About AutoDXF v4.6
AutoDXF is an add-in for Autodesk Inventor. It's available from assembly environment and is used for batch creation and exporting of sheet metal flat patterns from entire assembly in few easy steps. It also offers many additional handy features to make handling of sheet metal flat patterns easier.
AutoDXF v4.6 main features:
§ Automatically finds and lists all sheet metal parts in assembly
§ Enables you to quickly locate and open specific sheet metal component
§ Enables to quickly identify flat pattern status of sheet metal parts
§ Automatic creation of flat patterns
§ Previews of bent parts and flat patterns
§ Direct rotation of flat patterns by 90° steps
§ Rotation along longest edge and rotation along longest bend
§ Flat pattern generation for parts derived from sheet metal parts (mirrored parts and parts derived from multibody sheet metal parts)
§ Automatic detection of threaded holes on flat patterns. Those can be optionally placed on separate adjustable layer when exporting to DXF format
§ Automatic placement of Points in centers of threaded holes (when exporting to DXF)
§ Batch export of DXF or DWG flat patterns
§ Add configurable text descriptions to DXF files
§ Flexible DXF and DWG file naming
§ Set layer names, colors, line weights and line widths
§ Export list of sheet metal parts including thumbnails of bent parts and flat patterns to Microsoft Word
System requirements
AutoDXF v4 works with Autodesk Inventor 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Microsoft Word is required if you want to use Export to Word functionality.
Demo version limitations
Demo version is limited to finding only 4 sheet metal parts and creating 4 DXF files. There is also “Demo verzija” text included in DXF file.
Purchase
For purchasing fully functional AutoDXF please visit http://www.basic.si/autodxf or call +386 1 5830 100.
How to run the program
To run the program click AutoDXF button in tool ribbon in assembly environment:
After clicking the command AutoDXF window shows up:
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User interface language can be changed in Settings tab.
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In the bottom there are 3 main buttons:
Find sheet metal parts – searches through assembly structure and lists all sheet metal parts in the list
Flat patterns preview – creates thumbnails of flat patterns
Export – creates DXF or DWG files of flat patterns of selected sheet metal parts
The way how Find sheet metal parts and Export commands work is set in Settings and Layers tabs.
Finding sheet metal parts
Click Find sheet metal parts command to list all sheet metal parts. Based on the settings the command will find and list all the sheet metal parts and/or create missing flat patterns. The result of the operation is shown in the image below:
Explanation of default columns
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Select |
Check if you want to export the specific sheet
metal part. Click [1] button to select all or [0] button to
deselect all.
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File name |
Sheet metal component file name.
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FP yes/no |
Checked if flat pattern exists. Not user selectable.
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FP status |
Flat pattern (FP) status: Auto, OK – flat pattern was successfully created automatically Auto, error – automatic creation of flat pattern failed
Auto, not OK, check – flat pattern was created automatically but it’s possible
that it’s invalid (based on geometry checks done after
auto-unfolding) |
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Max bend line length [mm] |
Maximum bend line length. If it exceeds allowed max bend line length the line will be colored yellow.
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Model Preview |
Thumbnail of model in final (bent) state.
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FP Preview |
Flat pattern preview. The thumbnails of flat
patterns have to be created before they can be displayed. There are
2 ways to create them:
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Manually for
selected row by right clicking on a row and selecting Flat
Pattern Preview command
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Automatically for all sheet metal components by clicking on Flat
Patterns Preview button |
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Quantity |
The quantity of the component from the BOM. You can multiply the quantities using the multiplier:
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Material |
Material of the component.
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Mass [kg] |
Mass of component in kg. |
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FP length [mm] |
Length of the flat pattern in mm.
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FP width [mm] |
Width of the flat pattern in mm.
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Part number |
Part Number iProperty
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Stock number |
Stock Number iProperty
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Thickness [mm] |
Sheet metal thickness in mm.
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Description |
Description iProperty.
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Item |
Item number in Structured BOM |
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DXF units |
Length units of the component. |
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Project |
Project iProperty.
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Customizing list appearance – sort, order, size and select columns
You can click on column names to sort the components by the value in the specific column.
You can reorder the columns by drag and drop on new location:
You can resize the columns by dragging the column edges:
You can show and hide the columns by right clicking on column header:
Click Reset to change the list to default view – default order, size and visibility of columns.
Check bend line lengths
Checking this option in Settings tab will mark the sheet metal parts of which any bend length exceeds the one you specify in Max. allowed bend line length. This is useful if you want to quickly identify the parts that are too large to be bent on a specific bend machine. Following image shows that all the components with at least one bend longer than 500 mm are marked yellow:
Manage custom iProperties
In addition to base properties you can include any number of custom iProperties. Click Add Custom iProperties… to manage the included custom iProperties:
Clicking the button opens custom iProperties dialog. Following screenshot already includes 2 custom iProperties:
Adding custom iProperties:
Click 
button and enter precise name of the custom
iProperty you wish to include.
Deleting custom iProperties:
Select the property and
click 
button or press DELETE button on
keyboard.
Click OK to close the dialog and to add new properties to list of sheet metal parts. To update the values for new custom iProperties you have to run Find sheet metal parts command.
New custom iProperties are also added into panels for defining the DXF/DWG naming structure and properties included as texts in DXF files.
Automatic
creation of flat patterns
Automatically create flat pattern if it doesn’t exist – if the tool finds sheet metal part without flat pattern and this option is selected the flat pattern will be created automatically.
This is also valid for derived sheet metal components that were created using Make Components tool from master multibody sheet metal component. In this case it’s required that “Link Sheet Metal Styles” option is checked when creating components using Make Components tool.
Auto-detect and unfold assembly mirrored sheet metal parts – creates flat patterns for sheet metal parts that were created using Mirror tool in assembly.
Sheet metal style and thickness are automatically read from parent sheet metal component. The style must exist in Sheet Metal Style library to make the automatic flat pattern generation work.
Generating flat pattern previews
AutoDXF enables you to see the shape and orientation of flat patterns in one place before exporting them to DXF/DWG. Contrary to thumbnails of 3D models the thumbnails of flat patterns are not saved within IPT files so they have to be generated before they are displayed.
There are 2 ways to
generate the flat pattern thumbnails:
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Manually for
selected row by right clicking on a row and selecting Flat
Pattern Preview command from menu
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Automatically for all sheet metal components by clicking on Flat
patterns preview button
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Automatic creation of flat pattern thumbnails
can take some time for assemblies with
lots of sheet metal parts. You can stop the process by pressing F12
key. |
After the thumbnails are generated they are displayed in the FP
preview column:
Working with flat patterns
Right clicking on a row opens a menu with commands for manipulating flat patterns.
Open part
Opens the selected sheet metal component.
Find in window
Zooms the view to selected component in the context of the assembly
Create flat pattern
Creates flat pattern for selected component. Flat pattern preview is also generated.
Flat pattern preview
Creates flat pattern preview which can be used for finding out its orientation.
Rotate flat pattern for 90°
Rotates the flat pattern by 90° steps. After rotating the flat pattern thumbnail and measurements update.
Flip flat pattern
Flips the flat pattern from top to bottom and vice versa.
Align along longest edge
Aligns the longest edge of the flat pattern in horizontal direction. After rotating the flat pattern thumbnail and measurements update. Afterwards you can rotate it by 90° steps.
Align along longest bend
Aligns the longest bend of the flat pattern in horizontal direction. After rotating the flat pattern thumbnail and measurements update. Afterwards you can rotate it by 90° steps.
Hide unselected in list
Hides all components that are not selected for export in first column
Show all Sheet Metal parts in list
Shows all sheet metal parts.
Copy data to clipboard
You can copy the table
content to clipboard by clicking 
button.
Tab delimited data can then be pasted to a text editor:
Copied data can also be pasted directly to Excel:
Export sheet metal list to Microsoft Word*
Click the command
to
export the list of selected sheet metal parts including thumbnail
images to Microsoft Word.
*Microsoft Word has to be installed on the computer for this functionality to work.
Word Settings
Click on the
button
opens the Word Settings dialog. You can define which
properties to export to Word and their order. You can also change
the display name of the properties.
Settings are:
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Portrait or landscape can be selected |
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Paper size |
A4 or Letter format can be selected |
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Table header on each page |
Select if you want to include table header on
each page of the document |
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Reset property names and order to default settings |
Changing property names
Click on the row and then click again on the property name to change its name. This way you can change Word table column names so they are different as actual iProperty names.
Choosing the properties and changing their order
Only selected properties are exported to Word. You can also change the order of properties displayed in Word table. Use drag and drop to define the order of properties. The following image shows moving of Part Number property to another location:
Click OK button to save the settings and create Word document. The message appears after the document creation is finished:
Switch to Microsoft Word (click on Word icon in Windows Taskbar), format the table if necessary and save the document.
Layers
In this tab you can set the DXF/DWG layer properties: layer names, layer visibility, colors, line types and line weights.
Enter layer name - you can enter the name of the layer
Object – list the object types (not editable)
On/Off – enables or disables the layer
Color – specify layer color
Line type – select layer line type from dropdown
Line weight– select line weight from dropdown
Load last used configuration on next startup – check this option to load current layer settings on next start-up of the tool
Save configuration… - Save the current configuration to a file
Load configuration… - Load configuration from a file
Default settings – Sets all layer settings to default
Export flat patterns to DWG or DXF files
Click the Export command to create DXF or DWG files for flat patterns of selected components. You can select the format of exported files: DXF (version AutoCAD 2000) or DWG (version AutoCAD 2000).
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Please note that adding text descriptions is not supported when exporting to DWG. Use DXF format if you wish to add text descriptions into exported flat pattern files. |
You can see the exporting progress in bottom left corner of the AutoDXF window:
DXF/DWG geometry settings, layers settings and file naming are based on selected options in Settings tab.
All the settings you make in the Settings tab are automatically saved when you exit the program.
DXF/DWG save location
In this section you can set where the DXF or DWG files are saved. There are 2 options:
Same as IPT document
In this case the exported files are saved in the same folder as parent IPT file.
In folder
All exported files are
saved in a selected folder. Select the folder by clicking
button or click 
to select the folder of current
assembly.
Option Create subfolders by thickness enables saving DXF files in subfolders based on sheet metal thickness. In this case you get DXFs grouped by their thickness.
Option Create subfolders by material enables saving DXF files in subfolders based on material. In this case you get DXFs grouped by their material.
If both options are checked the first subfolder level will be thickness and the second will be material as shown below:
Overwrite existing files: if this option is checked all existing DXF files with same name as new ones will be overwritten. If the option is not checked new DXF files with same name as existing will get sequential number at the end of the name.
Automatic detection of threaded holes
AutoDXF can automatically detect thread holes on flat patterns.
If Put threads on separate layeris selected then all threads will be placed on a separate customizable layer when exporting to DXF format. You can change the thread layer name and color (Layer name and Layer color).
Create points in thread centres defines that Point objects are created in centres of threaded holes.
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Auto detection of threads is supported only when exporting to DXF format. |
DXF/DWG file naming
You can specify DXF/DWG file naming system in this section:
You can select which properties to include in the file name by selecting them in file naming table (image above).
All the properties that are checked will be included in DXF/DWG file name.
You can also change the prefix (green column) – that is fixed text that will be written before specific property.
The properties that can be included are listed in property column. Those are: IPT File Name, Material, Thickness, Quantity, Part Number, Stock Number, Item, FPlength, FPwidth, Project and Description.
The table also contains optionally added custom iProperties.
The properties are divided by selected divider in Divider dropdown:
You can change the order of properties by dragging and dropping. Part number is put in front of Thickness in the example below:
Some examples of file naming:
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It’s recommended to include “IPT File Name” property in file name to ensure that exported files will have unique names. If you build the file name expression in such way, that there is possibility that some files will have the same name, then uncheck the option “Overwrite existing files”. |
DXF texts
You can include text descriptions in generated DXF files. Checking Add text descriptions to DXF will enable this option.
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Please note that adding text descriptions is not supported when exporting to DWG. |
Available properties to include as texts are listed in Property column: Material, Thickness, Quantity, Part Number, Stock Number, Unit, Item and Project.
Aditionally there are also added custom iProperties available in the list.
Properties that are checked in “select” column will be included in DXF text.
You can change the prefix (green column) – that is fixed text that will be written before specific property.
You can change the order of properties by dragging and dropping them up and down the list.
The text is created on a specific layer. You can set its name in Layer name text box. The color of text layer is defined using Layer color dropdown.
Example of text included in DXF file:
The text is positioned approximately in the middle of flat pattern geometry.
The text height is defined in basic.autodxf.nastavitve.xml settings file.
Flat pattern settings
This area includes the settings regarding creation end export of flat patterns:
Combine profiles in polyline – lines and arcs will be joined to polylines.
Replace splines with line segments – splines will be approximated using linear segments with selected tolerance. Approximation precision is controlled with Tolerance value.
Rebase geometry to 1st quadrant – all the geometry in DXF will be created in 1st quadrant so all the X and Y coordinates are positive.
Length
units
You can select the length units for displaying sheet metal thickness, flat pattern length and flat pattern width in list of found sheet metal parts. A restart of AutoDXF is required after changing this setting.
General settings
Click the 
button to open the Windows Explorer in folder
where AutoDXF settings are saved.
Reset to default
Deleting following .ini files: customiProps.ini, DXFime.ini, DXFopisi.ini and WordSettings.ini from settings folder resets AutoDXF settings for file naming, DXF texts and custom iProperties to default.
Setting text size and decimal places
There is an XML setting file basic.autodxf.nastavitve.xml in settings
folder. It includes settings for defining text heights for texts in
DXF files and settings for number of decimal places used for
displaying flat pattern lengths, widths and sheet metal thickness.
You can open the file in any text editor (e.g. Notepad) and
edit the values.
If you wish to set text height according to overall size of the geometry uncomment the tag <textHeightPercentage>2</textHeightPercentage>, so it looks like this:
It this case the text size will be set at 2% of max. pattern size.
You have to restart AutoDXF to enforce changed settings.
Language setting
You can select English or Slovenian language of user interface in Settings tab. After selecting the language please restart the AutoDXF to fully apply the language change.
