topic Re: Importing AutoCAD in sketch mode in Inventor Forum

Importing AutoCAD in sketch mode

Yashasvi23481 — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 00:37:51 GMT

Hi All,

I have not tried it but does inventor has ability to import an AutoCAD sketch while in idw sketch mode? So i have a assembly drawing in autoCAD and want to get it like we do in sketch from scratch. So in short, Is Import CAD option is available in sketch mode in drawing file?

Regards,

Yash

Re: Importing AutoCAD in sketch mode

jhackney1972 — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 01:10:05 GMT

Yes, see screen capture.

Re: Importing AutoCAD in sketch mode

Casey.P — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 01:15:47 GMT

Hello @Yashasvi23481,

So, I think I understand your question, but let's see if this is what you are needing.

I created a random AutoCAD sketch as shown below:

I highlighted the sketch and did a Ctrl+C to copy the sketch.

Next, I opened a new drawing in Inventor, clicked on the sketch tab, and created a new sketch.

I then did a Ctrl+P and dropped the sketch from AutoCAD into the sketch of the drawing:

This can even be dimensioned as normal:

Is this what you were asking for?

Re: Importing AutoCAD in sketch mode

Casey.P — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 01:16:55 GMT

Or, an easier route would be to do what @jhackney1972 just posted!

🙂

Re: Importing AutoCAD in sketch mode

johnsonshiue — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:44:46 GMT

Hi Yash,

If I understood the intent correctly, I think leveraging DWG Underlay would be a better workflow. It sounds like the assembly dwg file may have quite a lot of geometry. When you import it to drawing sketch, each line will become sketch lines. This will make the drawing sketch very heavy.

I would create an Inventor part and import the dwg file as an underlay. Then place an empty view of the part in the drawing. Then make the underlay visible.

Another option is to import the sketch as an AutoCAD block into Inventor drawing (right-click on AutoCAD Block folder in the browser -> Import AutoCAD Block). Last but not least, simply use the dwg file a template for Inventor drawing, the dwg geometry (if in Paper space) will show up without any import.

Many thanks!