To Open or Import and Use IDF Board Data

You can import IDF board data to a new part or assembly file or place it directly into an existing Inventor Professional assembly as a solid body component. If you have published the IDF components to the Content Center library, Inventor will reuse the parts from Content Center instead of creating new parts.

  1. To open or import into file, do one of the following:

    • To import IDF board data into an existing assembly:

      • Open the destination Autodesk Inventor assembly file.
      • On the ribbon, click Assemble tab Component panel Place.
      • In the Open dialog box, select IDF Board File as the Files of type, and then select the file to import.
      • Select the file to import and click Open.

    • To open IDF board data in Autodesk Inventor:

      • Click File Open.
      • In the Open dialog box, change the file type to IDF Board File (.brd,.emn,.bdf,.idb), and then select the file to open.

  2. In the Import IDF Options dialog box, view the summary data, and then select the type of document to create (assembly or part).

  3. Select the items to import:

    • To import selected items, clear the check mark for the items to exclude.
    • To import selected items in a different color, highlight the item name, click the Item color arrow to select a color from the palette.

  4. If needed, select to select all items in the Select items to import section.

  5. Click to access the Filter Settings dialog box and specify values to filter out:

    • Non-plated Holes - filter by diameter.
    • Plated Holes - filter by diameter.
    • Components - filter out by height.
    • Outlines - filter out by type.
      • Keep-out areas
      • Board cutouts

  6. By default, if you have published the IDF components to the Content Center library, Inventor will reuse the parts from Content Center instead of creating new parts.

    • To create new IDF parts deselect Reuse Components in Content Center.
    • If you want the IDF components in the Content Center library you must first publish the parts Author IDF Component Authoring
Important: Ensure the original ECAD/PCB design creating the part names does not include the characters below so that after importing the file into Inventor, the IDF parts can be published to the Inventor IDF Content Center library. An IDF component name containing one of the symbols below cannot be published to the IDF Content Center library.

  1. To identify any components that are not already in the Content Center library select Check .

    Components not in the Content Center library display in the Components Not Found dialog box. Select Copy to Clipboard so that you can easily refer to this information to identify and publish the parts to the Content Center library using Manage Author IDF Component Authoring.

  2. Click OK. Click Cancel to exit.

Note: If you are importing into an assembly, place the component as usual.

For more information on placing components search for "place components in assembly" in the online Help.

Parent page: About the IDF Translator