Transition to Style Libraries

Styles are used to format objects in Autodesk Inventor LT documents. In Autodesk Inventor LT 8 and older versions, styles resided in a template or document. Styles can now reside in a style library that contains all style definitions.

Using style libraries, multiple designers access the same styles so formatting is more uniform among documents and styles are easier to update.

How do I get started using a style library?

In the Tools tab Options panel Application Options File tab, you set the Use Styles Library option to indicate how a style library is used by the document.

• Set to Read Write to use the style library. This option means that the style library is writable. Designers can create and change styles, and then save them to the style library.
• Set to Read Only to make styles available to designers, but prohibit them from replacing the style definitions in the library. Designers can create styles and save them in individual documents, but the library is locked.
  Note: This is the best option to use when getting started with style libraries.

If you are uncertain about losing styles you have already created in existing documents, choose the Read Only option. You have access to library styles, and can analyze which of the previously created styles you want to add to the library. You can then reset the option to Read Write (so the style library is writable), and use the management tool to copy styles into the library.

Note: Files must migrate from a previous version of Autodesk Inventor LT before their styles can be added to a style library.

What happens to styles in my templates?

A template is a regular Autodesk Inventor LT document that contains styles and other settings you want to use as defaults.

When you set the Use Styles Library option to Read Write or Read Only, and then create a document from a template, Autodesk Inventor LT compares style names to styles in the template. Styles with the same name are retrieved from the style library. A style in the template is refreshed to match the style library version.

If a template contains a style that is not in the library, the style is added to the new document, but not the library. It may be useful if you have a set of custom styles that are not for general use by others using the style library.

Purge styles from templates that you do not intend to use.

What happens to styles in legacy files?

Legacy files usually have documents that each have a set of styles.

• Some styles are inherited from the templates used to create documents.
• Some styles are created in-process whenever the existing style did not suit the current need.

Consequently, many documents contain custom styles that are not shared among all other documents.

All documents created from a template contain a complete set of the template styles, even if the document does not need all of them. When using styles, purge unused styles from a document to make your file size smaller.

Use Manage tabStyles and Standards panel Purge to remove unused styles from individual documents so you do not overload files with duplicated styles.

As long as a purged style was saved in a style library, it can be retrieved if needed. Styles that resided only in a document and not migrated to a style library are permanently lost.

What tools are available to transition to using styles?

You use Autodesk Inventor LT tools to transition styles:

• Use the Style Library Manager to:
  • Rename a Style in a library.
  • Delete Styles from a library.
  • Copy Styles between libraries.
  • Create new Style Libraries.
• Use the Style and Standard Editor to create and edit styles. The Style and Standard Editor is document-based, that means creation and editing of styles is performed in the context of the document where the style editor is opened.
• To perform general style management tasks, use document-based batch commands:
  • Update Styles ( Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Update ) updates styles in the document to match the version in the Style Library.
  • Purge Styles ( Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Purge ) manually removes any unused styles and their associated substyles from a document.
  • Save to Style Library ( Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Save ) saves styles inside of a document to a Style Library.

• Using Create New Style Library, copy an existing library to customize, or create an empty style library and copy styles into it. This command is available from the Style Library Manager.