Colors welds

[Mustang69]

I am trying to put a color on the welds so our welders easier can look where there are but I can't do it.

Is it not possible?

[Gabriel_Watson · Accepted solution]

You can color beads only if you first select the entire "Beads" folder or the "Welds" browser item as a whole, and then pick the appearance (which will affect all):

[mrB_Young]

Select Welds (single, left click)

then choose the colour you want from appearances

Now you have different coloured weld  🙂

[mrB_Young]

If you want to colour only certain welds, then as Galaxybane has pointed out, you can't do it in the .iam file.
But workaround is to the derive the .iam to an .ipt.
In the .ipt you can then colour the surface of each weld individually.

[Mustang69]

Perfect! 👍

[Mustang69]

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Why?

[pumpkinboss]

Thank you for the work around!  However, this is so ridiculous (directed a Autodesk). To have to make an entirely separate ipt just to color the welds? Is there a good reason that the ability to color surfaces in an Inventor assy is not possible? I can think of a myriad reasons why someone might want to do this. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The face-based appearance override at the assembly level was not implemented until Inventor 2024. If you are on 2024, you may add Finish feature to any face at the assembly level.

Many thanks!

[pumpkinboss]

I am on 2025. There is no way to put a single color on a weld or any other single surface in an assy. Am I missing something? Is the procedure to do so different from doing it on a part? I see that there is a finish command (after right clicking). But that's not quite the same. It makes it much more difficult to apply different colors in a rapid manner. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I just want to double-check if we are talking about the same thing. Finish feature is available at assembly level and part level in 2025. It allows you to paint selected bodies, components or faces with a different appearance.

Many thanks!

[swalton]

Inventor 2025.2.

This workflow allows me to change weld bead colors:

1. In the base weldment assembly environment or the Weld sub-environment, not the Prep, or Machining sub-environments
2. Left Click on the Welds browser node
3. The Appearance dropdown should show the current color assigned to the weld bead material
4. Use the appearance dropdown to select a new color override
5. The color will be applied to all the weld beads

I can also expand the Welds node and select the Beads folder to activate the appearance dropdown.

[pmartick]

You can use the Finish feature to color individual faces of welds but for whatever reason the Solid Body that represents the welds cannot be selected to quickly add all welds to a finish feature.

It can be done via iLogic so I know it's possible to include the weld body in a finish feature but for whatever reason the Selection Filter for Solid Bodies in the Finish Properties window does not allow the welds solid body to be selected.

Dim oDef As AssemblyComponentDefinition = ThisAssembly.Document.ComponentDefinition
Dim oWeldOcc As ComponentOccurrence = oDef.Occurrences(1)
Dim oFinDef As FinishDefinition = oDef.Features.FinishFeatures(1).Definition
Dim cIncObjs As ObjectCollection = oFinDef.IncludedEntities
Dim oBody As SurfaceBodyProxy
oWeldOcc.CreateGeometryProxy(oWeldOcc.SurfaceBodies(1), oBody)
cIncObjs.Add(oBody)
oFinDef.IncludedEntities = cIncObjs

Easy selection of welds as solid bodies (either as a whole collection or individual welds) both in the model and in the model browser would be great.