then select Copy. Paste the resource to the appropriate folder in the browser of the other drawing.
   • Use the Drawing Resource Transfer Wizard to copy drawing resources from a source drawing to one or more target drawings. Close Autodesk Inventor, and then click Start menu Programs Autodesk Autodesk Inventor [version] Tools Drawing Resource Transfer wizard.
4. Place the default base views and projected views. If the file contains one or more base views, you are prompted to locate a component file.
5. Save the file in the Autodesk\Inventor[version]\Templates folder or a subfolder of Templates. A drawing file automatically becomes a template when it is saved to the Templates folder.

----------------------------------------

also:

Title block basics - Part A: Set up and maintenance tips

The title blocks used in an Autodesk Inventor drawing are dynamic and include information about the drawing, the sheet, and the design properties. The title block automatically updates to display current information, as information changes.

Dynamic information in a title block is referred to as a property field and is added through the text command. The information can be entered through the Drawing Properties dialog box or through user input (as prompted entries).

1. Right-click the ANSI-Large title block under Sheet:1 in the browser, and select Delete from the context menu.
2. Expand the Drawing Resources folder, and then the Title Blocks folder.
3. To base your title block on an existing one, right-click the title block and select Edit. To create a title block, select Manage tab Define panel Title Block .
4. To insert an AutoCAD title block, select the AutoCAD icon (the Define new title block must be active).

   Tip: For better visibility, turn off the Grid Lines in Tools tab Options panel Application Options . Select the Sketch tab, and cancel the Grid Lines selection.

5. Use the sketch commands to modify the title block, dimension, or to place property fields. (See Setting Property Fields in the following section.)
6. Insert a .bmp (only one allowed) into the title block by selecting the Insert image command, and then browsing for the image.
7. After completing the title block, right-click and select Save Title Block. In the Save Edits dialog box, click Save As and save a new custom title block to create a title block, or click Yes to save edits to a pre-existing one.
8. Double-click the title block to insert it into the drawing.

Note: Dimensions used to set the size of elements in a title block or border are hidden upon exiting sketch mode.

You cannot directly modify the title block on a drawing sheet. To change a title block, edit the title block definition that you used to create it. Editing a definition changes all title blocks in the file you are editing from it.

Note: To copy a titleblock from one template or drawing to another, right-click the titleblock in the browser and select Copy from the menu. Paste to the titleblock folder in the browser of the other drawing.

Use the Drawing Resource Transfer Wizard to make a change in one template and apply the changes to any existing drawing files. It comes in handy in many circumstances. For example, you can use the Drawing Resource Transfer Wizard to distribute a company area code on a title block that was used to create many drawings by updating the existing title blocks in selected drawings with the new area code.

Title block basics - Part B: Adding Properties

Use the Text or Edit Text commands to set or change the values of Properties (including prompted entries) in a title block, border, or sketched symbol.

Note: In drawings, the default text format is controlled by the active object default style of the standard. To change the default text format for a drawing or template, modify the text style and object defaults style using the Styles Editor.

1. On the ribbon, click Sketch tab Draw panel Text .
2. Left-click or window the position to insert the property field.
3. In the Format Text dialog box, select the Type of category of properties from which to choose.
4. Prompted Entry specifies a prompt to enable entry of information at the time that a title block is placed. Select Prompted Entry to prompt the user for information when inserting the template or the title block.
   • Select the field name in the Edit window, and then enter the appropriate prompt. This is like AutoCAD attributes.
5. Select a property from the drop-down to display in the title block.
6. Add text or symbols to the annotation by placing them in the edit box. The value you select must be placed between the arrows.
7. Select the contents displayed in the edit box and apply any of the format properties available.

   Note: Use Fit Text to sizes the text to fit the designated space, such as a text box. Use Stretch to specifies the text width. For example, enter 100 to display the text as designed, enter 50 to decrease the width of the text by 50%. Single line text removes all line breaks from multi-line text.

Title block basics - Part C: Format text tips

The Format Text dialog box provides several formatting features that can be applied to sketch text:

• Use the text box to apply constraints and dimensions to text.
• Use the Fit text feature to sizes the text to fit the designated space, such as a text box.
• Use the Stretch feature to specify the text width. For example, enter 100 to display the text as designed, enter 50 to decrease the width of the text by 50%.
• The Single line text feature removes all line breaks from multiline text.
• After completing your title block, right-click and select Save Title Block. In the Save Edits dialog box, select Save As to save a new custom title block or Yes, if you edited a pre-existing one.

2. I see this is 11x17, I would like to use a variation of the TB in a 24x36, 18x24. and 8.5x11 sheet, what would be the best step for that?

Borders, when setup properly are dimensioned from the corners of the sheet, so that if the sheet is resized the border resizes automatically and holds the defined margins. Zoned borders are a bit more involved, but should be set up the same way. To change the sheet size, just right click on the sheet in the broser and choose Edit Sheet. FWIW, my people perfer to have an A size and a B size template, even though they are the exact same. I tried in vain to explain that all they had to to was open the standard A size template, and edit the sheet to change size, but they still wanted the 2 sizes. So now when I make template edits, I just save them out as both sizes (we only use 2 sizes here).

[quattda]

I am in the process of creating a new Titleblock also and have followed the online help directions. However, I am missing (or not understanding) one element. When trying to create a property input, I go to click on Draw --> Text. I then locate the text box. The Format Text screen opens. I choose my Type (e.g., Properties - Drawing) and Property (e.g., Company). I click OK and nothing appears where I put the text box. If I enter anything in the text area of the Format Text screen (e.g., <company>, it shows up as individual characters. If I go into one of the Autodesk pre-made Titleblocks, there is a input value character (e.g., <company> representing the property. What am I missing?

Thanks

[Dennis_Jeffrey]

Missed a button. See below:

[quattda]

Thank you. I knew it was something simple I was missing.

[quattda]

After l looking at your basic Title Block, I still do not see how you are anchored to an edge. I have tried to select the edge of the sheet, the corner, looked for ways to project geometery the edge but have been unsuccessful. How did you accomplish that?

[msklein]

TITLE BLOCKS IF MADE AS A TITLE BLOCK AND SAVED under title blocks i think are automatic as i never worried about it and they have allways inserted corrected. There is a radio box for you to define wghich corner you want it inserted but that's it.

MSK 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I create a title block, but how make my title block to be the principal template.

THX

[jdits7]

Save your titleblock name as Standard.idw and place it in your default template directory, remember to back up your standard template that came with Inventor first so you don't overwrite it.

[Anonymous]

thx for help

[DevinCurrie · Accepted solution]

You need to specify the anchor point for both Border and Title Block by first selecting the node (at bottom right corner) and enable the "Connection Point Grip" as shown in snapshot.

[GordonvE]

Dear DevinCurrie,

I appreciate your comment and would like to thank you for pointing this out, you are absolutely right.

My sincere thanks,

Gordon van Ekstrom