making an independent copy of an assembly

[Anonymous]

I want to make an independent copy of an assembly with independent parts from the original assembly, So that if I made a change on a part from the new assembly, the same part on the original assembly won't be affected, but when I try to do that the original assembly always gets updated to be like the copy.
Any ideas?

[JDMather]

Are you using Projects (*.ipj) or are you using Vault?

File>Save Copy As>Pack and Go is probably the easiest way.

[Anonymous]

I'm using (*.sldasm).
I tried File>Save Copy As>Pack and Go but it is still connected to the original assembly @JDMather 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

I found a solution, that I use pack and go and then rename the assembly and all the parts then I use 'make independent' on the part that I want to adjust in the new copy. that solved my problem, but I'm still looking for a more practical solution.

[SBix26]

If you place the Pack & Go assembly in the same location as your original assembly, there's no way to avoid the conflicts, until you rename files as you found.

The best method is to use Vault Workgroup or Professional, which have a very capable Copy Design tool; next best is to use Vault Basic (included with Inventor subscription), which has a somewhat less capable Copy Design tool; next after that (in my opinion) is Design Assistant, which is an Inventor tool that operates outside Inventor.  I'm not going to give the whole tutorial here, but it's pretty easily found on the Autodesk Knowledge Network.  The very basic procedure: in Windows File Explorer, copy your top level assembly to a new name, then right click on the new file and select Design Assistant.  When the app opens, select Manage on the left side.  Now you see your assembly at the top and all its components.  Select all the files except the top assembly, and right click in the Action column and choose Copy.  One by one, rename all the components, then click Save.  All will be copied to the new names/locations you specified, and all the links maintained (separate from the originals).  In a big assembly this can get incredibly tedious and put you at risk for repetitive stress injury.  But it's still much better than manually renaming, then resolving all the files.

---

Sam B
Inventor Pro 2021.2.1 | Windows 10 Home 2004
LinkedIn

[JDMather]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I'm still looking for a more practical solution.

---

If you aren't using Vault - then you might check Design Assistant.

Takes a bit of time to find your way around the first time through...

[rhasell]

Hi

Another tool is "Design Cloner" by "Micro Graphics" https://www.mgfx.co.za/cad-software/autodesk-inventor/tools-for-inventor/ 

This will allow you to do copy/rename multiple files with the click of a button. I use this tool quite a lot, and it works really well.

We are a small company and do not have anything to install Vault on, so Design Cloner is the next best thing.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Another one is called iLogic Design Copy. Start up Inventor without loading any file and go to Tools -> iLogic Design Copy.

Many thanks!

[cadman777]

I never used Vault.

I have always use Pack-and_Go + DesignAssistant.

It's a real PITA, but it works.

Depending on how much of the original assembly must be kept the same determines if I copy the new assembly to another drive and then rename what needs renaming 'far far away' from the original assembly. There's a number of caveats that need to be addressed in Partial-Copy scenarios, depending on your modelling method.