Embedded files in Drawings

[Anonymous]

Hi All, 

I had a quick search through the forums but couldn't find what I'm looking for so thought I would ask. 

We are trying to improve our workflow for drawing releasing, with dwg/step files for manufacturing (internally and externally by contractors). 

A thought I have had is whether it is possible to embed these dwg/step files in a released pdf through Inventor. I know it is possible through Acrobat Pro but unfortunately it is not installed on all of our Preparer's computers. 

Thanks in advance!

Jakob. 

[Xun.Zhang]

Hi Jakob,

Have you tried 3D PDF? It might be something you want.

To Export a Model to 3D PDF

[Anonymous]

Hi Xun, 

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately that's not exactly what I had in mind. I am trying to maintain a connection from our overarching checked document, the released drawing, to all the files neccessary to manufacture it. If this is a cnc'd machined part, then it would be a .stp file, if this is a fabricated part, then it would be a series of .dxf used for laser/waterjet cutting. 

Also, we are rocking Inventor 2015 at the moment, which as far as I am aware does not have the capability of 3D pdf'ing documents. I'm sure an add in exists to enable this feature, however due to our companies IT policy and firewall, we aren't able to install any additional add-ins. 

What I am interested in with the link that you attached is point 9. 

"Select Generate and Attach STEP File to export the model to a STEP file, and attach the STEP file to the output 3D PDF file.

Click Options, and specify the settings for the exported STEP file."

I would imagine that a similar function to the 'insert image' into drawing exists. 

Any thoughts?

Cheers, 

Jakob