Permanently add custom material and appearance library to Inventor

[edhess]

I've recently updated to Inventor 2019 and in the process I've saved our custom 2018 Material and Appearance Library out as a library file. I can now import it into 2019 via the box below in the Material Browser, however, it only stays loaded until I exit and reopen Inventor, in which case I have to reload it again. Is there a way to permanently have our libraries available in 2019 now? I've tried loading it into our template files and re-saving them, but that doesn't seem to keep them there.

[Mark.Lancaster · Accepted solution]

@edhess

Have you added that library information to your active Inventor project file?  If you don't Inventor will not use your custom material and apperance library the next time Inventor is launched

[edhess]

Ah, should've thought about that. I think I was just used to it being in 2018 by default since that's where it was created and I didn't need to export it until I updated. Thanks.

[GarenP]

I have a similar issue.. I've read these 2 articles in hope of understanding and resolving my issue https://www.synergis.com/2014/10/22/why-its-important-to-have-an-organized-structure-for-inventor-an...  & https://www.synergis.com/2014/10/29/why-its-important-to-have-an-organized-structure-for-inventor-an... .

In previous releases I've edited the InventorMaterialLibrary file by eliminating unused material and adding custom materials.  Now we are updating to 2021 and I am of the impression it is preferred to create custom material and appearance libraries which I have done.  When I add these libraries to the default project I expect that they will also be added when a new project file is created.  Am I wrong in this logic or perhaps is there something I am missing in order to have these custom libraries as a part of all new projects?  I don't want the onus of each user to have to add these libraries manually each time they create a new project.   

[mcgyvr]

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@GarenP wrote:

When I add these libraries to the default project I expect that they will also be added when a new project file is created.  Am I wrong in this logic or perhaps is there something I am missing in order to have these custom libraries as a part of all new projects?  I don't want the onus of each user to have to add these libraries manually each time they create a new project.   

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@GarenP  Inventor just doesn't function that way. It does not add custom appearance/material libraries to newly created projects.  I believe others have recommended copying/editing the project files in a text editor as a"workaround" but its easy to argue thats more work/knowledge required than just putting the onus on the user to add the paths in Inventor. 

[mcgyvr]

@GarenP  Show your support here for adding functionality like that in the future..

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/project-file-template/idi-p/8936622

[GarenP]

Ugh...When you are 3 or 4 releases behind you always hope these things are resolved when you update to the latest release and no longer have to resort to workarounds.  Probable why I chose to edit the InventorMaterialLibrary file last time.  Thanks I've  posted here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/project-file-template/idi-p/8936622