2009

Table Of Contents
where design data is stored, where you can edit files, and maintains valid links
between them. You use projects when you work in a team, work on multiple
design projects, and share libraries among several design projects. See
ProductName Utilities on page 273, for detailed information about setting up
and using projects.
Data Files for Exercises
When you install Autodesk Inventor, a project called tutorial_files is created.
Make this project active so that you can locate the data files that are used for
some exercises in this book.
TRY IT: Make the tutorial_files project active
1 In Autodesk Inventor, on the Standard toolbar, click Files Projects.
2 On the Project Editor, Select Project pane, double-click the tutorial_files
project to make it the active project.
In the Edit Project pane, in Location, the path to the folder containing
the tutorial data files is displayed. It is the folder where the files you create
and edit while performing the exercises are saved.
3 Close the Project Editor dialog box.
4 Click File Open.
The data files contained in the tutorial_files project are listed in the Open
File dialog box.
5 Click a file to see a preview of it, and double-click a file to open it in
Autodesk Inventor.
File Types
Once you activate a project, you can open an existing file or start a new file.
Click New to see the New File dialog box with templates for a new part,
assembly, presentation file, sheet metal part, weldment, or drawing. You can
choose from several templates with predefined units.
Templates are stored in the Autodesk\Inventor(version number)\Templates
directory or in the English or Metric subdirectories. Subdirectories in the
Templates directory are displayed as tabs in the Open New File dialog box. You
can create and save custom templates in the Templates directory.
2 | Chapter 1 Introducing Autodesk Inventor