About AutoCAD Commands in Inventor

Dimension, geometry, insert, and view commands

Note on opening DWG files

If you do not require AutoCAD objects translated into Inventor objects, you can directly open any AutoCAD DWG file in Inventor. You can then view, plot, and measure the file contents. Objects display exactly as they do in AutoCAD. In addition, all the AutoCAD data is selectable for copy and paste. You can open an AutoCAD DWG file in Inventor, and then copy and paste AutoCAD entities into any Inventor sketch.

Dimension Commands

Many AutoCAD commands are equivalent to commands in Inventor. Inventor has additional commands that have no equivalent in AutoCAD. In AutoCAD, you create 2D geometries to the required dimensions. In Inventor, the dimensions drive the geometry parametrically.

Several commands in Inventor combine the functionality of multiple single commands in AutoCAD. The General Dimension command creates a linear dimension when you select one or two elements, a diameter dimension when you select a circle, and a radius dimension when you select an arc. This command replaces several single-purpose AutoCAD commands.

This table shows AutoCAD Dimension commands and the corresponding Inventor Dimension commands in 2D Sketch environment.

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Linear Dimension		General Dimension
	Aligned Dimension		General Dimension
	Radius Dimension		General Dimension
	Diameter Dimension		General Dimension
	Angular Dimension		General Dimension
	Edit Dimension		Double-click the dimension

In addition, some AutoCAD Dimension commands have corresponding Inventor commands that can only be used when dimensioning in a drawing file (IDW or DWG).

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Baseline Dimension		Baseline Dimension
	Continue Dimension		General Dimension
	Ordinate Dimension		Ordinate Dimension
	Quick Dimension		Baseline Dimension Set
			Ordinate Dimension Set
	Quick Leader		Leader Text
	Tolerance Dimension		Feature Control Frame
	Center Mark		Center Mark

Note: AutoCAD dimensions enter as AutoCAD dimensions. In Inventor, they can be viewed and plotted. Use the Dimension command to measure AutoCAD objects in Inventor. However, AutoCAD dimensions in Inventor are not associative. Any changes made to an AutoCAD dimension in Inventor are not updated in the corresponding file in AutoCAD file.

Geometry Creation Commands

In AutoCAD, you usually create 2D geometry to the precise size required. While creating sketches for part features in Inventor, you often use 2D Sketch commands to create geometry quickly (with no regard to size). You then control the precise size and position by adding dimensional and geometric constraints.

This table compares AutoCAD Drawing commands to the corresponding Inventor Sketch commands.

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Line		Line
	Polyline		Line
	Polygon		Polygon
	Rectangle		Two point rectangle
	Arc		Three point arc
	Circle		Center point circle
	Spline		Spline
	Ellipse		Ellipse
	Point		Point, Center Point

In addition, some AutoCAD Drawing commands have corresponding Inventor commands that can only be used when drawing a 2D sketch in a drawing file (IDW or DWG).

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Hatch		Fill, Hatch Sketch Region
	Text		Text

Geometry Editing Commands

You edit the 2D sketches in Inventor using the 2D editing commands to update their 3D parts. You can also find a group of 3D editing commands to modify 3D parts.

This table compares AutoCAD Editing commands to their corresponding Inventor 2D Editing commands.

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Erase		Delete key
	Copy		Ctrl+C
	Mirror		Mirror
	Offset		Offset
	Array		Circular pattern
			Rectangular pattern
	Move		Move
	Rotate		Rotate
	Trim		Trim
	Extend		Extend
	Chamfer		Chamfer
	Fillet		Fillet
	Edit spline		Select a fit point and drag

Note: Use the Move and Rotate commands in Inventor to copy at the same time.

In addition, some AutoCAD Editing commands have corresponding Inventor commands that can only be used when modifying a 2D sketch in a drawing file (IDW).

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Edit Hatch		Right-click and select Modify Hatch
	Edit Text		Right-click and select Edit text

Insert Commands

This table compares AutoCAD Insert commands to the corresponding Inventor Insert commands.

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Attach Image		Ribbon: Sketch tab Insert panel Image
	Import		Ribbon: Manage tab Insert panel Import (.iges and .sat)
	OLE Object		Ribbon: Manage tab Insert panel Insert Object

View Commands

The mouse scroll direction for real-time zoom in AutoCAD is opposite to Inventor by default.

To reverse the mouse scroll direction to be the same as in Inventor when using real-time zoom in AutoCAD, set the system variable Zoomwheel to the value 1 (default value: 0).

This table compares AutoCAD View commands to their corresponding Inventor View commands.

AutoCAD		Inventor
	Pan Real-time		Pan
	Zoom Real-time		Zoom
	Zoom Window		Zoom Window
	Zoom All		Zoom All
	Zoom Previous		F5 key
	Free Orbit		Free Orbit
	Continuous Orbit		Shift + Free orbit