Department of M3

Creo Elements Tutorial L001 The Screen

1.0 Learning Outcomes
This document accompanies the first Creo Elements 1.0 video tutorial, produced by The
University of Nottingham. This document covers and expands on some of the key points
that are discussed in the video. Upon review of the video and this written tutorial you will
be able to do the following:

Be familiar with the layout and functions that are consistent though
Creo Elements applications
Adopt key habits to ensure efficient use of the software
Limit the possibilities of possible mistakes in format of parts,
assemblies and drawings and also learn how to save documents
successfully in a reasoned and structured manner.
2.0 Summary, Files and Prerequisites
This tutorial has been developed to give the student a quick overview on the main functions
of Creo Parametric. All of the Creo Elements applications have very similar icons and
functions, so therefore an overview of Creo Parametric will enable a student to familiarise
themselves with the other applications under Creo Elements.
Students are required to open two part files P1012T.prt and P1014T.prt both stored in a zip
file titled L001: The Screen-Parts.
It is assumed that the student will have a basic grasp of Microsoft software packages.
A laptop touch pad is particularly poor when used with CAD packages, students are required
to use a 3 button mouse (preferably with a centre button scroll wheel).
This is tutorial is a brief overview of the 3D CAD package, it is therefore by definition, a quick
whistle stop tour of some of the key features and functions of Creo Parametric. Further
tutorials will provide a greater detail into the parts modeller, assembly and engineering
drawing module.

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3.0 Tutorial
The first thing required is to download the zip file containing all of the parts required for this
tutorial (L001:The_Screen.zip). Save this zip file to your computer or preferably to an
external USB memory drive and extract the part files (P1012T.prt and P1014T.prt).
Double click the Creo Parametric Icon to open the CAD Package
Creo Parametric will open as shown in Figure 1.

. The front page of

Front page
1. The Quick Task bar: Similar to Microsoft office packages from 2007 and onwards,
Creo Parametric has a quick tool bar that has familiar icons such as open and close
files.
2. The Ribbon: Across the top of each module in Creo Parametric, part modeller,
assembly etc, are ribbons that group like functions and icons for easy navigation
whilst using the package.
3. Common folders: The panel on the left hand side displays the folder tree of the
computer the user is working on. One noticeable addition to this is the Working
Directory
4. Set Working Directory: The working directory is the default directory that all files
will be stored into which enables the user to easily and effectively create files or to
open, modify and save parts in a known and clear location. This minimises the
chance of losing data. As the user modifies and saves parts previously created in

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Creo Elements, new files are created and designated with a number to the end of the
file to signify a modification. For example a file P1012T.prt will become P1012T.prt.1,
P1012T.prt.2 etc after each modification. It is worth noting however that when the
user attempts to open a part that has been modified previously, only the most
recent file will open and it will be displayed as the original part name, ie without the
number at the end of .prt) In addition to these modified files, trail files are also
created. These files are created at the beginning of each session after opening Creo
Parametric and are a complete record of everything you have done in the session.
They can be used together with earlier versions of part, assembly and drawing files
to recreate things after a disaster like deleting a file with dozens of hours work in
it. As you can imagine the files created can soon fill up disk space on your computer.
It is therefore recommended that you use an external data storage device as a
working directory. It is also recommended that the working directory is backed up
elsewhere to avoid any problems if the data storage device is lost or corrupted in
some way. This is a good time therefore to highlight the first key rule that you should
take from this tutorial.

Rule 1: Prior to beginning work on PTC Creo Parametric, Set the

working directory
Whilst discussing the working directory above, we briefly touched upon saving new
and modified files. Unlike windows applications Creo Parametric will not ask you to
save the part when you close the window/package. It will ask you to confirm that
you want to close the package but doesnt specifically reference saving data. It is
therefore vitally important that you get into the habit of saving work at regular
intervals and before closing session. That is the second rule you should take from
this tutorial

Rule 2: Periodically and before closing down a session, save your

work on Creo Parametric.
5. PTC internet Browser: This browser allows you to surf the internet in much the same
way as you can using internet browsers. The homepage is set to the University of
Nottingham website.
6. 3D ModelSpace: The tab on the right hand side of the internet browser is titled 3D
model space. This is an online directory of common and useful Creo Parametric parts
that can be downloaded by users. Although this library is quite useful, students are
reminded that the University of Nottingham supplies access to a parts library for use
in selecting standard fasteners and parts such as screws, nuts, washers etc. It is
important to consider when creating assemblies that you wish to have fabricated

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that standard fasteners are easy to source and to use. Therefore it is recommended
that students use the University Parts library before the 3D modelspace.
7. Toggles: At the bottom of the screen are two toggles which, when selected, hide or
show the Common Folder Panel and PTC internet browser. These toggles are visible
on all modules in Creo Parametric.
Users should now set the working directory as the folder that they unzipped the files for this

tutorial. Click the file open icon

on the ribbon. This opens up a new window which
displays the working directory and the files required for this tutorial. Students should now
open the file P101T.prt.
To move the model and manipulate the view to suit your preference a mouse using a three
button mouse (preferably with a central scroll wheel), Click on the graphics screen and do
the following:

To Rotate the Part, click and hold the middle button (scroll wheel) and drag the
mouse.
To Zoom in and out of the part, roll the scroll wheel backwards and forwards, (this
can also be done using icons on the graphics tool bar)
To Pan the part around the screen, hold down Shift key ( ) + hold down the scroll
wheel and drag the mouse around the screen.

1. Quick Tool Bar: Similar to the bar in the front page but with additional icons, the two
most important are the windows icon and the close icon. The close icon will shut the
session and return to the front page of Creo Parametric. The Windows icon is what
you should use to navigate between open Parametric sessions.

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2. Ribbon: The part modeller module has many more functions and features added to
the ribbon, icons for each function are grouped with other similar like functions
under tabs to allow easier navigation and user interface. The functions on the ribbon
change depending on what module is currently in session, ie parts, assembly, 2D
drawing
3. The Model Tree: The common folders panel in the front screen has now been
replaced with a model tree that lists all of the features in the part that have been
created. In the assembly module, the features based model tree is replaced with a
tree containing the different parts that have been assembled in that session. In the
2D drawing module the model tree is replace by a Drawing tree, showing the
different views and other miscellaneous features that are on the drawing.
4. Graphic Window: Parts modelled are displayed in this screen and the view can be
manipulated using the mouse as described previously.
5. Graphics Task Bar: The graphics task bar is an ever present through each module,
although icons are added and lost through the modules. This allows the user to
manipulate the view of the models to suit their needs.
One final rule that students should learn is to check the units of the modelled that is being
created or modified. The default template supplied for Parametric by the University of
Nottingham (uon_template_part_solid )sets the units of measurement to metric. However if
a file is imported that has been created in imperial measurements then this may cause
issues. It is best therefore to check what units are used by accessing File>Prepare>Model
Properties. Under units the user has a number of options that relate to using either Imperial
or Metric Units. The user can change between the systems of measurement and can chose
to either interpret or convert dimensions.

Rule 3: Check the Units of measurements prior to producing a part of

assembly.
4.0 Tips and Hints
Set the working directory as soon as you open Creo Parametric. Try and use a folder are that
has a large available memory.
Creo Parametric files that are not currently active are kept in the session and are stored on
the computers RAM. Try to keep as few sessions open as possible to avoid the RAM of the
computer to become too full which may slow the computer function.
If you cannot modify a part when the session is open it may be because the part is not active
(cursor will display as a no entry sign). To activate the file either use the Windows icon to
navigate to the session on the quick task bar or go to View>Activate.

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Save parts at regular intervals to ensure work is not lost by mistake (closing the session
before saving) or misfortune (computer crashing).
Modified files will be saved with a suffix of.1, .2, .3 etc. Try to tidy up the working directory
by either deleting or moving earlier modifications of the part.

5.0 Exercises
1. Open P1012T.prt. Use the graphics tool bar to modify the appearance and view of
the Washer. Use also the functions that can be found under the view tab of the
ribbon. Familiarise yourself with manipulating the view of the part using the mouse.
2. Keep open part file P1012T.prt and also open up Part file P1014T.prt. Navigate
between the files and note the differences and similarities between the icons and
page layout of each module.

6.0 See Also

NA

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