By Chris Smith

Generate and Standardise Drawing Sheets Automatically in Autodesk Inventor

If you create drawings in Autodesk Inventor regularly, you’ll know the process can become repetitive:

• Create a new drawing
• Choose the correct template
• Place base and projected views
• Adjust scale
• Add dimensions
• Insert a parts list
• Update iProperties

Now imagine doing that 20–50 times a week. This is where iLogic becomes incredibly powerful. By automating drawing creation, you can:

• Standardise output
• Reduce errors
• Save hours of manual work

In this blog, we’ll look at how to:

• Automatically generate a drawing from a part or assembly
• Place views in predefined positions
• Apply consistent scales/view sizes
• Enforce company drawing standards

Why Automate Drawing Creation?

Before jumping into code, let’s consider the benefits:

Consistency

Every drawing follows the same layout, scale logic, and standards.

Reduced Human Error

No more forgotten projected views or incorrect title block entries.

Faster Turnaround

Generate production-ready drawings in seconds.

Scalable Workflows

Ideal for configurable products, automation projects, or high-volume design environments.

Setup and Inventor configuration

There are a few key options we must set up before we can create our automation. Drawings can be created from parts, assemblies, and presentations, so the best option is to be able to run the rule from anywhere. This can be done using Global Rules.

When first opening Inventor and without any files open, we get an Options drop down option under the Tools ribbon.

Expanding this menu gives us access to the iLogic Configuration options.

The top of the new window has a table for External Rule Directories. These are paths to directories that hold external, or “Global” rules for iLogic.

By specifying a shared location here, we allow other members of the team access to the same rules, ensuring standard workflows and operation. Using Autodesk Vault as per my example is a great way to both share and control the rules we share in our work environments. Once the directory has been specified the containing folders and rules will be available in the environments.

Step 1 – Automatically Create a Drawing from the Active Model

The first step in creating any drawing in Autodesk Inventor is the template. Whether it’s the out of the box Standard.idw template, or a custom created, company specific template, each drawing must start here.

This simple iLogic rule creates a new drawing and places a base view of the active document based on the template we specify.

Breaking the above rule down. It will,

• Check if the document in which the rule is triggered can be used in a drawing
• Sets a path to the shared template
• Opens a new drawing based on the template specified
• Specifies the first sheet in the drawing
• Sets a point on the sheet to place an object
• Adds the Base view at the specified point with Scale, model orientation (from the view cube), and view styles

Step 2 – Automatically Add Projected Views

Now we have a base view we can build off that. Let’s add a side and lower projected views.

Modifying for everyday use

Not all components are created equal. Size, shape, and orientation can all affect the view requirements. Next, we will look at using the views we created to set the base view scale to fit the views into the sheet, regardless of the parent model.

First, we will force an update to the drawing. This will ensure the sizes we use in the calculations are all updated and correct.

Next, we will use the sheet width and view widths to generate a scale for the widths.

Then repeat the code snippet with changes for the heights.

And finally, compare the two values and use the smallest value for the base view scale.

By using the smallest scale from the two we can ensure the model will fit on the sheet regardless of orientation in the modelling environment.

Reposition following a rescale

Our final step is to reposition the drawing views once the base view scale has changed. The simple snippet below will position the views 3cm from each 1cm border edge.

By using an iLogic rule we can ensure a standard view layout in each drawing we create by running the rule we created from any part, assembly, or presentation, reducing initial drawing creation times from minutes to seconds.

Summary

By leveraging the iLogic add-in for drawing creation we can both simplify and standardise the way we start the process of drawing creation. By taking repeatable tasks and automating them to give users the means to create drawing documents to company standards and ensure standardisation across the documentation created by design teams.

If you would like assistance in automating your standard tasks in Autodesk Inventor, please reach out to us here at ARKANCE. We provide engineering services, training, and customer support over a wide range of industries.

By Chris Smith

Application Specialist for Manufacturing