About AnyCAD for Inventor

You can reference future (newer) versions of Inventor part and assembly files in an earlier version of Inventor starting with Inventor 2017. This workflow is called AnyCAD for Inventor.

Attention: You must have the latest updates installed for your version of Inventor to support future Inventor files. Updates can be downloaded via the Autodesk desktop app or from https://manage.autodesk.com. Updates will not be provided for older versions of Inventor which are no longer supported.

Basics

Migration

If you open and save the file in a newer version of Inventor (or use Task Scheduler to migrate files with references to future versions):
  • The future version references become standard Inventor Place/Derive relationships.
  • Downstream features are retained.

Workflows

The file type and the method for opening the future file determine the workflow and options as shown in the following table.

Available methods for opening a future file Result

Open future part: File Open.

or

Derive future part: On the ribbon, click Manage tab Insert panel Derive
  • Creates a reference to the future part file in a part file.
  • Only solids and surfaces are created.
  • In the Derived Part dialog box you can include or exclude solid and surface bodies, and specify the design view representation.

Place future Inventor part into an assembly file: On the ribbon, click Assemble tab Component panel Place.

  • Creates a reference to the future part file in an assembly file.
  • Only solids and surfaces are created.

Derive future assembly: On the ribbon, click Manage tab Insert panel Derive

  • Creates a reference to the future assembly file in a part file.
  • Only solids and surfaces are created.
  • In the Derived Future Part dialog box you can include or exclude component nodes, and change the design view and positional view.
  • The derived assembly feature is editable.

Open future assembly: File Open.

or

Place future Inventor part into an assembly file: On the ribbon, click Assemble tab Component panel Place.

  • Creates a reference to the future assembly file in an assembly file.
  • Only solids and surfaces are created.