QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Quick Reference Guide

By Bryan A. Ross
Published by

TriStar, Inc.
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i
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT INTRODUCTION
Historical Overview ................................................................... ii
Direct Modeling in Creo ........................................................... iii
Creo Elements/Direct New Feature Highlights ...................... iv
MODELING
Interface Introduction ........................................................... 1-3
Interface Summary ..............................................................1
Files, Ribbons, and Toolbars ..............................................2
Right-Hand Rule...................................................................2
Dialogue Boxes ....................................................................3
Calculator .............................................................................3
Workplanes ..........................................................................4
Real and Construction Geometry .......................................4
Basic Modeling .................................................................... 5-15
Catch, 2D CoPilot, Lock and Keyboard ..............................5
Modify 2D and Relative Measurement ..............................6
Putting it all Together ..........................................................6
Selecting Regions ................................................................7
3D Copilot and Reference Cones .......................................7
Pull ........................................................................................8
Selection ..............................................................................9
Blends and Chamfers....................................................... 10
Moving and Pulling Faces ................................................ 11
Stretch Face, Edge, and Offset ........................................ 12
Taper Faces ...................................................................... 13
Cut, Copy, and Paste Faces ............................................. 13
Punch, Stamp, and Section ............................................. 14
Shell and Imprint .............................................................. 14
Boolean Operations.......................................................... 15
Mirror, Scale, Align, and Merge ....................................... 15
Advanced Modeling ........................................................ 16-18
Freeform Modeling ........................................................... 16
Splines, 3D Curves and Points ........................................ 16
Projected Profiles ............................................................. 17
3D Surfacing Tools ........................................................... 17
Features and Patterns ..................................................... 18
Table of Contents
MODULES
Machining ............................................................................... 19
Surfacing................................................................................. 20
Basic Sheets ........................................................................... 21
ASSEMBLIES
Building Assembly Structures ............................................... 22
Containers .............................................................................. 23
Copy, Share, and Instancing ................................................. 23
Advanced Assemblies .......................................................24-25
Clipping Planes ................................................................. 24
Stock/Finish ..................................................................... 24
Coordinate Systems ......................................................... 24
Configurations .................................................................. 25
Explosions ......................................................................... 25
Clash Analysis ................................................................... 26
ANNOTATIONS
Annotation Application .................................................... 27-29
Introduction....................................................................... 27
Drawing Structure ............................................................ 27
Template Browser ............................................................ 27
Starting Drawings and Views ........................................... 28
Placing and Updating Views ............................................ 29
Adding Dimensions, Text, and Objects ........................... 30
Sketching Geometry ......................................................... 31
BoM Tables ....................................................................... 31
Printing .............................................................................. 31
3D Documentation Application ....................................... 32-34
Introduction....................................................................... 32
Setup ................................................................................. 32
Annotate ............................................................................ 33
Display ............................................................................... 33
Modify with Dimensions ................................................... 33
BoM ................................................................................... 34
Group ................................................................................. 34
Template Browser ............................................................ 34
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
MODEL MANAGER
Introduction ........................................................................... 35
Model Manager Breakdown ................................................... 36
Search and Load ................................................................... 37
Save ........................................................................................ 38
Conflict Resolution ................................................................. 38
Bill of Material Editor ............................................................ 39
Versions and Inseparable ...................................................... 39
APPENDIX A SUPPORT
Platform Support .................................................................. 40
Technical Support ................................................................... 41
APPENDIX B SHORTCUTS
Creo Elements/Direct Shortcuts ........................................... 42
APPENDIX C STRUCTURE BROWSER ICONS
Structure Browser Icons ......................................................... 43
APPENDIX D INTERFACE BREAKDOWN
Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Prompt, and User Input ...... 44
Structure Browser, Catch Toolbar, and Status Bar .............. 45
File tab ..................................................................................... 46
Modeling, Structure, and Feature Tabs ................................ 47
3D Geometry, Analysis, and View Tabs ................................. 48
Applications Tab ..................................................................... 49
GLOSSARY
Glossary ......................................................................... 50-51
i
 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The lineage of Creo Elements/Direct
(CED) introduced the concept of dynamic
modeling to mechanical designers across
the world. Starting with
ME 30, CED has been
providing continuous
improvement and inno-
vation for over 27 years.
ME 30
ME30 isnt actual-
ly the originating soft-
ware behind CED.
SolidDesigner is. Still,
ME30 provided the seeds that eventually
grew into SolidDesigner.
Originally developed in Germany, HP
Precision Engineering / ME30 (HP PE/
ME30) was released in 1986 by Hewlett
Packard MDD (Mechanical Design Divi-
sion) . The first versions were exclusive to
the HP-UX operating system, but a Mi-
crosoft Windows compatible version was
developed as popularity grew.
ME30 was based on the Romulus ker-
nel and therefore had an inherent issue
with freeform surfaces.
Creo Elements/Direct Introduction
SOLIDDESIGNER
HP licensed the ACIS kernel in 1989
for the PE suite. Solid Designer was devel-
oped shortly afterwards with freeform capa-
bility.
HP PE/SolidDesigner began in
1994 as a product-modeling
suite simultaneously supported
with ME30, but HP transitioned
their customers from ME30 to
SolidDesigner through 1995.
COCREATE ONESPACE
CoCreate Software Inc. adopted its
name in 1996 when it became a subsidiary
of HP rather than the Mechanical Design
Division thereof.
By 1998, HP CoCreate Software solu-
tions were installed in more than 30 coun-
tries on more than 120,000 systems. A
testament to the success of the software.
Cocreate then became its own inde-
pendent entity in 2000. Two years later,
the product line changed names and
CoCreate OneSpace Modeling made its
dbut.
Forward looking information is subject to change without notice
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
HBK Investments took-over CoCreate Software Inc. in 2006.
PTC purchased CoCreate from them in 2007 for roughly $250M.
Shortly afterwards, PTC released CoCreate Modeling 2008 as the
last revision with the historic interface (rev 16).
It wasn't until rev 16.5 in late 2009 that we started to see changes toward a mutual-
istic relationship with Pro/Engineer (Pro/E). 16.5 introduced the save-as functionality for
the GRANITE and ProductView formats and an integration with Mechanica.
CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT
Creo Elements/Direct (Rev 17) came out in 2010. This is where we get our first
taste of the sweeping changes to come. Two new commands appeared; Pull and Stretch
Face. New functionality showed PTCs willingness to continue the product line; Import na-
tive Pro/E data, improved dimensioning, better PCB interaction, additional constraint recog-
nition in the 2D Copilot, and more for a total of 30 major changes.
Creo Elements/Direct (Rev 18) appeared in 2011 and was the first time we saw the
new Fluid UI common to the Creo applications. We also see 28 more major changes intro-
duced including the new Stretch Edge command and numerous functionality improve-
ments like improved data exchange with CP, cross-part move and stretch, and the impres-
sive Face Part Modeling.
PTC released Creo Elements/Direct (Rev 18.1) in 2012 with
19 more major changes . Improved selection and stretching, 2D
geometry and 3D wire parts added to Annotations, edge change
commands, and much more.
PTC proved its commitment to product improvement and en-
hancement in Creo Elements/Direct and will carry it well beyond the
next generation of CAD tools.
ii
 DIRECT MODELING IN CREO
PARAMETRIC AND DIRECT
There are at least two distinctively different design paradigms in the 3D CAD
world; Parametric and Direct modeling. They sit on opposite sides of the modeling
spectrum, but PTC brought them together in the new Creo product suite. Learning from
Creo Elements/Direct, PTC created Creo Direct and the Flexible Modeling Extension for
Creo Parametric. PTC continues to significantly invest in expanding direct modeling in
Creo and making direct modeling its core CAD strategy.
DIRECT MODELING SOLUTIONS
Developers spent years perfecting techniques to trade data amongst CAD applica-
tions. Translation, feature recognition, 3D from 2D generation, and more. Most of
these fall short of providing what the parametric industry needed for years; a method to
effectively manipulate foreign data without re-creation.
Direct modeling provides that and much more. You gain the ability to better ad-
dress late stage changes, generate faster concept designs, have an easier time with
model simplification, and include more people in the design workflow. The cost is typi-
cally the loss of your design history. PTC eliminated that drawback with the interaction
between Creo Parametric, FMX, and Creo Direct. Designers now gain the power of di-
rect modeling without giving-
up design constraints.
FLEXIBLE MODELING EXTENSION
Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX) for Creo Parametric (CP) lends the paramet-
ric user the ability to manipulate existing parametric or neutral parts using di-
rect modeling techniques. The interface has been stylized after Creo Paramet-
ric for ease of use. The commands are deceptively simple and easy to pick-up.
The move command itself has an incredible array of options to explore once you under-
stand the basic concepts. Each direct command creates a new feature on the history tree
which adds a new dimension to parametric mod-
eling. You can not create new geometry with it,
but you dont need to. You can use CPs full ca-
pability to create any new geometry seamlessly.
NOTE: FMX modifications become more difficult as
the models shape becomes more organic.
Creo Elements/Direct Introduction
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT
A portion of the technology from CoCreate now appears in PTCs new CAD suite of
products under the CREO moniker. The original application has been re-named, re-faced,
and re-distributed as Creo Elements/Direct, but is not actually part of the Creo suite. The
term Creo Elements is meant to describe that the original application was one of the
elements used to create the new Creo framework, but does not reside within the frame-
work itself.
Productview and Pro/Engineer were the other two technology platforms that formed
the basis for Creo. They were re-named at the time as well to Creo Elements/View and
Creo Elements/Pro respectively. Those applications, however, have new incarnations
inside of the Creo framework. Creo View/MCAD and ECAD both replaced Productview.
Creo Parametric replaced Pro/Engineer. Creo Elements/Direct continues as its own ap-
plication suite.
NOTE: Creo Direct will continue to grow in features and may eventually replace the Creo
Elements/Direct product line, but Creo Direct has a long way to go and PTC is committed to
continuing support and enhancement for Creo Elmenets/Direct for many, many years.
CREO DIRECT
Creo Direct (CD) is a new stand-alone application within the Creo suite. Very simi-
lar to FMX in functionality, Creo Direct comes with the additional ability to author
new geometry using direct modeling techniques, but no 2D drawing capability.
The interface leans more towards new users and further away from seasoned para-
metric ones. Theres a click-through workflow where one operation ends by starting another,
and a mini toolbar that appears with feature options while you work. The intent is for some-
one without parametric modeling experience to
participate in the design. One can then Round-Trip
data between Creo Direct and Creo Parametric with-
out any need for translation while retaining all de-
sign history.
ALERT: Creo Direct is not a continuation of
CoCreate inside Creo. Its a re-birth.
iii
 CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT NEW FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT NEW FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS MIDDLE CLICK BEHAVIOR

PTC implemented many major enhancements to Creo Elements/Direct, roughly 82 since rev 16, and is committed to the continua- When the cursor is over a current
tion of those improvements. Many of those changes had drastic impact on the modeling environment. Like Creo Data Exchange, Para- viewport, you can middle-click to perform
metric Assemblies, Outline Views, Cross Part Move-and-Stretch, Enhanced 2D CoPilot, Projected Profiles, Modify Edges, and many more. the following operations:
Four of those improvements, though, stand out above the rest. Stretch Faces, Stretch Edge, Pull, and Face Part Modeling. Middle-click to end a command
Middle-click and rotate (or
STRETCH FACES STRETCH EDGE PULL FACE PART MODELING press CTRL, middle-click, and
You can now move a The new Stretch Edge You now have one oper- Parts that do not repre- drag the cursor) to zoom.
face while maintaining their command is the logical next ation that combines the Ex- sent a closed volume can be Middle-click and drag the
boundaries and adapting the step beyond the Stretch Face trude, Mill, Turn, Bore, and modified like solid models as cursor to rotate (spin).
neighbor faces. This new command. Stretch Edge al- Linear and Angular Lift com- long as the open boundaries Press CTRL and Shift, mid-
Stretch command strongly lows you to move edges (one mands. The new Pull com- are not affected. This situation dle-click, and drag the cursor
to rotate elements in the view-
port around a point.
Press SHIFT, middle-click,
and drag the cursor to pan.

NOTE: You can also right-click the

current viewport and drag to pan.

To change the mouse

resembles the stretch feature
in 2D where you move e.g. a
straight line and the connect-
ed edges are adjusted like a
rubber band. You can also
stretch several unconnected
faces at the same time.
per face), automatically ad-
justing the affected faces.
Some model changes that
required several steps before
can now be performed in one
operation.
mand simplifies the user inter-
action. When selecting a work-
plane, closed profile areas are
automatically detected and
highlighted as pre-selected.
Pull can also work with select-
ed faces.
often arises when imported
models dont match the receiv-
ing systems accuracy require-
ments. Repairing such models
requires expert skills which is
not a good prerequisite for
potentially simple changes.
interaction mode, click File
SettingsViewport. The View-
port Settings dialogue box
opens. Then click the CoCre-
ate mouse interaction mode
check box in the Dynamic
Viewing pane of the Viewport
Settings dialog box.

NOTE: For the complete list of updates from Rev 16 to current, please visit:
http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/relnotes/?show=y&product=137115
Or search on http://www.ptc.com/ for Enhancement Details.

Creo Elements/Direct Introduction iv

Back to Table of Contents
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Quick Access Toolbar Provides quick access to frequently-used commands. You can
INTERFACE SUMMARY
customize it by adding, removing and reordering commands (buttons and groups) to it.

Ribbon Contains commands organized as a

set of tabs. On each tab, related commands
File Tab Unique tab providing the applications most intrinsic
are grouped. Fully customizable.
commands. Session and file operations, settings and options,
module and application activation, command search, and exit.

Mini Toolbar Helps you to quickly execute a

command from the viewport, and changes
Command Details content based on current selected object and
Opens by activating context. The first command is the default
the Detail Button. TIP: You can press SPACEBAR
for that operation. Fully customizable.
You can select to open the Mini Toolbar and
elements or set click on its to open the
Command Details during an
properties, com-
operation.
plete or cancel the
Browser Bar The OK, Cancel, and Detail Buttons command, and get
browser bar shows all These buttons are only available quick access to help.
opened browsers; for if a command is active. Check
instance the structure mark to complete, ex to cancel,
browser. The struc- and triangle to view Command
ture browser displays Details dialogue box.
all 3D objects and
elements (parts, as-
semblies, workplanes,
Context Menu Opens when you select
and so on) and their
and right-click any element in the view-
interrelationships.
port in the pre-selection mode. Depend-
ing on the current context and selected
object, the commands change.

Status Bar Shows the alert history, current work-

User Input Line Used to enter commands, general ex- Prompts By default, displayed in the status bar. Provides gen- plane, part, and settings for Catch and Units.
pressions, or text. On by default and can be shown us- eral feedback, messages, and guidance. Can be added to a Also shows pre-selection focus, quick viewport
ing the Ribbon ViewToolbarsUser Input Line. Prompt Bar using the Ribbon ViewToolbarsPrompt Bar. settings, and a "previous application" switch.
Configurable on right-click.

Modeling 1
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 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
WORKING WITH FILES
Creo Elements/Direct is a session
based software rather than file based. This
allows it to open multiple files at the same
time. Opening new files adds them to your
current session.
When saving, youre asked to provide
what, where, and how. Select what objects,
parts, and/or assemblies to save. Then
direct the file browser to the desired save
location. Finally, choose your preferred file
format.
BEST PRACTICE: If youre working directly
with 3D files, and not using a data manage-
ment solution, use Package (*.pkg) as your
go-to file format. Otherwise, packages are not
recommended due to their file size and prob-
lems generated from a broken file stream
when saving in a PDM or PLM environment.
TIP: Some object or file-type selections will
only correspond to their respective file-types
or objects. Dont be surprised if your options
change based on what you click.
CED interacts with a large array of file types.
These are the native file types typically used:
*.pkg Package. Some or all of the 3D data for a
project in a single file.
*.bdl Bundle. Assembly and/or 3D model and
associated drawing stored together.
*.sd* Individual 3D Content and Instance data
files.
*.ses Session. All parts, assemblies,
workplanes, and settings like units,
lights, viewports, etc.
*.env Environment. All active environment
settings.
*.mi 2D drawings and annotations.
BEST PRACTICE: It is always preferable to
work with a PDM or PLM rather than a file
system when possible.
Modeling
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
WORKING WITH THE RIBBON
The ribbon UI provides an efficient layout for modeling commands. The most frequently used commands are displayed in large icons.
Uncommonly used commands are grouped into submenus within each section of the ribbon The commonly used Utilities section is available
in most tabs. Settings for each functional area are grouped with the modeling functions.
Common Un-Common
Functional Areas Divided Into Tabs
Settings
Closely Related Command Groups
MINI TOOLBARS COMMAND FINDER RIGHT-HAND RULE
The operations mini toolbar offers di- Open the File Tab. At the bottom is a The right-hand rule has been around
rect access to commonly used operations search window used for finding commands. for a long time, and is still commonly re-
based on your operation without having to The search assumes a wildcard on either ferred to today. Its a mathematical mne-
traverse the ribbon. The most common end of your entry. It doesnt search the monic for understanding 3 dimensional
command is automatically activated without command description, but will search the vectors. There are several ways to use the
having to be selected. The list of commands FULL command name; displayed or not. right-hand rule, but its generally referred to
can be customized to suit your needs. in association with rotation in CAD.
If you choose an edge as your rotation-
Operations Mini Toolbar
al axis, and a positive number for your rota-
tional value, will the subject turn inward or
outward? Right or left?
If your rotational axiss positive direc-
tion is your right thumb as it points in a
thumbs up gesture, then a positive num-
ber will rotate your subject in the direction
Options Mini Toolbar
your fingers curl.
The options mini toolbar offers addi-
tional options during an operation. To acti-
vate, press the SPACEBAR. This has the
added benefit of bringing the operations TIP: You can add commands to the Quick Ac-
toolbar back into view if its faded. cess Toolbar directly from your search results.
2
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 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
DIALOGUE BOXES
Command dialogue boxes display your
current option sets, but also typically require
some additional information before being
able to complete the command. To provide
the required information, you can click an
item in the viewport or structure browser if
you need to choose a face, object, drag an
angle, pull a position, etc. You can also type
data in a yellow field if the information can
be given alphanumerically. For example, for
Model Name you can type p1 to specify a
part rather than selecting it in the viewport
or Structure Browser. The forward slash
prefix /p1 isnt required. Spaces are not
allowed for parts, assemblies, or file names.
TIP: If you use a postfix to specify measure-
ment units, they are converted to the sys-
tems current units. Math is also supported.
Length Units: um, mm, cm, m, km
uin, mil, inch, foot, yard, mile
Angle Units: deg, rad, grd
Angle Convert: Degrees:Minutes:Seconds
Math:
floor(n) (highest integer less
+, -, *, / than or equal to n;
sin, cos, tan rounds n down to the
asin, acos, atan next integer)
ceil(n) (smallest integer not less
sqrt (square root)
exp (e^x) than n; rounds n up to
PI (or lower-case pi) the next integer)
bracket terms ^ (power: x^y where Y is an
integer
= ment options. Use the measurements di-
= your solutions back to dialogue boxes or use
= can select any of the different types of
ALERT: You cant use unit conversion and
math in the same step.
Modeling
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
RIGHT-CLICK DIALOGUE CALCULATOR RPN CALCULATOR
Right-clicking in a dialogue box that can The utilities
accept numeric entries will provide a contex- command group
tual menu designed for your input options. is repeated in
It offers a list of the last values youve en- most tabs. In the
tered into similar boxes, a link to measure- lower right corner
ment based on the dialogue box type, a link of the utilities
to the calculator, and quick access to your group youll find
copy/paste functionality. the Calculator command.
From the Calculator, you can use the X
box to the left of your numerical entry win-
dow to send your product back to the dia-
logue box.
From the measurement output dia-
logue, you can use the leftmost green arrow EXTENDED OPERATIONS
to send your measurement back to the dia-
logue box. If you need to do some calcula- Change the calculator from a standard
tions first, use the green arrow with the cal- (the default) to a Reverse Polish Notation
culator icon to send your measurement to (RPN) calculator from File Settings
the Calculator command. System.
Use the EngLen, Dist, Rad, Ang, 3D,
and Prop buttons for a variety of measure-
rectly in your computations and copy/paste
the X button to send them to your active R->P and P->R are exclusive to the RPN
From the measurement dialogue you
dialogue box. Use the scroll bar (circled in calculator. Also, y^x is x^y in the standard
red on the lower right of the illustration) to calculator.
measurement if the one selected was not
what you truly needed. see additional math operations.
3
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 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
INTRODUCING WORKPLANES
The workplane (WP) is a 3D represen-
tation of an infinitely large plane. This is
where you define all 2D geometry for mod-
eling. It has its own coordinate system with
a u, v, and w axis. You can have multiple
workplanes defined, but only one can be
active at any given time.
BEST PRACTICE: Workplanes can be deleted.
Try to keep their number to a minimum. Or-
ganizing, categorizing, and managing the
display of many used workplanes can unnec-
essarily clutter your design.
Default Workplane: Most basic WP.
Its origin is aligned with the global
coordinate system upon creation.
Workplane on Face: The most com-
monly used WP. Once you have a
face selected, hold ALT and middle-
click for an instant WP. You can also grab a
draw tool and simply start drawing on a
face. The WP will be generated for you.
Workplane on Axis: When working
with a cylindrical part, a WP aligned
with its axis is often needed. The
new WP can align its u, v, or w axis
to the parts center axis by select-
ing a curved surface as reference.
TIP: It may be easier to line-up your axis WP with
the Pt on WP option to anchor to a specific point.
Modeling
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
POSITIONING WORKPLANES CONSTRUCTION GEOMETRY CREATING 2D GEOMETRY
Use the work- Construction geometry is generated Use the 2D Geometry creation tools
plane positioning using many of the same 2D drawing under the Modeling tab in the Draw group.
options to move your methods as real geometry. Its used to All 2D geometry is created on a workplane.
workplane to exactly create references for real geometry In fact, you can only create, modify, or de-
where you need it to creation, and can even be traced over lete geometry from the active workplane.
be. Use the mini toolbar or right-click while with real geometry using the Overdraw com-
the workplane is selected in your 3D view- NOTE: You can also draw 2D geometry on Docuplanes
mand. You can also use it as a guideline
port. Position the from the 3D Documentation application.
for machine operations like turning
workplane using an axis. Aside from your basic geometry, you
the 3D CoPilot can create arcs, splines, ellipses, functional
and/or the meth- and conical curves, fillets, and equidistant
ods available in offsets.
the command
dialogue box. The Overdraw command
is used to draw on top of con-
You can struction geometry to create
change the work- real geometry. The usage of
REAL GEOMETRY
planes origin by Overdraw depreciat-
using the Slide Real geometry is directly used
ed with the advent of
WP Origin com- for machine commands. Any remain-
the 2D and 3D CoPi-
mand. It can be ing construction geometry is ignored.
lots, but can still be
found in the very useful.
Structure Tab in
the Workplane Quickly swap
group under the between geometry
More menu. and construction
with the Overdraw dialogue box options.
The tracking options allow you to choose
Click a point In addition to the typical line and what your traces snap to; real geometry or
on the workplane circle creation commands, you can construction geometry. You can also decide
or type the point create a variety of rectangles, arcs, to compute the intersection between your
position relative splines, and project 2D geometry from contour and edges. Uncheck to ignore inter-
to the old workplane origin. faces, edges, cross-sections, and out- sections for faster performance.
lines. Real geometry can be modified
NOTE: The workplane UVW axis starts off in the If you take a wrong turn, use the Back
with fillet, move/stretch, trim, rotate,
lower left of the workplane. (as viewed from +W) button in the dialogue box to return to the
scale, mirror and more.
When you reposition the origin, it does not retain
previous selection. You can also click your
this boundary relationship. From then on, the
Delete 2D geometry by selecting it and last profile point or use the Z key to return to
boundary is centered on the UVW where possible.
using your Delete key or right-click menu the previous selection.
The workplane grows off center to encompass all
contained 2D geometry. delete option.
4
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 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
THE CATCH TOOL
The Catch tool defines how your cursor
catches or snaps to the elements defined
in the 2D and 3D Copilot settings. Its an
integral part of the environment, and a core
piece of the 2D drawing and 3D modeling
experience in CED. As you mouse-over
geometry, the catch tool gathers references
based on those snap settings. For exam-
ple, if you mouse-over an edge, that edge
will be referenced in your 2D sketch. To
clear the reference memory, hit the Delete
key. You can access the catch settings
from the Catch label on the status bar.
Within the Catch settings you have a
dropdown for Next Catch, Default 2D, and
Default 3D. This dropdown indicates which
group of Catch settings youre affecting
with your changes.
Next Catch settings only apply to the
very next caught entity The one-off catch-
es needed as you sketch. It returns to de-
fault after the operation if it was changed.
Default 2D and Default 3D refer to the
default behavior in 2D mode and 3D mode
for your next catch and every subsequent
operation. Take care when making chang-
es to these settings.
By default, Default 2D catches to all
geometry elements on the active workplane
and projects the point onto the workplane.
By default, Default 3D catches all ge-
ometry elements on all workplanes and all
parts.
Modeling
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
THE 2D COPILOT LOCKING CONSTRAINTS
The 2D CoPilot can assist in creating 2D geometry without using construction geome- You can lock or unlock (by use of the L
try. Its an interactive tool with automatic snaps, real time referencing and feedback, and key) snapping conditions as they appear in
relative measurement capability. Access the 2D CoPilot settings from the Draw and Modify the 2D CoPilot to restrict the movement of
2D command groups under the Modeling tab or File Settings 2D CoPilot. your profile element during creation. The
individual snapping conditions additively
restrict degrees of freedom in the element,
refining its final placement.
Catch Points You can recognize lockable constraints
by the red lock that appears next to them.
New Line
Locked constraints
will appear red them-
Combining the catch tool and 2D CoPilot, the drawing selves and must be
experience is enhanced significantly. For example, in the im- unlocked in the same
ages above, the 2D CoPilot guides the creation of the new line way to restore free-
by indicating newline length, distance to horizontal reference, dom of movement in
angle from existing geometry, parallelism and perpendicularity to existing that direction.
geometry. In a typical workflow outside of CED, youd need to create those
references through the use of construction geometry in many cases. Multiple locked con-
straints, while having
Further, you can type dimensional values where applicable by clicking the TAB key to a beneficial additive
cycle through available dimensions. You can also alter the snap-grid precision by using effect, can also be-
PgUp and PgDn. For example, dragging your line may progress from 14 to 15 and 16. Af- come too difficult to
ter pressing PgUp, the numbers jump from 10 to 20 and 30. Similarly, using PgDn can navigate as refer-
take the dimensions down to 2 decimal places while dragging. Home key resets. ence combinations
bind movement con-
The little keyboard icon appears when you have a Mini Toolbar available. Use the trary to the desired effect. You can unlock
SPACEBAR to open the Option Mini Toolbar or click the keyboard. Click the button or explicitly ignore (by use of the I key) spe-
for a list of available shortcuts. Access relative measurement, bends, the back command, cific constraints or clear the buffer entirely
ignore o r lock snaps, and more in a context sensitive list with shortcut hot-keys listed. with the Delete key.
Use the Set Length or Set Angle command to constrain your lines. Use Set Radius to KEYBOARD INPUT
constrain your circles, or swap between rectangle types using their respective commands. Type 2D coordinates at any time to
start or end a single line, rectangle, or speci-
fy the center of a circle. Entering a number
during line creation indicates length. A sub-
sequent number will be its angle. Circular
entities will have their radii defined.
5
Back to Table of Contents
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
MODIFY 2D
The basic Modify 2D commands like
Rotate, Move, Scale, Mirror, and Stretch will
change the geometry by either location, size,
or orientation. Convert Geo toggles geome-
try types between real and construction.
Use the trim and extend commands to re-
pair 2D geometry.
TIP: In Creo Elements/Direct Trim, you pick what you
want to keep. Not what you want to delete.
MOVE AND STRETCH 2D
You can activate Move
and Stretch from the com-
mand button, but get a wid-
er array of fast options from
the Options Mini
Toolbar by simply
clicking on a piece
of 2D geometry.
TANGENCY
At any point during line creation, use
the Options Mini Toolbar to override any
active snaps and use the Tangency snap.
SET MIRROR
Mirroring your 2D geometry real-time
couldn't be simpler. Use your Options Mini
Toolbar, select Set Mirror, and choose a
mirror line/reference.
Modeling
RELATIVE MEASUREMENT
Create any 2D geometry relative to
existing geometry or references. Tap the R
key to start a relative measurement. The
point or line your cursor was over at the time
is immediately used as a reference point.
You can use multiple references for a single
command. For example:
Start a new rectangle and catch a verti-
cal reference. Then tap R to define that
vertical reference edge as a relative meas-
urement reference.
Then move to a horizontal reference,
and tap R again.
Notice that the 2D CoPilot is already
using the first reference for a relative di-
mension. Now that you have both refer-
ences, you can either type manual dimen-
sions (cycling with Tab) or drag your refer-
ences out to the desired starting point and
left click to begin your rectangle.
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Snaps can be extremely valuable while
Mastering 2D drawing in Creo Ele- drawing in 2D. Using I to ignore some snap
ments/Direct will require using all of these conditions may open-up further snaps that
features together. Particularly, get use to you may have been looking for but were
using your hot-key commands. considered lower priority. Use SHIFT, I, and
L to traverse snap conditions quickly. Use
R for relative measurement. Delete to wipe your current snap conditions
B to create a bend (arc). and start over.
Z to undo your last 2D command.
SHIFT pressed to suspend snapping.
I to ignore a snap.
L to lock/unlock a snap.
Delete clear Catch memory.
SPACE for your Mini Toolbar.
PgUp increase adaptive grid size.
PgDn decrease adaptive grid size.
Home reset adaptive grid size.
Shift+Ctrl to snap to a center.
Relative measurement can be used mid
-sketch. Not just to initiate a sketch. Any-
time you want to place a point relative to
another location, use R.
Change your snap options to suit your
Using B to create an arc can save you needs under your 2D CoPilot settings.
from creating construction circles and arcs
with Overdraw to get what you need. Press- Orange symbols appear when the snap
ing B when your cursor is positioned as a is activated against existing geometry. The
continuation of the previous line will start adjoining geometry will also be highlighted
arc tangent to the previous line. Pressing B in orange. If the snap represents a theoreti-
when your cursor is positioned at an angle cal relationship provided by the 2D CoPilot,
to the previous line will start an arc thats the icon will be in cyan. These symbols
tangent to that angle. gives you the opportunity to suppress, ig-
nore, lock, or just run with the snap.
Easily recover from missteps with Z.
New users will tend to finish the 2D com-
mand, delete unwanted geometry, then Perpendicular Horizontal Parallel
begin again. Some will delete the workplane Vertical Tangent
entirely and start fresh. This interrupts the
rhythm of your design process and con-
sumes valuable time. Get familiar with us- TIP: You can use H to show/hide the 2D CoPilot cursor
ing Z to simply back-up one step. text that normally shows u,v position or dimension text
6
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
SELECTING REGIONS
A 2D profile must contain at least one
closed loop, but thats the only restriction.
You can have several loops, extraneous
geometry, and construction lines. Once
youre done with your 2D profile drawing,
middle-click or click the check mark to
complete. When you Pull the profile (or
another command, but Pull is most com-
mon), youll be given the opportunity to
select which closed loop (region) you wish
to use for the given command.
Simply click on the closed loops until
you have the desired region(s) selected.
TIP: If you click on the workplane border to
start a Pull, as shown here, you can immedi-
ately start selecting regions and continue the
pull by then clicking on the 3D CoPilot widget.
If you instead execute the Pull command from
the ribbon or mini toolbar first, youll need to
open the dialogue box and change the Select-
ed option to modify the selected region(s).
Modeling
UNDO AND REDO
On the Quick Access Toolbar, you can
undo or redo one step at a time. You can
also click the down arrow next to the undo/
redo icons to select the number of steps
you want. If you want to view the history
before making your choice, click Expand.
Creo Elements/Direct tracks both the
command history and the history of any
active module applications. When you un-
do, you may get a warning that youre about
to undo a module application
command.
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
3D COPILOT REFERENCE CONES
The 3D CoPilot ap- The green and red reference cones act
pears in many forms de- as anchors for the dimensional definition of a
pending on the context of 3D modification. For example, if you were to
your modification. In every pull a face, the default anchors would give
case, though, its job is to help you a dimensional reference that indicates
you clarify a 3D set of con- the from-to change. What if that wasnt your
straints in a clear and easy aim? Maybe you were interested in the re-
manner. sulting overall length of the part after the
modification.
The blue widget is looking
to be placed on an appro-
priate reference. The or-
ange widget (in whole or in
part) is anchored to your
reference and displays your
degrees of freedom. Select
an axis for linear move-
ment, a toroid for angular,
or one of the planes for
planar movement options.
The green reference dia-
mond indicates that you
can change the origin of
the 3D CoPilot widget.
The red reference dia-
mond indicates an origin
change. Youve selected
a green reference dia-
mond, and now need to use
the new widget to re-position
the 3D CoPilot widget. When Traditionally, youd need to measure the part,
youre done, select the red subtract its current length from the desired
reference diamond to com- length, and then enter the remaining amount
plete the movement. in your modification. In this case, though, you
only need to click the red anchor, click the
Change the settings from File Settings rear of the part, and type-in or drag to your
3D Copilot. desired dimension.
NOTE: Operating the 3D CoPilot is a click and re-
lease interface. There is no drag-and-drop.
7
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

THE PULL COMMAND 3D Snapping. Your Pull Profile can terminate with a fixed
Extrude, Mill, Turn, and Bore have been replaced by Pull. The Pull command actually con- dimension or a reference to an existing element.
tains a combination of two 2D profile commands (Linear Pull Profile and Angular Pull Profile)
and two 3D modification commands (Linear Pull Faces and Angular Pull Faces). 3D modifica-
TIP: The 3D CoPilot attempts to snap 3D references you mouse over.
tion is covered elsewhere in this guide.

Linear Pull Profile and Angular Pull Profile are the main focus for most 3D geometry crea-
tion from 2D profiles. You can activate the Pull command by clicking on the command ribbon,
left-click on your workplane border, or double left-click on the You can change which
workplane representation in your structure browser. The only elements are snapped to un-
difference being that the command ribbon option automati- der the Type option for the
cally assumes all closed loops in your profile are to be pulled. command. It can be changed
If you intend to change the region selections, youll need to to Part, Face, Point, or Plane.
modify the selection list through the command dialogue box.

The default command is Linear Pull Profile when using ALERT: To intersect a part, the profile must be fully bound inside the
pull on a 2D profile. To change this option to angular pull, intersecting part. You can overlap with face, point, or plane, but not part.
use the Option Mini Toolbar or change the command dia-
logue box. Change Direction by dragging your 3D CoPilot widget from
one side of the starting workplane to the other or use the Direc-
The Linear Pull Profile will provide a linear 3D CoPilot tion option in the command
widget for the pull along with Reference Cones to refine the dialogue box. The dialogue
distance after the initial definition. box has the added capabilities
to extend your profile from
The Angular Pull Profile will provide a reference 3D CoPi- both sides of the workplane or
lot widget for you to place on an edge, axis, line, or oth- take a User Defined approach
er axial reference (see Right-Hand Rule). Then, a rota- to the pull direction.
tional 3D CoPilot widget appears to define the angle of
the pull. Specify a Draft Angle between 90 and 90 degrees. The
draft works much like a Taper Face command using the work-
Add/Remove Material. Each of these commands plane as your draft plane and the entirety of your profile to deter-
will attempt to automatically add or remove material mine the faces to be changed.
from your existing part (if one exists). Sometimes, the
automatic determination is not what you want. You can
change this option in the dialogue box under Method
Operation.

Modeling 8
Back to Table of Contents
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
SELECTION
Before you can dynamically modify
geometry, you need to select it. Creo Ele-
ments/Direct provides everything you need
to make selections on-the-fly.
Click Selection: This is the most intui-
tive and simplistic selection method. Driven
by mouse-over, the click-what-you-want
method is your first tool. Simply mouse-over
what you want until it highlights, then left-
click. If you need more, shift-left-click to
start a Selection List instead.
Tab Selection: This is a geometry
based selection method. This huge time
saver grabs geometry by applying rules to
the mouse-over target. Mouse-over a face
until it highlights. Then press Tab. The Tab
Selection method will grab all faces possibly
associated with your mouse-over target by
rule definition. To switch rule definitions,
press Tab and your selection will change.
Cycle through with Tab until you have what
you need and then left-click to complete the
selection. If you need more, shift-left-click to
start a Selection List instead.
Select Mini Toolbar: The Select Mini
Toolbar isnt a selection method in itself, but
does provide access to three other selection
methods. The toolbar is context sensitive. It
will only appear when a selection method
may be needed. Press SPACEBAR for the
Mini Toolbar.
Selection Tool Geometry Rules
Probe Selection
Modeling
The Geometry Rules allow you to create
a custom rule configuration (like using Tab
Selection) for selection criteria.
Window Selection: Drag a window with
a left mouse button held down. There are
two possible results. First, everything within
the window is selected. Second, everything
within the window and everything intersect-
ing the window is selected. To toggle be-
tween the two results, hit Tab before releas-
ing the left mouse button.
Selection List: A selection list is exactly
what it sounds like; a list of multiple selec-
tions. You can start one multiple ways; shift-
left-click, select mini toolbar, through the
Probe Selection dialogue, and through the
Selection Tool. To add members to the list,
select them using your preferred method(s)
in any combination. To remove them, select
them again. To end a list, middle-click. You
can also end one from inside the Select Tool
by clicking the List End button.
BEST PRACTICE: The combination of Tab
Selection and on-the-fly Selection Lists is the
fastest way to select subsets of complex ge-
ometry and will quickly become your most
used selection method.
Probe Selection: The probe selection
tool allows you to select through a stack of
elements piled on top of each other. To
activate, use the Select Mini Toolbar,
Ctrl+Tab, or the command icon Utilities sub-
group in the Ribbon UI. Once its been se-
lected, you can move your mouse around
freely. Probe select will remember where
your mouse was originally as the defining
point for your probe selection.
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Selection Tool: The Selection Tool can The Elements area provides a radio
be activated through the Select Mini button list of the valid element types you
Toolbar, in the Ribbon UI under the Utilities can select in the current mode. Choosing
sub-group, or by pressing F2. It is the most one will narrow your selections to those
powerful of your selection options, allowing element types only. Initially, the most com-
for very precise selection criteria. mon elements are visible. Clicking the ar-
row button will expand the menu to include
The Selection Tool changes options all possible options.
based on its mode. Creo Elements/Direct
chooses the mode for you based on the The Boxing options are a representa-
context of your operation. The modes are tion of the Window Selection options for
2D, 3D Elem, Feature, 3D Obj, and 3D Anno- element intersection.
tation.
The Methods options provide further
The List menu provides a quick way to refinement of your selection criteria.
create a selection list of elements. This list Choose a method to narrow your selection
interface has much more precise controls to related elements.
that are accessible by clicking the down
arrows on the right of the List menu title.
You get the new options Add, And, Remove,
and XOR.
XOR is the default behavior of selection
lists. Click on an element. If its already
selected, its removed from the list. If its
not selected, its then added to the list.
Add will do just that. Add the next se-
lection to your list. If its already a member
of the list, it does not get removed.
Remove is the opposite. Clicking on a
list member will remove it from the list.
Clicking on a non-list member will not add it
to the list.
And empowers the next selection to re-
form the list to include only members that
were already in the list AND are in the next
selection. Everything that doesnt fit those
criteria is removed from the list.
9
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
BLENDING
Blends are generated on edges based
on the neighboring faces and geometry. The
edge where two faces meet is smoothed or
blended by a singular or various radii. Creo
Elements/Direct uses a rolling ball computa-
tion to generate these blends.
In the
blend operation,
only one blend
face is created.
If your geometry
would require
more faces to
be generated to
make your
blend valid, Creo Elements/Direct will fail
the blend operation. The model would re-
quire additional preparation before a proper
blend could be applied.
You can create Constant Radius
Blends, Var 2 Radius Blends, and Var N
Radius Blends. Var refers to the bend
radius as a variable number. In Var 2 Radi-
us Blends you specify the starting and end-
ing radii. In Var N, any number of radii at
any location along the edge can be speci-
fied.
To create a blend, select and edge and
choose your options from the mini toolbar,
or click the command button in the Engi-
neering group of the Ribbon UI.
BEST PRACTICE: It can be difficult to backtrack
to your base geometry after adding complex
cosmetic blends. Try to adding cosmetic blends
at the end of the design. Its best to meet your
prismatic design requirements first. Some de-
sign houses will make a copy of the part before
adding blends so that subsequent changes can
be made from the base geometry. Blends start
from scratch each time with that method, though.
Modeling
Blends have four options for how they
behave in relation to each other and exist-
ing geometry.
Intersect is the default behavior and
will ignore neighboring
geometry. If the blend
doesnt fit, OnTanFaces is
attempted. If both options
fail, youll get an error
message.
OnTanFaces is the
default fallback behavior.
With it, a patch surface is
created to get tangency of
all faces.
OnSharpEdge is really a variation of
OnTanFaces. It adds the
contingency of the blend
running-in to a sharp edge
(green). It will handle tan-
gencies in the same way
as OnTanFaces (red).
OnAnyEdge creates a
sharp edge and surface
patch to achieve its own
tangency regardless of the
neighboring edge type.
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
CHAMFERS RECOGNITION
Chamfers behave similarly to Blends Recognizing blends and chamfers can
and are restricted by the same rules. You convert them from extruded entities. This
can create Distance, Dist/Dist, and Dist/ process will alter the behavior so that future
Angle Chamfers after selecting your edge or updates will have the expected effect.
using the command button under the Engi-
neering group of the Ribbon UI. Extruded cylinders will maintain a fixed
axis. Therefore, when you change the radius
of an extruded cylinder, neighboring faces
will not maintain tangency. Youre left with
a failed modification or a non-tangent round.
When a typical blend is modified it al-
ways maintains the tangency with neighbor-
Distance Chamfers as-
ing faces. To recognize blends, choose the
sume a 45 deg angle and
command option under the engineering
measures distance from the
group and select the face(s) or part in ques-
original edge to either of the
tion.
two resulting edges.
In a similar manner, geometry resem-
Dist/Dist chamfers only
bling a chamfer can be just as important to
require two distances. The
recognize. A chamfer will reference the
distance from the original
original edge when being modified. You can
edge to each of the two re-
get away with modifying a chamfer using a
sulting edges provided as
move command if you dont intend to
two separate measurements.
change the angle, but even so, you wouldnt
Dist/Ang chamfers have the same control over the chamfer as
need only one distance di- if it were recognized.
mension and one angular
dimension. You can swap
which end of the chamfer
youre measuring for the distance dimen-
sion.
10
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

MOVING FACES PULL FACES

Moving faces looks a lot like a 2D stretch command in the 3D world. Select a face and
the default command is Move 3D. It results in a 3D CoPilot widget and reference cones.
The Move 3D can add or remove material and will attempt to do so
automatically. You can change these options in the command dia-
logue.
At first glance, pulling faces may seem a lot like moving faces. Understanding the dif-
ferences can have a huge impact on your design. The Move 3D command will only grow
neighboring faces. The pull command always adds faces unless new faces collapse into
original faces. This offers flexibility to add design features without having to consider
neighboring faces.

You can use the same command to move multiple faces, assum-
ing the geometry lends itself to being altered in the desired direction.
You can also grab multiple internal faces for modification. These are
usually pockets of geometry that need to be resized or positioned.

In this case, youll likely want to change the origin for the move.
Once youve selected the geometry and chosen the move command, click on an alternate
face or edge to guide the movement. In the same way, you can make decisions about the
kind of modification you want to make. If you change the origin of the move to an edge, you
can either move the face(s) linearly along an axis or create a
rotational movement (See Right-Hand Rule).
The Pull 3D commands are option vari-
Rotational movement can look like bending the model. ants of the Pull command; Linear Pull Fac-
When the face(s) is moved, the neighboring faces grow until es and Angular Pull Faces (See Right-Hand
they meet the modified face or other faces. Rule).

The 3D CoPilot offers an easy and intuitive way to manage the move command. Individ- To activate them, either grab the command from the Modify 3D sub-
ual dimensions can be typed, dragged, or snapped to geometry. group of the Ribbon UI in the Modeling tab, or use the mini toolbar once
youve selected your face(s). Use the
TIP: Hold down SHIFT during a Move 3D or Pull operation to snap to command dialogue box to switch be-
existing geometry courtesy of the 3D CoPilot. You can change this tween the two commands without ending
behavior to be automatic (not requiring the SHIFT to be pressed) by the operation.
altering the 3D CoPilot snap settings. File Settings 3D Copilot.

Modeling 11
Back to Table of Contents
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
STRETCH FACE
Immediately upon se-
lecting a face, the default
command will be Move 3D.
Youll be presented with a 3D
CoPilot widget and a Mini
Toolbar to confirm the com-
mand. Right next to the Move 3D command
is Stretch.
3D CoPilot Circular Face
The main difference between the two
commands is that the Move 3D command
grows neighboring faces while the Stretch
command alters neighboring faces.
ALERT: While the Move 3D command is nearly
a no-fail operation, Stretching Faces can pro-
duce bounding faces that cannot be enclosed
in one volume. This will fail the operation.
In the conic illustration below, Move 3D
continues the conic shape while Stretch
translates the original face and stretches
the neighboring faces to keep-up.
Modeling
Stretch Face has a much more dra-
matic impact when considering 3D altera-
tions that the Move 3D command has no
comparison for. For example, in a cubic
example, if you grab any face for Move 3D,
your options are to extend the face in a
positive or negative direction, adding or
removing material as you go. The 3D CoPi-
lot widget seems to imply that you have the
option to move in a parallel planar direct by
way of the circular face presented on the
widget. However, if you click the circular
face, the Move 3D command can offer you
nothing in that direction in most cases.
If youre using Stretch Face,
though, you can turn a cube into a rhom-
boid, skew a cone, etc.
Along the same lines, while rotating a
face with Move 3D can have devastating
effect depending on the 3D origin you
choose, using Stretch Face for rotation can
provide equally as devastating changes
from the original origin. Once you start
moving the origin around for Stretch Face,
you can get all kinds of effects never before
possible so quickly.
Back to Table of Contents
STRETCH EDGE
Stretch Edge is the
natural extension of Stretch
Face. It allows the same
power of Stretch Face, but
with the precision of edge
selection. The selected
edge translates position while neighboring
faces and edges stretch.
CHANGE RADIUS/DIAMETER
When you
take what we
learned from
Stretch Face
and Stretch Edge and apply that to the
Change Radius and Change Diameter com-
mands, you get an option to select an edge
as opposed to being restricted to faces. For
example, before you were able to grab a
cylinder and change its radius/diameter.
Now, you can select each end of the cylinder
and modify the radius/diameter individually
rather than needing to create a Loft or com-
plex revolve for the same effect.
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
OFFSET FACE
At first glance, Offset Face looks like a
Move 3D command as used on any face.
The power really shines when youre offset-
ting groups of faces rather than a single
face. While Move 3D will grab all the faces
and translate them in the one direction you
specify, Offset Face will move each face in
the direction normal to each of the original
faces in the selection group. Its a great way
to add/remove material on full or partial
surface chains.
On internal features, Offset Face can
grow/shrink while Move 3D can only trans-
late. Youd need to Move 3D each face indi-
vidually to get a similar effect to what Offset
Face can do in one operation.
ALERT: Resulting surfaces have the potential
to be undefined. This will fail the operation.
12
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

TAPER FACE
Taper Face is typically
used to add draft to the mod-
el. To execute a taper, youll
need a target face or faces, a
draft plane, and a draft angle
chosen in that order. Alternately, you can
pick and choose the creation order through
the command details dialogue.
Advanced Taper. With the standard
taper you can only taper planes, cones and
cylinders. The main difference is that, in an
Advanced Taper, the resulting taper may not
keep its original curvature. The face might
be transformed into a freeform surface to
satisfy your taper requirements. For exam-
ple, you might use an Advanced Taper for a
rib thats curved in the shape of an S.
CUT, COPY, AND PASTE FACES
A solid model is comprised of a series of connected faces. When faces are cut, neigh-
boring faces grow. Therefore, the result from cutting can be a removed feature, the model
size may change, or the model is simplified. In a similar
fashion, faces can be copied and pasted within the same
part or between different parts.

Copy and pasting faces is

Change face. The target face(s) that
one of the best methods for de-
will be altered by the operation.
sign reuse available in the envi-
Draft plane. This plane is meant to Cut Faces
ronment. To begin with, when you
intersect with your change face(s). The line
copy a set of faces youre left with
formed by that intersection creates the axis
a Face Part. This face part is, by default, characterized as a cyan (light-blue) set of faces that
of rotation for each face.
are typically not solid on their own. The copy is completely independent from the original.
NOTE: The draft plane does not need to intersect When you paste the faces onto the same or separate part, you have the options to add or
the change face(s) visibly. The intersection can subtract the geometry from the paste target. Upon pasting, the faces can grow or extend
be theoretical as long as themselves to match-up with the target area even if they previously did not touch.
the planes intersect.
Paste Add
You can clearly
You can select any
see in the illustration that the curve on the
planar entity as your
top of the taper is completely different than
draft plane or create one
the curve at the bottom, but the angle of the
on the fly several ways. Copy Faces
taper has been preserved.
In the images, the draft Paste Subtract
plane is represented by TIP: Blends can be preserved in Advanced
a blue disc and axis Tapers. The blends get removed, the taper
widget. See how chang- is executed, then the blends get replaced. Notice that the subtraction worked like a cookie-cutter
ing the draft plane dras- This is why you cant specify the edge of a or ice-cream scoop. The direction of the subtraction is
tically affects the taper blend as a fixed edge in a taper. defined by the normal of the face part. To flip the normal,
of the same four faces. go to the Ribbon 3D Geometry 3D Surface Tools
Draft angle. The More Flip Faces. Alternately, you may want to solidify
angle to be applied to the face part first, then do a Boolean subtraction between
the change against the solid parts.
normal of the draft
TIP: When copying and pasting be-
plane along the inter-
secting axis. You can tween parts, make sure that the parts
set the angle by using are set to the same resolution first.
the 3D CoPilot or by Part Properties Geo Resol
typing a numeric value. Resolution.

Modeling 13
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 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
PUNCH AND STAMP SHELL PART
An easy way to remove material is by using the Punch tool to blast entire- You can find Shell Part
ly through a part in both directions. In fact, you can use Punch to go through under the Modeling tab in the
an assembly as well. The same can be done with Pull, but by using Punch, Model group. It removes mate-
you save yourself the trouble of dragging the 3D CoPilot entirely through the rial from inside a part by remov-
part/assembly. ing one or more
faces and add-
ing thickness to
the remaining
faces either
inside or out-
side the original part.
If you want to do the opposite of a Punch, where the 2D profile defines
the geometry that remains instead of removed, you can use the Stamp com- Turn a cylinder into a tube or cup, a
mand. Again, this could be done with Pull, but youd need to draw a larger cube into a box, or more commonly, shell a
rectangle around your entire profile and part/assembly, then drag through. complex shape to create the beginnings of a
plastic molded version of your design.
SHELL FACES
You can find Shell Faces
under the Modeling tab in the
SECTION Model group inside the Shell
The Section command can be found along side Punch and Stamp under drop-down. While seemingly
the Modeling tab in the Model Group and Remove drop-down. Its not (by obscure, the Shell Faces com-
default) seen on the mini toolbar from a Pull command like they are, though. mand is another huge time
saver.
Section will divide a single part into one or more individual parts. It
doesnt remove any material, but does create new parts. To complete this operation youll This command works
need a part to be divided and some sort of tool or surface to execute the division. That enti- similarly to Shell, but allows
ty can be a face or faces, a surface, plane, workplane and closed profile, another part, or a you to operate on parts that
face part. have already been shelled.
ALERT: Section is often confused with the Clipping Plane commands. Section will physically divide Instead of requiring a full part, this al-
your part into separate pieces. It is not a visualization tool like Clipping Planes. lows you to shell faces (or recognized fea-
tures) by any distance. You can update an
A workplane with a profile will project the profile against the part (potentially in both
already shelled part by first adding your
directions off the workplane) and slice through as if the profile were a laser path. A face,
feature and then using Shell Faces to shell
part, surface, or face part must be in such a position as to completely divide your part exact-
the faces of the newly added feature.
ly where you want it divided. The new parts will perfectly conform to your dividing entity at
the point of intersection.
Modeling
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
IMPRINT
This command is used
to create edges on a target
part. Those edges can then
be used to for separate
operations themselves
since theyre defining new
face boundaries in your
part. The commands can be found in the
Modeling tab in the Model group.
Linear. Use a sketch with closed re-
gions to define a new set of faces on your
part. Linear will project your sketch from
your workplane onto your part.
Line does not have a dialogue box. It
will ask you for a face and two points along
edges over and over until you complete the
command. It simply creates and edge be-
tween the two points along a face.
Intersection will ask for a blank and a
tool. The command will drawn an edge
along your blank wherever the tool inter-
sects it. You also have the option of keeping
the tool after the operation (default) or auto-
matically deleting it when the operation is
complete.
Silhouette is particularly useful for
rounded and freeform surfaces. If you view
a cylinder from the side, it looks like a rec-
tangle. View a sphere and it looks like a
circle. That 2D silhouette is imprinted onto
the object itself exactly along the viewed
edge. Imagine tracing your hand as it lays
flat on a piece of paper. This can alleviate
the need to go through some complex work-
plane positioning gymnastics when you need
to work with freeform surfaces.
14
 MODELING: BASIC MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

BOOLEAN OPERATIONS MIRROR PART ALIGN FACES

Boolean operations are found on your Modeling tab under Mirror can be found in the Align can be found in the
the Model group. Boolean refers to a logical combinatorial sys- Modeling tab in the Modify 3D Modeling tab under the Modify
tem as implied by the logical operators of AND, OR, and NOT; group in the More dropdown. It 3D group. Its most commonly
adding, replacing, or removing material based on two or more works differently than Reflect used to adjust faces such that
entities. Unite, Subtract, and Intersect can use solid parts or in that youre mirroring an entire part(s) they are aligned with another reference face
face parts. The result will either be a solid part a face part about the defined plane. Not mirroring ge- (s). For example, if you had 4 embossments
based on the resulting geometry. ometry within a part. If you choose to keep of various heights and wanted to make sure
the original, Mirror will create a new part in that the tops were all on the same plane.
Unite. Add material. This works somewhat like the Paste the mirrored position rather than mirroring You could manually adjust each, or you
Face command except that parts will not be grown or stretched the original. You can also mirror entire as- could select 3 of them and align to the
to meet each other like in semblies, workplanes, docuplanes, and fourth. Theres even an offset option if you
the Past Face command. ALERT: Use the Use Glue option only when the faces of the two layouts in this way. wanted to select all 4 tops and offset them
Two parts become one part. parts match exactly and will not create an intersection of geom- all from the base part in one command.
Any overlap or intersection NOTE: Mirror can also be found in the Struc-
etry. Otherwise, the resulting part may become corrupted.
between the blank and tool ture tab inside the Part & Assembly group. A more advanced usage is to modify
is combined into the result. face topology to match an existing reference
ALERT: Never use identical parts in the same position for a TIP: Try using Mirror for left-hand and right- rather than re-creating.
Subtract. Remove ma- subtraction. Use the Delete 3D function or right-click delete in hand type part situations.
terial. This command allows those cases where a total removal is required.
you use one part (or many
parts) as the blank and one SCALE PART
TIP: If you have commonly subtracted geometry, try saving the
(or many) as the tool to cut Scale can be found in the
tool off on its own. You can then reference it for future subtrac-
away from the blank. Much tions rather than re-creating it each time.
same dropdown as Mirror. You
like sculpting something out can change the size of parts
of clay, the Subtract command allows you to use a custom tool to cut away from existing are assemblies isotropically or
geometry. You always have the option of keeping the tool in case you want to use it again to anistropically. MERGE
subtract in another location. During the modeling pro-
Isotropic scaling will change the tar-
cess, you can sometimes end
Intersect. Replace ma- TIP: Try using Intersect for quick interference checking. gets volume and its position relative to the up with situations where one
terial. Intersect can use global coordinate origin. A value larger part has overlapping faces or
several parts as the blank and several parts for the tool. The resulting geometry will be a than 1 will increase while values larger un-needed edges. Merge will
representation of only the intersection between the blank and the tool. Everything else is than 0 and smaller than 1 will decrease. combine faces by removing overlapping
removed.
edges or combine edges by removing verti-
BEST PRACTICE: Use Reflect to create symmetric parts. Create Anistropic scaling approximates the
Reflect. Is a special ces.
one half or quarter, then reflect them to complete your design. shrinkage of molded plastic parts as they
command. Its a combina- cool. You can specify scaling factors in the Using Imprint can, in particular, leave
tion of Copy, Mirror, and Unite. Choose a part and a define a reflection plane. The part will xyz directions to compensate for shrinkage. stray edges on faces that should be Merged
be copied, mirrored about the reflection plane, and united with the original. You can choose Scale the part or face by using values from in the final design.
to reflect material on one or both sides. Depending on the position of the reflection plane, 0 to 1. For example, 0.9 would scale the
Reflect can add, remove, or add and remove material. part or face by 10%.

Modeling 15
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 MODELING: ADVANCED MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

FREEFORM MODELING Helix. The Helix operation sweeps one 3D CURVES AND POINTS
The name Freeform Modeling is really referring to the kinds of profile about an axis (see Right-Hand Rule) Sketching in 3D space can be an unset-
surfaces that can be created by the operations in this command in order to create a helical part. Adjust the tling proposition. When it comes down to it,
group. Generally, freeform is used to describe surfaces that cant pitch and number of turns in the dialogue what youre doing is defining points in 3
be defined as prismatic objects like a plane or cylinder. In that and click the Preview until your helix is per- axes. See your tools. They can be found
way, you could group most of Creo Elements/Directs surfacing fect before completing the operation. under the 3D Geometry tab in your ribbon.
tools under the same umbrella. Those surfacing tools, however,
have already been captured under a different group some twice.
What were left with is Loft, Sweep, and Helix in the Ribbon
Modeling Model ...More overflow menu.

Loft. The Loft tool can be very elaborate. At its heart, Loft will The different commands like line, cir-
create a freeform model by forming a smooth transition between cle, spline, or arc are all just doing different
at least two profiles. ALERT: There must always be a gap, even a mi- things with the points you define. So how do
The Loft tool is drawing lines between the profiles from ver- cro-inch, between each turn of your helix. If the you define points in 3D space?
tex to matching vertex, so the number of vertices need to match- turns touch, the intersection will cause an error.
up. You also provide a Match Line (Create ML) for that purpose. Note: Cursor icon may change to have 3 dots
This ML represents the first match-up between vertices. The tool 2D SKETCHING WITH SPLINES under it during these commands to indi-
assumes the rest. Not only do you need to provide these things, 2D Splines come in two flavors; Interpo- cate a command specific right-click menu.
they need to be wrapped-up in a nice package called a Workplane lation and Control. In an interpolation The trick is really the first
Set before you can begin your loft. Ribbon Structure spline, you define a series of points through vertex. From then on, each sub-
Workplane ...More Workplane Set. Once you have which the curve passes exactly through. sequent point can reference the
everything together, execute your Loft Add and most of the With control splines, the shape of the spline previously created one. Rather
options are defaulted for you. is influenced by a dynamically created con- than simply clicking on the
Use Add Tan to add tangency controls to the vertices trol polygon formed by control points against screen, try defining coordinates with the
before lofting. The dialogue allows you to adjust the refer- the spline curvature. user input line or capitalizing on the Catch
ences and weighting of the tangency as well. All this ad- tool to grab an existing 3D reference for
justs how the lines connecting your profiles are drawn. Do your first point. Each tool will have its own
they shoot directly from one vertex to another, or do they bow snap helpers too. Face, edge, and axis, for
and curve to achieve tangency or curvature continuity with example. If you have nothing to snap to, you
existing parts or faces? Try adding multiple workplanes to your can use the 3D CoPilot helper for your first
set and rotating them in different directions. point.
BEST PRACTICE: Use Containers to group all of your workplanes,
It may take a little getting
workplane set, and match line together for future reference.
use to, but this u, v, and w axis
widget represents the local
Sweep. Only one workplane and one spline
coordinates of each point. Click on its axes
curve to worry about in a Sweep. The profile(s) from
or planes to restrict movement and select
the workplane is swept along the spline curve (the ALERT: If you create prismatic geometry with
your target location. This same widget is
Spine) to create a freeform part. splines like straight lines or circles, your part my
later appear corrupt. Use the right tool for the then used for each subsequent point. From
job to avoid more work down the road. then on its much like sketching in 2D.

Modeling 16
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 MODELING: ADVANCED MODELING
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

CREATING 2D PROFILES FROM 2D AND 3D GEOMETRY

There are a series of projection tools available for the purpose
of speeding your 2D profile creation. With the typical tool set,
youd need to grab references to 2D or 3D geometry and draw over
them, much in the same way that you might create construction
geometry and use the Overdraw command to trace what you want
to keep. Creo Elements/Direct has done away with the absolute
need for Overdraw and likewise done away with the need to trace
already existing 2D and 3D geometry into new profiles. These The 3D Surface Tools group is located growth will happen infinitely, so you must
commands can be found in the Project drop-down in the Draw under the 3D Geometry tab along with 3D define boundaries in the way of parts, faces,
command group of the Modeling tab. Ribbon Modeling Curve and 3D Point command groups. planes, or surfaces to limit your growth.
Project. These tools have more of a repair and recov- Otherwise the command will likely fail.
er feel to them. Granted, you can get ex- Reintersect Faces will grow several
The distinction between Construction and Geometry com- tremely advanced surfaces by using 3D
mands defines how the resulting projection will appear in your faces or edges at once using their own inter-
Curves and Insert Face, but mostly the tool- section as your boundary definition. Best
workplane; as construction lines or 2D geometry. The Face and Edge commands dont have set is basic in its face operations; Can be
command details, so you wouldnt be able to toggle between the two as if they were part of used to close gaps between neighboring
much less organic and much more rigid in faces.
the same command. execution than what you would see in the Untrim is, in essence, a reverse engi-
BEST PRACTICE: Commands can be separated like this to make it easier to access the Advanced Surfacing Module. neering aid. It creates a new face part rep-
exact function you want on a keyboard shortcut or abbreviation. If the commands were resenting the geometry that was used to
consolidated, your shortcut would only get you to a details dialogue that youd then need Face Parts are made-up of individual
trim away at your selected geometry.
to manually, or through a mini toolbar, adjust for your needs. Try assigning common faces that do not form a solid body. This
Thicken creates a solid part from a
commands in File Customize to speed your work. allows you to design complex models by
face part by creating an offset copy of the
adding individual surfaces to existing de-
Project Face, 2D Edge, and 3D Edge do as their namesakes suggest. They project the face(s) and growing side-surfaces between
signs or starting new ones from scratch.
geometry of a face, 2D edge, or 3D edge respectively onto the target workplane. The Gen- the original and the copy.
Once the faces converge into a closed shell,
eral command does have a command dialogue and allows for a bit more control over your Show Gaps highlights unbound edges
Creo Elements/Direct will automatically
projection options. Cross Section projects a cross section onto a target workplane(s) wher- in a face part. These edges mean the differ-
convert the face part into a solid part.
ever it intersect a part(s), while Outline will project only the outline of a part or face(s) onto ences between a face part and a solid part.
the intersecting workplane. Insert Face is arguably the most ad- Gather Faces allows you to select
vanced tool in the group. Insert Face cre- faces from a solid part and copy them to a
Along the same line, there are two combo commands that will ates faces by interpolating from a set of new face part. Very similar to the Copy com-
create a workplane and create 2D profiles for you at the same time. boundary curves or edges. If youre using mand, but without the position option.
The projected profile works more like a cross section than an out- 3D elements (Collectively occupying more Delete Face will poke holes in your
line. Internal features that intersect the workplane are projected as than one plane in 3D space), theres a limit solid part turning it in to a face part or allow
well. New WP on Face and Project Real and New WP on Face and of six edges. On a 2D plane, theres no you to take your face part to pieces one face
Project Constr dont have command details either. Just activate the limit. Many of the subsequent tool func- at a time.
command and select a face. You can find these commands on the tions can be achieved with an Insert Face. Flip Faces will flip the direction of the
Workplane dropdown in your Ribbon Modeling Workplane. normal on a given face or set of faces.
Grow Surface will grow a face(s) in the Trim will use one face as a boundary
direction of the edge(s) you choose. This (Tool Face)to cut another (Blank Face(s)).

Modeling 17
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 MODELING: ADVANCED MODELING
FEATURES
A Feature is a set of faces grouped
together and saved in a named container in
the structure browser under the given part.
They can be used as a method for selec-
tion, can contain information for down-
stream processes, and are also used to
create patterns.
There are two variations on the Fea-
ture functionality. You can create a Face
Set Feature of four specific geometry types
or a User Defined Feature for
everything else. The difference
is that a Face Set Feature can
be patterned while a User De-
fined Feature can not.
A feature can consist of any number of
3D elements but they must all belong to the
same part. 3D elements are recognized as
edges, vertices, or faces. You can access
these feature commands and a few more
on the Feature tab of your ribbon.
TIP: A User Defined Feature can still be patterned
using Copy Face and Paste Face commands. You
just dont have the creation and redefinition op-
tions available for pattern features.
Modeling
Your geometry does
not need to match the
icon exactly. The icon for
each of the four Face Set
Features is strictly convey-
ing a simple set of re-
quirements for each.
If your feature needs to change, you
can alter the type of Face Set Feature youve
selected. Use the Ex-
change command in
the More drop-down to
select a new type.
When defining a
Face Set Feature, youll have 3 attributes
automatically defined for you. The local
coordinates for the feature, the main direc-
tion used for a manufacturing process, and
the secondary direction.
Ref. Pos. This local coordinate system
can have a big impact on future patterns.
Consider a boss whose diameter changes
down the road. If the local coordinate sys-
tem had not been centered, the resulting
pattern would be affected by a diameter
change.
MainDir. A manufacturing process
would be a drill, mill, punch, etc. This can
help define which side of the part should be
worked during manufacturing.
StartDir. Should not be parallel to
MainDir. Helps define where a machining
process should begin.
Back to Table of Contents
PATTERNS
Patterns can be accessed from the
Feature tab as well.
Youre able to pattern
Machining features,
Mold Design features, or
Face Set features. You
can also create patterns
of parts within the same
assembly.
Modify the pattern
at any time by excluding
elements or include ele-
ments that were previ-
ously excluded. It cant be deleted with the
up with. A Free patterns members are add-
delete key or a right-click option. Use the
delete command from the Pattern group.
TIP: When making changes to features, be sure to
use the correct Modify command. There are 3 on
the Feature tab and theyre not interchangeable.
Geometry in a pattern is shared out
from the initial feature. If you make chang-
es to any of the features in the pattern, all of
the other features in the pattern have the
potential to change to match. You can use
Modify to restore the altered pattern mem-
ber to its original, or use the OwnPat check-
box to propagate the changes to the pattern.
TIP: Use the TAB key to flip a direction widget
from the 3D CoPilot.
as the Total Angle to be covered by the pat-
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Defining a pattern can depend on the
type of pattern, but generally the definition
shares some common characteristics.
Linear Direction. You need 1 for a Line-
ar pattern and Radial Grid, and 2 for a
Linear Grid. This uses the 3D CoPIlot
widget to define which way these pat-
terns point.
The Number of pattern members is tied
to the direction. In a grid, if you define 4
in one direction and 4 in another, youll
have 16 total pattern members. In non-
grid patterns, the number is exactly how
many total pattern members youll end
ed one at a time.
The Start Position defines where the
pattern should begin. Normally, the start
position is the origin of the originating fea-
ture, but this can be offset according to your
needs.
Your Distance can be defined as the
distance between each pattern member in a
given direction, or as the Total Distance in a
given direction. In either case, the members
are evenly distributed.
In Radial patterns, you must define an
Axis. Normally this is the center of your
source feature, but can be changed. The
Radius determines how far out from your
start position the pattern members will start
to occur in a circular pattern. The Angle
determines how much space is between
each pattern member. Similarly to the line-
ar distance, you can define this as a gap or
tern.
18
 MODULES: MACHINING
Activate Machining FileModulesMachining
Creo Elements/Direct Machining is an
advisor module. It assists during the de-
sign phase by allowing easy specification of
common machining features, providing
easy modification of those features, and by
providing advice about machining opera-
tions. Machining assists further when cre-
ating documentation by providing methods
to transfer dimensional tolerances into the
annotation module in a streamlined pro-
cess. You can even transfer technical infor-
mation into select CAM systems.
Creating Holes. Click on the hole of the
desired type (Through, Tapped, or Blind) for
the placement dialogue. Fill the yellow dia-
logue boxes and complete your new feature.
Notice that the hole is created as a feature
in the structure browser and matching anno-
tation was generated.
During the feature dia-
logue step, you can click
Show Image for a detailed
image explaining your hole
options.
Also during feature specification, the
advisor component kicks in. These checks
are based on general rules and can be
changed using the CED Integration Kit.
Modifying Holes. Simply right-click on
the hole feature in the browser and select
modify to go right back into the hole dia-
logue.
Modules
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Access Machining RibbonFeatureMachining Adding Threads to Cylinders. The ma- Machining Settings. Under File
chining module can also Settings Machining, you can make quick
add thread features to ex- adjustments to common controls for ma-
isting cylinders for the crea- chining features.
tion of bolt or screw mod-
els. Choose one of the
outer threads from the machining options
and select your bolt or screws cylinder as
the target face.
BEST PRACTICE: Adding threads as a feature
is usually preferable over an actual helix.
Conserve your graphics capability for your
design imperatives.
Specifying Tolerances. You can add
NOTE: Settings changed in this way work for
tolerances to hole features. By default,
your current session only unless you save the
theyre appended to the dimension label, settings to an environment file.
not the note hole
note text. You Data Table Customization. A more
can add Upper/ permanent form of adjustment is achieved
Lower, Plus/ with data table customization. This method
Minus, Limits, or allows you to customize the machining envi-
ISO. Inside the ronment to suit your design needs exactly.
hole dialogue, You can create custom holes, defaults,
click on the Show change advisor validations, and more. This
T&Q button for the extended tolerance op- is typically done by your CAD administrator
tions to appear under Diameter Tol. through the use of the CED Integration Kit.
ALERT: Changes made through the Integra-
Specifying Quality. Surface quality can tion Kit are not guaranteed to work with fu-
be assigned to all machining features. ture releases of Creo Elements/Direct.
These are best used in the 2D drawing from
Hole Patterns. Create a New Pattern CED Integration Kit. The kit itself is a
the information stored in the 3D note or
from the Feature tab and choose the hole collection of tools typically used to program
further downstream in manufacturing
feature from the 3D viewport as the source. add-on applications for CED. Making chang-
through the machining output reports. Also
You can create linear, linear grid, radial, es with the Integration Kit requires a thor-
under the Show
radial grid, or free patterns in this manner. ough understanding of CED, some basic
T&Q options,
The pattern feature is fully parameterized programming skills, and a basic knowledge
click on the Side
and can be modified just as easily as the of the Common Lisp Programming Lan-
Quality button for
hole feature itself. guage.
your options.
19
Back to Table of Contents
 MODULES: SURFACING
Activate Surfacing Module FileModulesSurfacing
The Surfacing Module is a much more
organic set of surfacing tools than are
available out-of-the-box. Each command
takes much more time and dedication to
master, but the resulting capability and
possibilities are well worth it.
Skin is like Insert Face times ten.
Youre inserting a face via 2D or 3D curves
or edges like Insert Face, but here you can
use curves inside a mesh as guides in addi-
tion to the boundary curves. This apparent-
ly simple change opens the door to a wide
range of capability, command options, opti-
mization, and built-in surface analysis
tools. Many of the subsequent tool func-
tions can be achieved with a Skin.
Advanced Sweep adds three new
additions over normal
Sweep; The option to
create face parts, the
use of any collection
of edges as the sweep
profile, and the use of
a second guiding
curve for the sweep.
Guided Loft is a marriage of the
Sweep and Loft tools. A Sweep allows you
to take a single profile and sweep it along a
single guiding line or spline. Loft will take a
Modules
series of profiles and draw lines between
them to create a solid body. Guided Loft
combines them by removing the need for
multiple profiles, adding a line or spline as
a guide for your loft, and automatically add-
ing helper profiles along the path.
Cap creates a
freeform cap on a part
using a Cap Point and
looped edges.
Face Round. Like a 3D fillet between
faces, Face Round creates a chain of
rounded faces to connect two face part
sets tangentially or curvature continuously.
Bridge. A quick way
to fill the gap between two
faces. Does not need to
be fully bounded. Just se-
lect two edges or sets of
edges you want to bridge.
The connection can be
made tangential and the
curvature weighted.
Extrude Edges. Similar to Grow Sur-
face, but here youre creating a new face
part and can change the direction and
length of growth with the 3D CoPilot.
Back to Table of Contents
Access Surfacing Module
Extrude Face Part. Similar to Thick-
en, but youre not creating a uniform thick-
ness offset. Youre extruding directly from
the original face part to create a solid part.
Surface Editor. An extremely power-
ful surface tool used to control surface
contours with a wire model and parametric-
like constraints.
ALERT: Surface Editor requires the Parametrics
module as well as the Surfacing module.
Smooth Surface.
Easily analyze and
smooth surface transi-
tions with color coded
feedback and real time
surface analysis.
Modify Surface. Quickly and easily
manipulate custom surface meshes to cre-
ate complex surfaces. A favorite tool for
making bold surface changes. You build
your custom mesh by click points on the
surface. The
tool creates
intersection
lines that you
can grab and
manipulate.
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
RibbonSurfacing
Offset Face Part. Similar to Offset,
this tool will offset a face part normal to the
original faces while making adjustments to
the face geometry based on the offset dis-
tance (similar to the adjustments a Thicken
might make).
Adjust Faces is used to work the tran-
sition between faces. Typically, its a good
idea to create good face transitions during
design, but Adjust Faces can be used to
repair poor connections.
Analysis. Skin, Guided Loft, Cap,
Bridge, Smooth Surface, Modify Surface,
and Adjust Faces have built-in real-time
surface analysis capability. Once Surfacing
is activated, you can also access these
tools under the Analysis tab.
The Surface Analysis tool
will analyze the quality and
curvature of a surface or sur-
face transitions. You can also
check min-max radius values.
Types are Gaussian curvature, Mean curva-
ture, and Zebra stripes.
Angle Analysis will deter-
mine the maximum angle
along an edge between two
faces along the intersection.
20
 MODULES: BASIC SHEETS
Activate Basic Sheets Module FileModulesBasic Sheets
Basic Sheets is a free module with a
small, but surprisingly effective set of sheet
metal creation and modification tools. You
can start using sheets by either creating a
new piece of sheet metal from scratch (New
By Outline) or by using these sheet metal
operations on any model that would meet
the physical requirements to be manufac-
tured as sheet metal. Keep in mind that
using this module does not preclude you
from using standard modeling commands.
By combining the techniques, though, you
run the risk of creating a part that can no
longer be modified by the Basic Sheet com-
mands. For example, a non-uniform thick-
ness part will eliminate or hamper most of
your options.
New By Outline. Create a brand new
sheet metal part from an active workplane
and a sketched closed region. The dialogue
box will allow you to choose a material which
will derive your sheet thickness for you.
Material. The Attach Material com-
mand can initiate or modify the material
definition of your sheet metal part. It brings
up a list of thicknesses from the Basic Shop.
Careful when deleting these thicknesses.
Adding them back is not as easy.
Modules
Access Basic Sheets Module
Unfold and Refold. Simple, but essen-
tial in sheet metal design. These com-
mands will do just as their namesake sug-
gests. Theyll unfold or refold your entire
sheet metal part. Simply select the com-
mand and choose the face(s) that are to
remain stationary during the process.
Fold/Unfold. This single command will
recognize and toggle the bend status of any
given bend. It doesnt matter if the bend
was created with Basic Sheets or some oth-
er process.
Create Bends and Modify Bends. You
could create the entire sheet metal part in
the flat, then use bends to fold it up. To
create a bend, youll need an active work-
plane with a sketched line on it. Your line
is extrapolated infinitely and intersected
with your sheet metal part for bending.
Breaks in the sheet metal are recognized
so if you want multiple flanges to bend,
make sure your sketched line crosses into
each if theyre on the same plane.
Bend Animation. Visually simulate the
folding and unfolding of a bend. You can
change angle between each step in the
animation. Step in and out of the anima-
tion one frame at a time. Finally export
your animation as an AVI.
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
RibbonSheets
Add Lip
Add Lip. Once you have a
sheet metal part, youll need to
start designing with it. Lip is a de-
ceptively simple command with a
significant amount of complexity
tied into it. On the simple side, just
grab an edge, type in a length, and
Lip it. Done. On the complex side,
theres a myriad of options availa-
ble for the Lip command.
ALERT: Once a lip is created, its
treated like any other bend. You
wont get back the same dialogue
when making changes.
L/R AutoMiter. Turn this on to
detect a miter situation. If detect-
Angle
ed, the system retrieves as many
parameters as possible.
Left/Right Lip. Select corner
options. The green area is the new
lip to be added.
Distance
Left/Right Angle/Dist. Angle
in/out from and Distance from
each end reference.
Connection. Options to pre-
vent material deformation where
the lip connects to the original
sheet. Defaults to automatic for
each end.
21
 ASSEMBLIES: BUILDING ASSEMBLY STRUCTURES
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

ASSEMBLY STRUCTURES STRUCTURE BROWSER NEW ASSEMBLIES

Assembly structure refers to a logical collection of parts and assemblies in a hierar- The Structure Browser lists all 3D ob-
chical structure. In Creo Elements/Direct, the assembly structure is visually represented in jects and elements in a hierarchical struc-
the Structure Browser. Each individual assembly in CED is a simple Bill of Material (BoM) ture which illustrates their relationships to
that acts as a container for parts and sub-assemblies. You can manage assembly member- each other. Check and uncheck individual
ship in the structure browser through a drag-and-drop interface. Assembly tools can be items to show or hide them in the viewport.
found in the Structure tab. Use Ctrl+click or Shift+click to select multi-
ple items. You can also right-click for a
menu of actions to execute against the se-
lected item(s). Click the plus or minus signs
to show or hide the children of a container
in the hierarchy display of the browser.
Using New Assembly will cre-
ate the container in the structure
browser. The dialogue box asks
for the name of the new assem-
bly, the model name, and the
owner. Adding an owner allows
you to avoid the drag-and-drop by starting
the assembly under another container. The
model name is optional. It refers to the
name of the Contents Data container.

BEST PRACTICE: Containers can help organize workplanes or other useful objects in the Structure
Browser. Structure Parts & Assemblies More Tools New Container

POSITIONING PARTS
GLOBAL AND LOCAL COORDINATES You can position a part by using the Position command from the ribbon UI, by double
left-clicking the part in your structure browser and clicking the Position command from the
Creo Elements/Direct uses two 3D coordinate systems; global (X, Y, Z) and local (U, V,
mini toolbar, or by the right-click context menu in
W). While there is only one global, all children of the world of CED have their own local coor- TIP: You can also initiate the Position com-
the 3D viewport. Dynamic and Mate Align are only
dinate systems. It follows that an assembly container has its own local 3D coordinate sys- mand by left-clicking on any vertex in a part.
two of the fifteen methods available for positioning.
tem. Further, each part and assembly within can be considered to have a relative position
to the parent coordinates. Likewise, each element in the hierarchy of the Structure Browser Dynamic position is the default, and allows you to use the 3D
can be considered to have a relative position to its parent up to the root of the hierarchy CoPilot widget to position your part.
where the global coordinate system is the parent.
The Mate Align option opens another set of options with which
Global Container (X,Y,Z) you can position a part by face relationships.
Aligned Mated
/a1 Container. Local U,V,W relative to Global XYZ

/a2 Container. Local U,V,W relative to /a1 Parallel Parallel

Local U,V,W Relative to /a2 Align Axis is another very important placement option under Ma-
te Align. Especially useful when employing Coordinate System fea-
tures to position complex parts. (By Ref CS works well there too.)
Local U,V,W Relative to /a1

Local U,V,W Relative to Global X,Y,Z

ALERT: Positioning a part does not constrain the part permanently. Any
implied constraints are only used to aid in placement and are temporary.
The part is free to be moved in any direction after positioning.

Assemblies 22
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 ASSEMBLIES: CONTAINERS, COPY, SHARE, AND INSTANCING
CONTAINERS
You can find the New Container command under the Structure tab in the
Part & Assembly groups More overflow menu. A container is a structural or-
ganization tool. They can be used to hold models, assemblies, and work-
planes. They are particularly useful for organizing complex geometry modification elements.
None of this reference data or geometry will be transferred to Annotation so these building
blocks will not appear in the drawing. Without a container, youd likely need to manually
remove these references from each drawing view.
COPY VS. SHARE
Its best to use Share for any part or assembly that youre using more than once rather
than making a copy. Making a copy will duplicate the part or assembly entirely. Sharing
does not create a copy, but an instance of the original. This will ensure that any modifica-
tions you make to the part or assembly Contents Data are automatically reflected in all oth-
er shared instances (Instance Data). This applies to geometry as well as changes in the
base settings and other shareable attributes. Any previously shared part or assembly can
be unshared. This will, in effect, create copies where once were only instances.
Instance Instance Instance Instance Instance
Data Data Data Data Data
Content Content Content Content
Data Data Data Data
When you create a share, the system automatically creates a folder to contain share
data and places your newly shared items underneath. Creo Elements/Direct has no dis-
tinction between the original part and the shared instances. If you change one, it changes
them all. However, each instance can have its own part
and instance data while remaining an instance.
For example, you can change the position, name,
and part colors of instances. To change part instance
colors, examine the properties of any of the shared
parts. The dialogue box shows appearance properties
for Instances separately from Base properties.
Assemblies
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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
SELECTIVE INSTANCING
Sharing is a huge time saver and its also just good practice to have
one master part thats shared when possible. Still, there are some situ-
ations where the inherent association between shared parts and assem-
blies can become a problem. For example, if you wanted to move a bolt
in a set of shared assemblies independently from the others without
affecting the BoM. You might selectively unshared the instance and
make your changes.
Unshare and select the bolt in question. Chose a new name if you
have one and the new context. Notice in the images below that the Sel
Inst Context is set to the container above the shared parts. The default
is one container upwards in the hierarchy where the selected instance has an impact, but
you can change this manually in the Unshare command dialogue box.
Use Reshare when youve changed your mind or circumstances require the reversal of
your previous Unshare. The part or subassembly will revert back to its original state.
The Cleanup command is used when a selective instance exists, but all the other
shares have been deleted or unshared. There would be nothing to revert back to if Reshare
was used. The Cleanup command effectively removes any sharing baggage and makes the
selective instance independent. This command will not work if there are still shares that
would be affected by the removal of the share data.
Master. Selective instancing can cause issues with assembly instances that are shown
in the documentation. Master allows you to specify which assembly share is to be used
when computing view geometry.
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View Details
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23
ADVANCED ASSEMBLIES: CLIPPING PLANES, STOCK/FINISH,
AND COORDINATE SYSTEMS
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

CLIPPING PLANES STOCK/FINISH

A clipping plane allows you to look through a part or assembly A stock finish relationship does not propagate changes from one member to another like
as if youd cut away from them along a plane to reveal the fea- a share relationship. The idea is that you may have a situation where you have a stock part
tures, parts, or assemblies behind. A familiarity with clipping that is somehow altered in its finished form. Color, extra holes, draft, etc. Maybe you actually
planes will allow you to navigate and inspect your designs much have a literal stock/finish relationship where you buy copper bar stock and cut your own fin-
more effectively. You can find the clipping plane commands on ished lengths. The Stock/Finish operation will create a relationship between the two parts to
the View tab in the Clipping group. aid the process of managing different related product states.
A stock part can have many finished parts, but a finished part can only come from one
Once defined, a clipping plane remains in your stock piece. However, you can also chain the effect. So the finished product from one opera-
design as a clipping plane feature that can then be TIP: You can also activate/deactivate
tion can be come the stock for another finished piece.
activated or deactivated as needed. You can view clipping planes by double-clicking
particularly troublesome areas and access their them in the Structure Browser.
clipping planes whenever needed. Fin
Ba ish
Fin r_ Sto _C
A single clipping plane feature can contain many clipping ish ck ut2
Fin _C
planes. In fact, you can not have multiple clipping plane features ish ut1
_H
active at once. Only one per viewport active. So, if you want to ole
clip from multiple directions, youll need to define each plane in a
single features dialogue box. Up to six total clipping planes can
interact with each other in a single feature.

To change which parts will be clipped and which will not, use the Targets command.
Your selection will define the targets for all clipping features in your model. To change how
your clipping planes are viewed in the viewport, change the viewport show properties via a
right-click Show Properties, or change the clipping plane settings. Use the settings button
on the Clipping group in the ribbon UI.
TIP: You can now create new workplanes off of existing clipping planes. This is a com-
mand option in the dialogue box for a new workplane and can also be accessed via the
context menu (right-click in viewport).
TIP: Coordinate Systems can be extremely helpful for advanced
positioning. Try adding them to complex objects.
COORDINATE SYSTEMS
When dealing with advanced assemblies, it can sometimes become
difficult to find handles or attachment points between geometry. One way
to alleviate this issue is to add custom coordinate systems to your parts or
assemblies. You can line them up to your part or assembly in whatever
direction suits your needs and reference them for movement or assembly placement. These
coordinate systems will attach themselves to their owner and can therefore be shown or hid-
den like any other object in the Structure Browser.

Create a new Coordinate System from the command group of the

same name in the Structure tab. Youll need an
owner, name, and position. They can always be
renamed and repositioned as well. For your visu-
alization needs, the Coordinate Systems can be
resized and recolored.

TIP: You can manipulate geometry while clipping TIP: You can always snap to the center of a 2D circular feature or 3D spherical one by holding down
planes are active. Try modeling with clipping on. Shift+Ctrl. Youll need to press Shift+Ctrl regardless of your 2D or 3D CoPilot snap key settings.

Assemblies 24
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 ADVANCED ASSEMBLIES: CONFIGURATIONS AND EXPLISIONS
CONFIGURATIONS
A configurations is used to store the positions of parts, whats hidden or shown in the
viewport, and different camera direction through various stages of an assembly. To create
a configuration you must have an assembly, but the configuration itself can be owned by an
assembly thats further up the hierarchy if needed. The
owner of the configuration can not be the root of the
structure browser. Configuration operations can be
found in the Structure tab in the Configurations group.
Once youve created your configuration, making
changes relies upon your activation or deactivation of
the configuration. Use the Act/Deact commands or
simply double click your configuration in the Structure
Browser. Once its active, any changes that you make
to the assembly or any subassemblies underneath the
configurations owner are recorded by the configuration. Toggle Act/Deact to see your parts
smoothly float in and out of the various positions set by each of your custom configurations.
ALERT: Configurations do NOT change the original position of your assembly. Activate and Deacti-
vate configurations to see your assembly in different positions/configurations. The original remains
the same throughout.
If you do not move a part while your configuration is active, then no positional infor-
mation is stored for that part. If you want to make sure positional informational is stored,
click the Hold command. This can be important especially when considering how subas-
sembly components may get moved around in your design.
When creating an assembly process, it can be convenient to Copy the previous configu-
ration as a starting point. To capture camera position or draw list, use the right-click menu
on your configuration. This information is not automatically stored like part position. You
can even make changes to this information without the configuration being active. Use
Highlight to see which parts are being controlled by the current configuration.
If you make a mistake or want to remove some of the data youve captured, use Re-
move Data. The dialogue box will ask if you want to move positioning, camera, or drawlist
information. Of course, you can do away with a configuration entirely with the Delete com-
mand or by right-click delete. To show multiple configurations at the same time, use the
Multiple Positions command.
ALERT: You should not use the Formations goodie. The Configurations feature replaces its function-
ality. Use the Convert command to upgrade any Formations you may have in existing assemblies.
Assemblies
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EXPLOSIONS
An Explosion is the most common kind of Configuration. You can build from scratch or
change an existing configuration into an explosion. This is also the same method used to
modify existing explosions since an explosion is considered just another configuration when
youre done creating it. The command will take your assembly and blow it apart. You de-
cide how it explodes and how far. Sounds fun, doesnt it?
To create an explosion, select Explode from the Configurations command group in the
Structure tab. Choose your configuration or create a new one. The One Level check box
indicates if you want the subassemblies to behave as single parts of if you want the individ-
ual parts to move as well. The Scale determines how far the parts will be moved from the
explosion center. In the case of a Cylindrical explosion, youll have an Axial and Radial
Scale. The Show Move Feedback checkbox determines if youll have a visual representation
of the movement or not. This is shown as green lines extending from original positions to
ending positions. The movement references are temporary and will disappear as soon as
youre done configuring the explosion.
Align Axes. This mode constrains objects with coincident axial
faces to explode along their common axes. Objects without are ex-
ploded spherically.
Spherical. A spherical explosion will move all objects in all direc-
tions away from the explosion center.
Cylindrical. Move objects away from an axis radially and axially.
You can set the axial and radial scales of movement separately in a
cylindrical explosion.
By Direction. Youre shaping the direction of the explosion. An
explosion is typically spherical; where everything radiates
away from the explosion center. This will move objects
away from the explosion center as well, but only in the di-
rection you specify only.
Pos Dynamic. If none of the default explosion types are working for you, you can al-
ways manually position the parts.
NOTE: Please note that each Explosion feature can have a series of
explosions inside. The explode and back buttons inside the dialogue box
allow you to work through each explosion individually.
25
 ADVANCED ASSEMBLIES: CLASH ANALYSIS
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

CREATE CLASH ANALYSIS CLASH ANALYSIS ISSUE BROWSER RESOLVING CLASH RESULTS
The Create Analysis command will cre- Once you run the analysis, the Clash Analysis Issue There are only three ways to
ate a Clash Analysis object in your structure Browser will show up. If you close it, you can always re- resolve a clash. The most obvi-
browser. This object will contain the summon it with the right-click command in the Structure ous being fix the problem. The
parameters for your analy- Browser. This is where you view your clash results. The Clash Analysis tools provide a
sis and any results you may issues are listed numerically in the browser and can be number of methods for finding
have calculated. If the icon searched, filtered, and sorted for your easy perusal. and refining your models by giv-
is green it means ing you easy access and detailed
youre analysis is out of Just like the Structure Browser, you can define very information about each issue. In particular, Recalculate
date. complex searches through the binoculars icon. It will allow Issue will give you the Draw Only in New VP, but with a trans-
you to define a list of custom criteria and store those lucent model that highlights the volume of intersection in
Once its been created, searches for later use. Filtering is much the same. red. The clash dialogue box that pops-up from the Recalcu-
you can always modify, late Issue will give you quick access to methods for redefin-
rename, delete, calculate, Once you have the list narrowed, you can right-click on
ing the analysis for that specific issue. Change the status to
clear issues, and bring up individual issues for a list of commands. Draw Only will
Modified in the properties pop-up when your changes are
the Clash Issue Browser remove everything from your viewport but the parts brought
complete.
from right-click commands into question by the issue. Draw Only in new VP will do the
on the object in your Struc- same as Draw Only, but create a new viewport to view the The second way is to accept and ignore the problem.
ture Browser or from com- parts in. Recalculate Issue will bring up a command dia- You will definitely run into situations where a clash is inten-
mands in the ribbon UI. logue for a single clash and an auxiliary viewport with your tional. Press fits, interference fits, etc. Add a note to the
When you execute the Cal- issue specific parts in it. Search Clash Analysis in Structure issues properties and select Accepted in the status
culate option, it will run will find the clash analysis in the Structure Browser (in case dropdown.
through your assembly to discover if there are interferences youve lost it). Search Parts in Structure will find your issue
based on the parameters you set in the definition of the specific parts in the Structure Browser. The Properties of The third and final way to resolve a clash result is to
clash analysis. Once youve selected what will be analyzed the Issue are also available and provide a detailed status ignore it. Yes, you can mark the issue as Conditional Open
and where the analysis will reside, you can change options and resolution pop-up. or Conditional Accepted and write a note for posterity de-
like ignoring press fit parts, ignore parts from the 3D library, scribing why this issue was unavoidable or when it will be
ignore threaded parts and holes, specify specific clearance, revisited.
and exclude parts from the analysis.

A Clash Analysis must be owned by an assembly and

not by the root / or a selective instance of the assembly.
If the selective instance is created after the analysis, your
icon in the Structure Browser will turn red. This indi-
cates an invalid analysis. To repair the situation, attach the
Clash Analysis to a valid owner and recalculate. When the
icon is yellow it means that the assembly is only par-
tially loaded, might contain lightweight parts, or the state of
the analysis is undefined.

Assemblies 26
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 ANNOTATIONS: ANNOTATION APPLICATION
APPLICATION: ANNOTATION DRAWING STRUCTURE
The Annotation application in Creo Elements/Direct is the 2D tool used for creating Within the drawing structure, owner-
drawings from 3D designs. To use Annotation, you can select File Modules and find the ship falls to the parent. When a parent
Applications submenu. Put a check in the Annotation check box. Once youve done that, object is moved or deleted, the child is also
you can switch between Modeling and Annotation by going to the Applications tab of your moved or deleted. Navigate from object to
ribbon UI. Toggle between the applications as needed. Annotation runs in parallel with object by clicking on their icons in the
Modeling. Drawing Browser. The hierarchy of the
drawing structure looks like this:
NOTE: When you click New Session in Annotation, it only clears the session
within Annotation. To clear Annotation and Modeling, youll need to switch
to the Modeling app and start a New Session as well. Drawing
Sheets
Frame
Look and Feel. The Annotations application has the same look and feel of Creo Ele- Sketch
ments/Direct Modeling. It has the same menu and dialogue functions Even the same Geometry of title block
interface layout and navigation as the Modeling application. When toggling between the
Text of title block
two, its seamless enough to be considered the same application.
Views
Associativity. The Annotation application maintains association with the 3D model. As
Dimensions
the 3D model is modified, the drawing will reflect the changes in 2D.
Text
2D Features. Just as you would expect in any other 2D CAD application, you can create Additional geometry
dimensions, text, and 2D geometry using the Annotation application for CED. Add these
features to your 3D view projections to complete your drawings.
VIEW SYNCHRONIZATION
Bills of Material. A Bill of Material (BoM) can be generated in Annotation using multiple View synchroniza-
sources. You can also manually adjust the BoM in Annotation. BoM flags can be added to tion is color coded.
the drawing using DIN, ISO, or custom flag standards. Dark Blue indicates that
a view is totally up-to-
Browsers. The Annotation application adds two new browsers to your interface. In date. Cyan shows when
Modeling, you only have the Structure browser. In Annotation, youve gained the Template a view is not updated,
browser and the Drawing browser. Similar to the Structure browser, both of your new but the model is cur-
browser are organized in a hierarchical fashion. The Templates browser organizes and ena- rently loaded in the
bles the reuse of common objects. The Drawing browser organizes all drawing entities in Modeling application.
session. Red tells you when the
view cannot be updated because its associ-
ated model isnt in memory.
NOTE: Drawing-Model associativity is
dictated by the views in the drawing.
Annotations
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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
TEMPLATE BROWSER
Templates allow you to reuse common
text, sketches, and symbols. When added
to a drawing, symbol templates can allow
you to specify new values for named param-
eters. The Smart fields are filled-in as
needed. The templates are viewed in your
Template browser which became a new tab
in your Structure Browser with the Annota-
tion Application.
Standard templates include GD&T
Datum and Tolerance, Surface symbols, and
Welding symbols. To add a Template to a
drawing, simply double left-click the Tem-
plate from your template browser and fill-in
the dialogue box for parameters and place-
ment. New user-defined Templates can be
created and added to the Template browser
as needed.
Define text and symbol can be found
in the More dropdown of the Annotation
group of the Annotation tab. Define sketch
can be found under the Insert tab in the
Sketch group.
To define a text or sketch template,
use the appropriate type, enter a unique
name, select a category from the dropdown
list or create a new category, click the
thumbnail checkbox to create a thumbnail,
fill-in any other required boxes, and com-
plete the operation.
To defined new symbol templates,
start with one that was defined from the
standard templates. It can then be added
to your templates itself to create a new tem-
plate; preserving your dialogue box settings
for future use.
27
 ANNOTATIONS: ANNOTATION APPLICATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

STARTING A DRAWING DRAWING VIEWS Profiles refer to a collection of

Start a drawing from the New Drawing command located under the An- CED can generate several types settings that give you an optimal com-
notation tab in the Setup group. You can not create any other annotation of views. Use the New Std View com- bination of accuracy and performance.
features until you create a drawing. You can only have one drawing loaded mand on your Annotation tab. The For example, you may want to use a
at a time, but each drawing can have multiple sheets. Take care to save command dialogue box breaks your options Large Assembly profile for assemblies
your current drawing before opening another or start- down into different view categories. with over 500 parts. If so, the views update
ing a new one. New Drawing creates a drawing and faster and small parts and tiny circles are
a sheet object in the Drawing Browser and then the Orthogonal View. Orthogonal views automatically removed. Available profiles
dialogue box appears. refer to the common Front, Top, and are Single Part, Small Assy, Medium Assy,
Right viewing convention. Technically, Large Assy, Photo-Realistic, Shaded Only,
The dialogue offers you three Modes of opera- views are orthogonal if theyre perpendicular Shaded+Geometry, and NC.
tion. 2D Process is the default and typical method. to each other. So, to-
It will assume you want to take your 3D model and gether these three views Once your
create 2D documentation from it. The 3D Process is form an orthogonal rep- views are creat-
all about creating 2D documentation from 3D doc- resentation of a part or ed, you can
uplanes. The third and final mode is No Model. It assembly. adjust how the
assumed there will be no 3D model association. You graphic data is
can always add it later. Isometric. An iso- updated by each view individ-
metric view of an object ually. Use your View Proper-
The dialogue thats common to all three modes is defined as viewing it in ties to adjust the Calc Mode.
is Number, Sheet Frame, and Scale (Auto). Number such a way that the an-
represents the Sheet number. What do you want to gles between the projec- You can choose from Classic,
call your sheet? It doesnt need to be numeric and tion of the 3 axes are all Classic+Shaded, Graphics,
will accept alphanumeric characters, underscores, the same (120). Ob- Graphic+Shaded, and Shad-
and spaces. It defaults to your model name. Select jects drawn with isomet- ed update modes. Classic is
a sheet frame or None from the dropdown list to select a frame for your drawing.. Default ric projection do not ap- the traditional dimensioned
options range from A0-4 to WM-E. The Scale (Auto) attempts to choose the correct scale pear larger or smaller as method. Graphics is better
based on the 3D model and the sheet frame chosen as you add views to the sheet frame in they extend from the for larger models. Shaded
an attempt to make them all fit. You can choose a scale from the dropdown or specify one viewer. best with renders that dont
manually. You can always modify the individual view scale afterwards if necessary. If you geometry to be dimensioned.
click Add Views or simply complete the command, youll be immediately moved over into the General. Describes
a view that ascribes to Just below the Calc
New Std View command dialogue.
no specific convention. Mode, youll see Econofast.
Once youve created your drawing and initial sheet, you can create new Choose a direction in the Econofast uses occlusion
sheets with the New Sheet command. Youll be asked for the sheet Number, viewport and use the culling to give you a very fast
Sheet Frame, and Scale. Much as you were in the New Drawing dialogue. right-click menu to as- and efficient view update, but
This dialogue doesnt not automatically throw you into the New Std View com- sign the view. requires an OpenGL-based
mand dialogue, though. Youre free to create new views or annotations as graphics card. If you dont
needed. have a compatible video
NOTE: All ME10 and Creo Elements/Direct Drafting drawings can be card, the option will be
imported and re-associated with their models grayed out.

Annotations 28
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 ANNOTATIONS: ANNOTATION APPLICATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
PLACING VIEWS CREATE DEPENDENT VIEWS UPDATING VIEWS

The New Std View dialogue box starts off with the Under the Annotation tab in the Setup You can Move and Scale a drawing view.
owner of the view, and the orientation of the view. What group, youll see the Dep View drop-down. You can also change a few options on de-
this means is that CED cant generate a view for you Each command has its pendent views, but you can not change view
unless it understands the relative orientation of your part own dialogue box. As you type. The views are actually created in Creo
or assembly. The command chooses some defaults for use a command youll no- Elements/Direct Modeling.
you to make things easier, but understanding these re- tice that the icon for the
The Annota-
quirements can avoid a lot of frustration when working Dep View drop-down
with more complex parts. changes. You can quickly
repeat the last command.
Use the Front Dir or Up Dir options to open a 3D
viewer that will present your part or assembly. You can then spin the model(s) around and
use the 3D CoPilot widget to choose a front or up direction. These directions act as the
references for all other view options in the dialogue box. You can also change the scale as
needed. Scale is a ratio describing the relative size of your part or assembly on the drawing. tion application has the position on paper,
A scale of 5:1 would indicate that every 5 units of measure in the drawing represented only scale, and such, but the Model contains the
1 on the part. Meaning that the drawing is five times larger than actual size. 1:1 being actual view. The two must work together to
actual size. (Drawing : Part/Assy) complete a drawing.
At any point during the view definition where you have at least one type of view defined, To keep them working together, use
you can click a point on your drawing to define placement. If youre not happy with the Update View. This command will check the
placement, use Reposition Views to make updates until you are satisfied. Up until you com- validity of your 3D model references and
plete the view definition, you can add, remove, or reposition views as many times as youd recreate your 2D projections if theres been
like. an update.
Your views will show-up as a hatched box on your drawing until you complete your view Updated view geometry will change color
creation dialogue box. Once youre done creating the views, you will not get the same dia- The dependent view will show-up in
according to the status of the 2D and 3D
logue box to edit the views you created. the browsers underneath its parent.
geometry. To see the colors, change Viewport
After youve placed your views, you can use the Move View command to OUTLINE VIEWS Show Setting Upd Color.
reposition, or simply click on the view border twice. The first click will bring up a If you want to conserve some time and
mini toolbar in case you want to access some other view command. From there Unchanged Geometry = Magenta
dont need the interior detail of a view,
you can right-click for a contextual menu or click again. The second click acti- change the Calculate Outline Only property Changed Geometry = Yellow
vates Move View. on your view. It will leave your view with New Geometry = Cyan
nothing but the outline of whatever part or Changed 3D Documentation = Orange
assembly was within. View Properties > Transferred 2D Elements = Green
NOTE: Choose a Configuration Updated 2D Elements = Blue
Visibility > Calculate.
from the view dialogue box or
edit the view properties to BEST PRACTICE: Always save your model after
display a Configuration rather making Annotation changes and updates. Not
than the assembled position. just the drawing. Even if you dont think that any-
thing in the model was changed. This prevents
accidental inconsistencies between the two.

Annotations 29
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 ANNOTATIONS: ANNOTATION APPLICATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

ANNOTATION your selection. There are a series of Mod Aside from Linear dimensions, you also ADDING TEXT
Annotation is mainly about placing your Position commands have Circular and Angular dimensions to Text can be added to drawings by man-
2D features along with your projected views available in the same choose from. ually creating text, importing text from a file,
to complete the full representation of your command group if or using a text template.
you plan on moving Tangential. Dimensions
3D objects for the purposes of illustration
more than the dimen- a circle in tangential mode. Manually add text through
and/or manufacture. To that end, Creo
sion. Would be used for the length the Text New command in the
Elements/Direct provides several tools for
of a slot or distance between Annotation tab under the Anno-
annotating your views.
Single. Typical a point and a tangent point tate group. The dialogue allows
DIMENSIONS distance dimension on a non-linear edge. for changing style, angle, size, adjust point,
from one point to another. ratio, slant, line space, font, fill, frame and
Each dimension Arc. Specify the actual linear length and
has a type, attach- color. Fill-in your text with the pop-up text
Datum Long. A series of actual angle of an arc.
ment, unit of measure, editor and define a placement position.
single dimensions attached to a
and adheres to one of datum on one end. Angle. Measured in a clockwise direc-
Import/Export text in the same Text
four dimension stand- tion. Switch between your selected angle,
New command using the pop-up text editor.
ards. (or a custom Datum Short. Same as Datum Long adjacent +, Opposite, and adjacent by
Use the save and open options to grab or
standard) except theres no extension line on the right-clicking during the dimension creation.
save *.txt, *.lsp, or *.rec files.
Dimension com- datum.
mands are found on DIMENSIONAL STANDARDS
Edit text with the Edit Text
the Annotation tab in the Annotate com- Chain. A stacked series of single di- ASME/ANSI. American Society of Me- command through the mini
mand group. Relocate a dimension the mensions where you have one occurring chanical Engineers standards adopted from toolbar, ribbon, or by right-
same way you would a View. Left-click the after the other in turn. the American National Standards Institute. clicking on a selected text entity and select-
dimension twice. First click brings-up a mini ing the command from the context menu.
Coordinate. A series of dimension DIN. Deutsches Institut fur Normung.
toolbar and a right-click from that point will
lines in the X or Y direction based off of a German institute for standardization. Mem-
show the contextual menu where you can INSERTING OBJECTS
single reference point. ber of ISO.
access dim properties. The second click You can insert pictures and OLE ob-
initiates the Move Dim command against Chamfer. Dimensional call-out at- jects through the Insert tab of the Annota-
ISO. International Organization for
tached to chamfer geometry. Standardization is composed of representa- tion application. Pictures require a *.bmp,
Coordinate Chain
tives from various national standards organ- *.png, *.tif, *.jpg, *.jpeg, or *.tiff file type.
Sym Single. Same as a Single dimen- You can also take a picture of a 3D or 2D
izations.
Datum Long
sion but attached to a symmetry line. viewport as your image using the Viewport
JIS. Japanese Industrial Standards pro- dialogue box option.
Sym Long. Same as a Symmetry Sin-
vided by the Japanese Industrial Standards You can embed objects from other
gle, but will automatically position subse-
committee and published through the Japa- applications into your drawing using an OLE
Diameter quent dimensions relative to the first one.
nese Standards Association. object. For example, you could display a
Microsoft Word or Excel document.
Custom. You can also create custom
NOTE: Value, tolerance, format, text, and
dimension standards to suit your needs.
arrow adjustments can be made in the
Chamfer dimension properties dialogue box.
Single

Annotations 30
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 ANNOTATIONS: ANNOTATION APPLICATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

SKETCHING GEOMETRY BOM TABLES PRINTING

Creo Elements/Direct Annotation Application comes with your typical 2D geometry cre- Your Bill of Material (BoM) commands Printing is done in
ation tools under the Geometry tab; lines, rectangles, circles, splines, etc. It also includes can be found under the Insert tab in the two ways depending on
the associated modification tools; copy, paste, rotate, mirror, stretch, trim, etc. BoM command group. To place a BoM ta- the type of printer chosen
ble, you must first generate or import one. from the print dialogue
Use Scan Model to grab your BoM from an box. Find the print dialogue in File Print.
existing assembly.
If youre using a GDI printer, the raw
Note: You can scan an existing BoM from print data is sent to the print spooler. The
the 3D Documentation Application or send spooler then produces the final output. If
Use these tools to create new 2D geometry in your drawing. The Annotation CoPilot will the data from Model Manager BoM Editor. using one of the generic printer types, the
help guide your geometry creation. It provides incremental movement, size indication, snap internal print drivers will generate the output
lines, and 2D geometry snaps. Once you have BoM data, it can be and send it to a print file.
accessed from the BoM Table command.
Incremental movement can be adjusted using the Page Up or Depending on your output device(s)
Assign numbering using the BoM Numbering
Page Down keys while creating geometry. The grid size will go from 3 configured on your machine, the Print Man-
command.
decimal places up to increments of 50,000 units in 26 steps. ager may allow you to set several printer
Draw your BoM onto the drawing using options in addition to those offered by Creo
Size indication label shows the new element size or the modifica- Elements/Direct Annotation.
the Draw BoM command. In this dialogue,
tion distance in a convenient X,Y format as you work.
you assign the table layout and configure
Typical print configurations are PDF,
Snap lines appear when you move your cursor close enough to the growth direction, table range, and the
Clipboard, Laser (B&W), Laser (Color), Plot-
the catch point. By default, these snap lines are green. The catch table adjustment point.
ter (Ink), and Plotter (Pen). You can choose
points are added to your buffer by holding the cursor over a vertex from a large list of paper sizes, select an
The table layout is what determines
for .5 seconds. (by default) A small plus sign will appear on the vertex. orientation, and even preview your settings
how the table is displayed and what data
You can snap to start, end, and midpoints of lines, centers, and 2D geometry intersections. directly on your Annotation viewport.
should be mapped. Default table layouts
2D geometry snaps occur whenever a constraint Perpendicular Horizontal are Company, DIN, and ISO. Configure your
3D SCREEN DUMPS
requirement is met. Youll see a green symbol if the Vertical Tangent own for specific columns, titles, or other
requirements using the BoM Table Layout If you want to capture your 3D viewport
constraint is snapping to snap lines or an orange symbol if its snapping to geometry. screen, you can create a High Resolution
command.
Print. Select the High Resolution Print from
A Sketch acts as a container for 2D geometry. It can be found on the Insert tab under
Place position flags using the Pos Flags your print dialogue in the Creo Elements/
the Sketch group. To group geometry under a sketch, you can either create the geom-
command. Use dialogue option From Direct Modeling Application. Alternately,
etry first, and then use the Move command to change the owner of all your required
Table to preserve your BoM Table number- right-click in your 3D viewport and select
geometry or you can create an empty sketch first and change owner of your geometry
ing. Use flag layouts to govern the look of Viewport Properties. HR Print is one of the
as you create it. You only need to set the owner dialogue of new geometry
your position flags. Select the item from the options and will bring up your printer set-
once. All subsequent geometry will default to the last owner.
BoM table, the geometry view, then flag tings dialogue. You can also use this dia-
Tip: Try using the Grid Settings under File Settings Grid ... position. logue to Print the output to TIFF file
rather that directly to a printer.
NOTE: You cant move a selection list of 2D geometry by selecting and double click-
ing. You must either group the geometry into a sketch or use the Move command.

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 ANNOTATIONS: 3D DOCUMENTATION APPLICATION
APPLICATION: 3D DOCUMENTATION
The goal of the 3D Documentation Application is to communicate design ideas and
thoughts in the 3D environment. It provides various capabilities to attach information to
your design that may not have been easily captured by the geometry itself. For example, a
specific manufacturing process. Activate the application by selecting File Modules and
finding the Applications submenu. Put a check in the 3D Documentation check box.
Activating 3D Documentation creates three new tabs, one new envi-
ronment, and opens the template browser for your use. Annotate, 3D
Documentation and Insert are your new tabs, but only the Annotate tab
and template browser are accessible from the main Modeling application.
The Annotate tab appears to the right of your existing tabs and is high-
lighted in blue.
The new environment is accessed through the Applications tab. From there, you can
switch back and forth between both environments. This is not a totally new session as with
the Annotate Application, though. This is more like a modified Modeling environment. If you
select New Session in either environment, it applies to both. They share the same memory
space. In this 3D Documentation environment, the new Annotate tab becomes a command
group under the 3D Documentation tab and you gain Setup and Display. Under the new
Insert tab you gain BoM, Group, and Index. There are three other tabs available (Analysis,
View, and Application), but these are standard fare from the Modeling application.
With 3D Documentation, you can create 3D dimensions, GD&T symbols, and notes.
You can construct and implement Bills of Material (BoM) and attach position flags. Finally,
you can create transfer your 3D dimensions and annotations over to the Annotation Applica-
tion.
3D documentation has distinct advantages, like sharing im-
portant design information in the 3D environment with subsequent
designers, indicating important dimensions, and describing specific
manufacturing processes. Even so, you may not be able to share
your 3D annotations with every manufacturer or simply want to com-
plete the documentation in the traditional 2D format. Your 3D
documentation work is not lost. Using docuplanes, you can lever-
age your work and transfer it into the 2D Annotations Application.
Annotations
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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
SETUP COMMAND GROUP
A docuplane is similar to a workplane
with only a few differences. A docuplane
can be active at any time. A docuplane
can not exist outside of a docuplane set.
Also, docuplanes can not be saved individually. They are married to their own-
ing part or assembly. Finally, they are different in their purpose. A docuplane
only exists to transfer 3D documentation into the 2D Annotation Application.
TIP: Matching Templates in the Template browser can make it easier to trans-
fer symbols between the 3D Documentation and Annotation Applications.
First, create a docuplane set using New Set. This combo-command asks for the name
and owner of the new set and also defines and underlying reference direction with the Front
Dir and Up Dir options. As soon as you accept these options, the docuplane set is created
and youre thrown into the New Docuplane dialogue. The owning DP Set is already filled-in
and youre ready to choose a type and any other positional options for your new plane. You
can create plane after plane from the same dialogue
by clicking Next after each one. NOTE: Annotations are seen from either
side of a docuplane. The labels flip as
Its important to understand how docuplanes you rotate the view to remain readable.
are used to transfer data before you begin adding
3D documentation to your design. If an annotation is not attached to a
docuplane, it will not transfer. To attach an annotation to a docuplane,
the annotation and docuplane must share an owner. Also, dimensions
can not be transferred unless the docuplane its attached to is a valid
display plane that is parallel to the measure direction of the dimension.
Whenever you create an annotation, youre given the option to attach it to a doc-
uplane. You can also modify an annotation for attachment after its been created or use
the Gather command to assign free 3D annotations to docuplanes. To transfer these anno-
tations you must use the Transfer Docuplane from the Annotations Application and use
Sync to DP to keep them up-to-date.
In this relationship between docuplane and Annotation Application view, the doc-
uplane is the master. Dimension positions are not synchronized, but things like scale, up
direction, normal, section line, detail border, name, or component list are all controlled by
the docuplane. The synchronization will override any conflicting changes made in the An-
notations Application with docuplane values. If you need to alter these values more perma-
nently, make your changes in the docuplane to avoid having your changes overridden with
the next sync.
32
 ANNOTATIONS: 3D DOCUMENTATION APPLICATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

ANNOTATE COMMAND GROUP MODIFY WITH DIMENIONS

Whether it be attached to a docuplane or free You may have noticed that the Move
floating, an annotation can be created and modified 3D command has the option to use a dimen-
through a series of commands in the Annotate com- sion as a transformation reference.
mand group. (The Annotate command group also
exists in the Modeling application once the 3D Doc-
umentation application is activated.)
Modify your anno-
tations first with Orien-
Dimensions. Linear, circular, angular, coordinate, and datum tation (if needed) and
long dimensions can be generated using the corresponding com- then with Position. The
mands. Coordinate dimensions form series of individual dimension Orientation command asks for Text Dir and
lines based off of a single reference. Datum long dimensions are a Up Dir. Use any 3D references youd like.
series of single dimensions attached to a single datum on one end. Surprisingly, these two simple commands
The interface for attaching them to 3D geometry is a little different will quickly orient your annotations exactly
than what youre used to in a 2D environment, but not by much. When you activate a di- as required. Once you have the annotation
mension command, an elaborate dialogue box appears, but the actual dimension place- in the correct plane, use the Position com-
ment is intuitive. Click the element or start and end-points needed for your dimension oper- mand to move it In Plane (left and right, up
This will allow you to guide a transfor-
ation, then place the dimension text. and down, as if you were viewing it straight
mation using a dimension, similar to how a
on a piece of paper directly in front of your
The 3D Note command will ask you for an element to attach a reference line. This parametric dimension might control geomet-
eyes), or Thru Plane (closer or further away
referenced part becomes the owner of the note and the 3D Note a feature within it. For this ric properties. The difference is that this
from you if viewed from the same orienta-
reason, a 3D Note can only reference one feature of the model. They are generally used to relationship in CED is not exclusive. Youre
tion). Use Ref Position and Refline to
specify manufacturing processes or specifications. fully capable of making more modifications
change the reference line targets and ori-
The dialogue will ask you for a docuplane or free placement. Then you can fill-in the with other references. Conversely, you can
entation.
actual note text using the pop-up text editor. This same editor will allow you to save and guide the transformation of any geometry
open text files. If you enter a Ref. URL, it will be displayed as a hyperlink in the feature re- DISPLAY COMMAND GROUP using any dimensional reference. Its not
ports URL column. If you click Ref. File, the browser options and allows you to link a file. fully restricted to the geometry thats been
Display has a few
Finally, you can choose the note type from Generic, Engineering, Manufacturing, or Inspec- dimensioned. However, at least one ele-
functions to help manage ment must be directly to related to the di-
tion. These categories can be useful when filtering customer process features for reporting
the visibility of your anno- mensioned reference.
or highlighting purposes.
tations. Show will drop
Text objects are generally much more generic than the 3D Note. The dialogue box down to several com- This is very similar
starts off asking for the text to be entered since reference lines are much less important to mands for docuplanes, to behavior you might
a text object. Enter or open your text as before, then add a primary reference. Optionally, groups, annotations, features, tolerances, achieve using refer-
add as many secondary references as youd like. Define placement as docuplane or free, and indexes. The Highlight drop down ence cones. With this
and place your text. works for docuplanes, annotations, and method, though,
features. HTML Reports can be generated theres some sem-
Text generated in a dimension, 3D Note, or Text can be format- to display a list of all custom features at- blance of permanency.
ted using the Annotation 3D Properties command. You can change tached to a model, assembly, workplane, The dimensional refer-
color, frame, display mode, anchor point, arrow type, size, and more. WP set, or selection list. Create filters in ence remains to be
Access the Annotations 3D Properties command from the mini the dialogue box before completing the used over and over if
toolbar, the More dropdown, or right-click for the context menu. command for cleaner output. necessary.

Annotations 33
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 ANNOTATIONS: 3D DOCUMENTATION APPLICATION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

INSERT TAB GROUP COMMAND GROUP TEMPLATE BROWSER

The Insert tab contains command groups for the insertion and management of a Bill of All annotation types can be contained
Material (BoM) and an annotation Group. The BoM works similarly to the one in the Annota- in groups. Groups can also contain other
tion Application, but youll not be drawing the actual BoM table from here. This BoM group groups. When selected, a group will return
is geared towards placing flags only. A Group is an organizational tool for annotations. all children directly within it and all children
of any subgroups.
Note: BoM data can be A New Fixed group can be quickly pro-
used by the Annotations duced from a selection list. Simply define
Application using the by clicking on the specific annotations
Scan Model command. youre interested in grouping. Your selec-
tions can belong to any part or assembly
BOM COMMAND GROUP owned by the groups owner or by any sub-
assembly or subgroup thereof.
Use Collect to grab BoM data from your assembly or data management source. Collect
a flat or multi-level BoM as needed. You can then use Table to see a pop-up dialogue de- You can create general or exclusive
scribing your collected BoM, the new BoM table will start with empty position numbers. fixed groups. Within general fixed groups, a
Placing flags will fill-in position numbers as you go. single annotation can belong to multiple
groups. A general fixed group can be a
Placing flags with the New Pos
parent or subgroup. Exclusive fixed groups
Flag command will pop-up
can only be subgroups. They must have a
both the flag dialogue and the
parent group. Within exclusive fixed
BoM table. You need to use
groups, an annotation can only belong to
them both, along with the 3D
one group. That same annotation, howev-
viewport for flag positioning.
er, can belong to several owners outside of
Double-click on a BoM table entry to fill in the BoM Entry box. The the exclusive group hierarchy.
part highlights in the 3D viewport. Type a Number or go with the
automatically assigned one. Choose docuplane or free. Optionally A New Variable group is created with
the intention of having the group update its
adjust your text orientation. Before you can complete the dialogue,
own membership list. Membership is con-
you must choose a reference for the flag, which is some element on
trolled by a rule you generate from any
the geometry of the BoM Entry that your flag reference line will point to. An arrowhead will
number of annotation properties.
appear at the point you choose and a stretching reference line will allow you to place the
label. The dialogue is set-up such that using the Next option can quickly take you through a
To modify a groups options or mem-
BoM.
berships, right-click the group in your struc-
ture browser and choose the modify option.
Using Modify Pos Flag will take you to a very similar dialogue to the one used in crea-
tion, but the BoM table doesnt appear and youre not able to change the owner of the posi-
Use Show to highlight and traverse
tion flag. You can, however, use Delete Pos Flag to remove ALL position flags from a given
your annotation group hierarchies. You can
assembly. Simply use the command, click on the assembly, and confirm. If you need indi-
also use Show to hide/show entire groups
vidual deletion, just select a flag and hit your delete key. Use the annotation positioning
of annotations.
and property commands to make adjustments to the display of your flag.
The Template browser in the 3D Docu-
mentation application is identical in behav-
ior to the one in the Annotation application
with a few restrictions on the geometry al-
lowed in your symbols. You can not use
splines, hatches, dimensions, symmetry
lines, centerlines, construction lines, or
points. Further, your elements can not have
a line size of zero. Text can not have a ratio
of 1 and slant of 0. You must also have a
frame on your text.
Standard templates include GD&T Da-
tum and Tolerance, Surface symbols, and
Welding symbols. The selection has been
pruned to comply with the restrictions of
being affixed to geometry in 3 dimensional
space. To add a template, simply double
left-click the template from your template
browser or use the Create Symbol command
and fill-in the dialogue box for parameters
and placement. When added to a
drawing, symbol templates can
allow you to specify new values for
named parameters. The Smart
fields are filled-in as needed.
New user-defined templates
can be created and added to the
template browser as needed
using Define Template.
Specify the default owner of
any GD&T templates using GDT
Owner. Any subsequently created
GD&T templates will default to
the specified owner. Its located
in the overflow menu More
under the Annotate command
group.

Annotations 34
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 MODEL MANAGER: INTRODUCTION
PRODUCT DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Model Manager is the fully integrated Product Data Management (PDM) system for Creo Elements/Direct. Data management is extremely important when working with a large number
of files and an extended design team. Manual file shares can be managed for a time, but quickly become more of a burden than a solution. Compare common data management concerns
without and with a software solution in place.
WITHOUT A PDM SYSTEM
Manually managed by a CAD administrator or by each design-
er. They create an elaborate system of folders to maintain
data integrity.
There is usually nothing to prevent a designer from operating
outside the convention other than doctrine.
Large numbers of files become increasingly difficult to manage
as you approach the critical limit for hardware, networking, or
have exhausted manual intervention options.
The IT department refuses to take ownership because of the
overriding engineering knowledge required to decrypt the data
structure and version control conventions.
Communicating data outside of the design team in a con-
sistent and efficient manner becomes virtually impossible.
CAD administrators usually develop a complex system of file
naming to accommodate the need to maintain version history.
There is usually nothing to prevent a designer from operating
outside the convention other than doctrine.
Versions become confused. Newer versions are overwritten
due to lack of control. Older versions are duplicated across
the elaborate data structure.
Permissions are usually ignored beyond the need to maintain
a separation between administration and design.
In larger file share environments, departments are given own-
ership of file structure trees or segments in their entirety.
Library data is copied across each segment.
Team or project based permission management is out of the
question in most cases.
Data reuse is normally a file copy/paste exercise. Aside from
the relationship corruptions, the difficulty is in knowing whats
available for reuse. Some teams print catalogs of categorized
part images with file locations that are not kept up-to-date.
In larger file share environments, some have given-up on re-
use in general. The best they can manage is keeping the
same designers on subsequent projects so theyre knowledge-
able enough to know what can be reused.
Model Manager
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
CONCERNS WITH A PDM SYSTEM
Product structure and file structure are maintained separately.
What makes sense for the product is kept isolated from data
DATA STRUCTURE management concerns. File structure become irrelevant to
design and is maintained automatically.
File stores are still at the mercy of hardware limitations, but
software solutions mitigate the impact of hardware and net-
working shortcomings on the design team. Hardware and
networking issues are relegated to the IT department and data
VOLUME OF DATA integrity is maintained automatically regardless of the file size
or number of files within those limits.
Versions are maintained by the system. One file name is rep-
resentative of the latest version and all previous versions.
Default interaction assumes the latest version, but version
history is always available when needed.
VERSION CONTROL
Permissions can be left open or narrowed down to depart-
ment, project, team, or individual as necessary. You can even
configure external access safely; Secure in the knowledge that
PERMISSION CONTROL your external visitors only have access to what they were given
access to.
All objects in the system have a series of searchable attributes
and notes associated with them that have been configured by
your administration team to include everything your designers
feel is important. Parts and assemblies have a special Save-
DATA REUSE As type function that allows the user to reuse data without
corrupting relationships.
35
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 MODEL MANAGER: MODEL MANAGER BREAKDOWN
INTERFACE BREAKDOWN DATA BREAKDOWN
Model Manager comes in three pieces, generally speaking. First, your interface in Creo Model Manager stores all of your files
Elements/Direct Modeling is altered to accommodate Model Manger. Second, you get a in one large repository. Think of it as a
brand new Workspace window for data management. Third, theres a centralized database software managed network drive without
and a server application on your network that manage the storage and access of all CED subfolders. The local workspace window
hosted data. This guide will cover the first two pieces of Model Manager from the user per- provides a representation of the data sored
spective by describing, from a high level, the interface and capabilities. in that central repository. That view is re-
freshed every 15 minutes (configurable).
BEST PRACTICE: Model Manager is highly configurable and is rarely used for long without
alteration. It excels at matching your preferences and processes. Plan on it.
BEST PRACTICE: Use the Refresh command
to get the latest view of your data before
First, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling gains new right-click menus, file management
making critical decisions with data thats
menus, a new DB Attributes Browser, a new Model Manager tab and matching toolbar (View
being manipulated by multiple designers.
Toolbars), and most visibly gains bracket symbols [ ] to the right of each object in the
Structure Browser. The Model Manager information is displayed in the Structure Browser as
From Creo Elements/Direct, a refresh
Name [MajorRev.MinorRev] Status.
will show you a status message to the right
of your model name. Youll see things like
New, Up-to-date, Locally modified, and Con-
flict. From the right-click menu you can
choose to reload, save, or resolve data
differences as needed.
Second, the interface for the workspace window of Model Manager is very similar to
Creo Elements/Direct. It has a quick access toolbar, ribbon UI, and a Details Panel on the
The default method for file storage is
left where the Structure Browser would be. The main viewport, now Information Panel,
the 3D Data format provided by Creo Ele-
shows information specific to each tab of the Workspace Bar rather than your 3D models.
ments/Direct. Its a very flexible format
The workspace acts as your window
and offers direct access to part and assem-
to data management outside of
bly files. There is only one data source per
Creo Elements/Direct.
part or assembly. All iterations of the same Tip: Create new packets (envelopes) to organize
part or assembly are simply references to
1) Quick Access Toolbar
the original. (This is contrary to package
2) Ribbon UI files where the same source data might be
found in two different files)
3) Workspace Bar
4) Quick Search If you have an assembly with four
unique parts in it, then the CED format will
5) Details Panel
produce six files.
6) Info Panel One assembly instance. *.sda
One assembly contents. *.sdac
Four part contents. *.sdpc
Model Manager
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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
ORGANIZATION BREAKDOWN
The default method for data organiza-
tion is through the use of save/search/
load. All data resides in one place and you
must fish for what you need through the
use of search strings and attribute hooks.
<EnablePackets>true</EnablePackets>
Beyond save/search/load, the primary
method for organizing, controlling, and
sharing your data is through the use of
Packets. Your administrator must turn
Packets on through the XML configuration
file.
Packets are used to control and or-
ganize data within and send data outside
of your PDM system. Once implemented,
Packets change the typical workflow in
Model Manager.
Nothing can be created, modified, or
deleted unless its in a packet. Think of a
packet as an envelope. Each user has their
own envelope (or mailbox). You cant open
someone else's mail and they cant open
yours. However, for collaboration, you can
send envelopes to whoever you need.
your data into groups (mailboxes). Logically label
them according to project, design phase, etc.
<EnableProjects>false</EnableProjects>
Projects and Folders offer a logical
organization and permission control of data
based on container ownership. These
methods are provided for backwards com-
patibility only. Theyre off by default. One
major deficiency in Projects is that you can-
not assign roles or permissions directly to
Folders.
36
 MODEL MANAGER: SEARCH AND LOAD
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

SEARCHING LOAD OPTIONS fiable Items, Non Modifiable Items, Full

Search for information in your workspace window
for Model Manager or the File Open From Model Man-
ager dialogue from CED. Use the quick search function
or use the main search interface. Switch to the main
search interface in Model Manger by clicking the Search tab in the Workspace Bar.
If youre not using the Project, Folder, and Packet functionality,
searching is your only method for finding data. There is no browsing
other than any lists youve created; Recent List and Favorites.
The quick search includes the Name, Version, and Data Class of
the objects in the database. Results are presented in the Information
Panel below your Workspace Bar.
A full search can be executed from the Search tab in the Work-
space Bar. First, choose your data type. Then, youll see a set of at-
tributes associated with your data type. Your top 1000 search results
(or fewer) will appear in the Information Panel. Search options, object
preview, and details are available in the Detail Panel as you click
through your results.
You can run similar searches from the File Open From Model
Manager dialogue from Creo Elements/Direct.
Single select or multi-select your mod-
els from the Recent List, Favorites, or Open
dialogue. Load from your search results by
right-click, double click, or ribbon UI. All
roads lead to the same pop-up dialogue.
Having chosen your files, the Load
Options Dialogue allows you to more specif-
ically decide which versions, structure
members, and level of geometry you want
to load. In most cases, you could likely
forgo any further specification and simply
click Load when this dialogue appears. The
defaults will load your files at the highest
revision with full geometry.
Geometry, Lightweight Model, or Partial
(structure only). Notice that you can alter
each individual item in the list by clicking
the dropdown arrow next to the object icon.
Masterdata is a meta-placeholder for
all models, drawings, supporting docu-
ments, and BoM data for a specific manu-
factured instance. Masterdata is helpful
when you have a part or assembly repre-
sented by more than one drawing or docu-
ment. Its also helpful when you have one
document that needs to be attached to
many drawings. Picture a part thats cast
and molded in different colors with differ-
ent logos. When more than one master
data exists you can select between them
from the masterdata column. This will load
the geometry and attach the information
stored with the alternate masterdata.

Navigate the assembly structure by

using the plus/minus icons on the left side
of the table.

Load Rules and Revision column. The

Load rules are As Stored, Highest Revi-
sions, or Highest Released Revisions. De-
fault is Highest Revision. Make your rule
selection to alter the entire list, but note
The Options submenu allows you to
that you can still make changes to the Revi-
configure the way loading takes place.
sion column individually as needed.
Your selections are saved and will carry
TIP: You can use ? as a single character and * as a general wildcard in searches. from session to session.
Use the Filter to scrub the list for Modi-
TIP: Save your complex searches so you can run them again later.

Model Manager 37
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 MODEL MANAGER: SAVE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

SAVING DATA CONFLICTS

You can save data from several interface options. You Model Manager identifies potential problems before they happen. Without Model
can use the Model Manger tab inside Creo Elements/Direct Manager these conflicts are usually left undetected until they become a major issue. The
(CED) ribbon. You can use the File Save to Model Manag- two types of conflicts are Name and SysID.
er command from CED. Right-click your model in the Struc-
ture Browser for model manger save options. Use the model manger toolbar (View A Name conflict occurs when someone attempts to save a model into Model Manager
Toolbars). All roads lead to the same pop-up dialogue. that has the same name, but different SysID of a model that already exists in Model Man-
ager. If it were a historical revision of the same part, it would have the same name and
The Save Options Dialogue allows you to the same SysID.
specify save type, name, whether or not to
create thumbnails, search, and filter. In most There are several ways to resolve a name conflict through the numerous methods to
cases, you could likely forgo any further rename parts and assemblies. The Auto Number Generator can even help you avoid the
specification and simply click Save when this issue altogether. If parts are set-up to use the Auto Number Generator, no duplicates
dialogue appears. Understanding your op- occur. When they do occur, the name conflict resolution wizard can suggest a resolution
tions will help you decide when thats the for you. You can also use the wizard to enable a renaming rule to batch resolve a collec-
case and when its not. tion of similar conflicts.

The name value synchronizes with the A SysID conflict occurs when you have a model in session from outside Model Manag-
Model Name attribute in Modeling. It er that has the same SysID and name as a model already stored in Model Manager. This
NOTE: If youve configured the number generator, usually happens when you load data from the hard drive while working with Model Manag-
can be set in the part properties, but if
use the button to get the next number. Each er data.
you dont set it Model Manager will
subsequent click will increase the number by the
use the instance name. Youre given
configured value. With a SysID conflict you can assign a new SysID to the object in session, replace your
the opportunity to change the name in
the save dialogue. This will be auto- conflicting local data with Model Manager data, or replace Model Manager data with your
populated if using a number generator. local information. You should very rarely ever need to replace Model Manager data with
your local information. If your session information is truly a newer revision of the existing
Toggle the binocular icon to highlight or un-highlight table entries based on their status Model Manager data, you should use the Make Version command rather than overwriting
as modified items or new entries. Use the filter capability to scrub your table for modified any data.
items or new entries.
Likewise, you should rarely use the Continue to Save option when you run into a con-
There are four different Set Save Types. They will alter the versioning method across flict during a save operation. Investigate the conflict unless youre absolutely certain of
all entries in your table. Note that you can still make individual changes even after selecting the issue and the impact of saving into Model Manager.
a Set Save Type. Major Rev ALL Items will assume you want to go up one major revision for
everything being saved regardless of its change status. Minor Rev MODIFIED Items (the
Default) will add to your version history one minor revision level for every modified item in BEST PRACTICE: SysID conflicts can also happen when storing package file data into
your save table. Major Rev MODIFIED Items will do the same but bump the major revision Model Manager for the first time and when re-using data by making a copy and
level. Overwrite MODIFIED Items doesnt create a new revision. It overwrites the last revi- renaming it.
sion with your new data. The Assign new SysID to local model command should be used any time new
data is introduced into the system or copied from existing data. This will prevent
ALERT: If you're using Packets, you can NOTE: You can now save a full structure by
corruptions and confusion down the road.
not overwrite unless the data is in a saving the highest member. Lower members
packet you own. are automatically saved with the parent.

Model Manager 38
Back to Table of Contents
 MODEL MANAGER: BOMS, VERSIONING, AND INSEPERABLE OBJECTS
BILL OF MATERIAL EDITOR
The Bill of Material (BoM) Editor is a separately licensed add-on module for Model Man-
ager. It can construct a BoM from the product structures housed in Model Manager. The
use of the BoM Editor doesnt require Creo Elements/Direct (CED). You can therefore rele-
gate BoM Editor responsibilities outside of design engineering.
The BoM Editor uses masterdata information. Alternative masterdata entries can be
used to build different BoMs so that multiple products can be made without needing to du-
plicate the design. To create masterdata, right click on your assembly and select Scan from
the context menu. You can also find Scan under the Structure tab in the BoM group.
Once you have masterdata to work with, use the BoM Editor command from the same
right click context menu. You can also find the BoM Editor command under the Structure
tab in the BoM group. From the BoM editor, you can add non-modeled parts like solder,
paint, or lubricants. You can add spare and documentation items. You can also add pro-
cess specific tools or materials for manufacturing.
The first time an item is added in this fashion, you will likely need to use the New Mas-
terdata command. An item that already has masterdata can be added with the Existing
Masterdata command. Compare BoMs between versions or assemblies by using the Com-
pare BoMs command.
Generate custom BoM reports from the Tools menu with the Generate Reports com-
mand. You can create flat, consolidated, and structured BoM reports. Include, exclude,
show, and hide parts as necessary for your reports. You can explode an assembly structure
using the Phantom option (uses the parts but not assembly structure) or define Inseparable
assembly structures that should be treated as a single part rather than an assembly. Add
or remove custom fields for the report like Effectivity or Options. Save all this back to your
masterdata as a Con-
figuration so you dont
need to repeat the
effort as things change.
You can also use the
Send To command to
export a BoM to HTML,
MS Excel, CSV, Annota-
tion, Drafting, and Mod-
eling.
Model Manager
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
VERSIONING
Versioning can be found in Creo Elements/Direct (CED) on
the Structure tab under the Part & Assembly group. Companies
dont always model every component that they use internally.
Theyll often send models out for revision, be contracted to work
on a section of another design in progress, or themselves sub-
contract a section of a design to someone who doesnt use Creo
Elements/Direct. This situation can create major disturbances
in the design process as each participant revises their section of
the design.
The main issue being resolved for CED has to do with the
Model ID. Any time you load an imported model, its viewed
as a new model and assigned a new Model ID. Therefore,
you would need to manually re-integrate the new version into
your design. As far as Model Manager is concerned, two dif-
ferent Model IDs means two different parts.
Use Make Version to load and version the original part or assembly. This is where you
might take a model from a vendor or contractor thats done work on something youve
already integrated into your design.
INSEPARABLE OBJECTS
Also in CED, you can Create Inseperable objects from the
Inseperable dropdown under the Structure tab in the Part & As-
sembly group. Inseperable objects are created from assemblies
that need to be represented in BoMs as a single part. For exam-
ple, you may have a welded assembly that is actually several
parts but is purchased as and needs to be listed as a single part
in the BoM.
The Inseperable object will appear as a single part in subsequent BoM scans and ap-
pear in the Structure Browser with a distinctive red circle next to the assembly and part
icons. See the Structure Browser icons in the appendix for examples. Reverse your chang-
es with the Separate command.
The Bill of Material Editor in Model Manager can also flag objects as inseperable and
reverse the change during the generation of a BoM report. The settings can be saved as a
Configuration and reused as the BoM progresses through design.
39
 PLATFORM SUPPORT
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Creo Elements/Direct 18.1 Model Manager 18.1 Client

Operating System Windows 7 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional Operating System Windows 7 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional
Windows 7 64-bit Editions: Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional Windows Vista 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise
Windows Vista 32-bit Editions: Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise Windows XP Professional
Windows Vista 64-bit Editions: Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise
Windows XP Professional
System Memory (RAM) Minimum: 512MB
Windows XP Professional x64
CPU Intel Pentium (III, 4, M, D)
System Memory (RAM) Minimum: 1GB
Intel Xenon
Recommended: 2GB or more
Intel Celeron
Very large assemblies: 64-bit processor with 6GB or more
Intel Core
CPU Intel Pentium (III, 4, M, D) AMD Athelon
Intel Xenon AMD Opteron
Intel Celeron Note: Support for single and multi-core CPUs.
Intel Core
Optical Drive DVD
AMD Athelon
AMD Opteron Hard Disk Space During DVD Installation: 3GB
Note: Support for single and multi-core CPUs. Minimum: 300MB
Video Display Minimum: 1024x768
Note: Available dual monitor support
Workstations Available certified/supported workstations from different partners.
Model Manager 18.1 Server
http://www.ptc.com/partners/hardware/current/support.htm
Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Edition
Optical Drive DVD Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Standard and Enterprise
Windows Server 2003 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Standard and Enterprise
Hard Disk Space During DVD Installation: 3GB
Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional
Minimum: 2GB
Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit Editions of Ultimate, Enterprise, and Business
License Server At least one Create Elements/Direct License Server is required Windows XP Professional 32-bit and 64-bit Editions
locally or within a network to host and maintain licenses for Creo
System Memory (RAM) Minimum: 2GB (1-20 Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager clients)
Elements/Direct 18 products
Optical Drive DVD
Virtual Machines Creo Elements/Direct Modeling 18.1 is not tested or certified on
virtual machines such as Microsoft VirtualPC or VMware products. Hard Disk Space During DVD Installation: 3GB
Minimum: 18GB
License Server At least one Creo Elements/Direct License Server is required locally or within a
network to host and maintain licenses for Creo Elements/Direct 18 products.

Virtual Machines Creo Elements/Direct Model Manager client and server are not tested or certi-
Platform support information is kept up-to-date by PTC at fied on virtual machines such as Microsoft VirtualPC or VMware products.

http://www.ptc.com/partners/hardware/current/support.htm Additional Information For specific, detailed system requirements please refer to
http://www.ptc.com/partners/hardware/current/creo-elements-direct-

Appendix A: Support 40
Back to Table of Contents
 TECHNICAL SUPPORT
PTC TECHNICAL SUPPORTPHONE CREATING A PTC ACCOUNT
PTC can be contacted via the phone for technical support and license management in In order to access PTC web support,
local time zones and local languages. Support outside of the Monday-Friday business hours users are required to create an account.
is provided only in English. If youre current on maintenance and unless you made an addi- This can be done by accessing the PTC
tional investment in PTC support, youre a Gold-level support customer. As such, you will website at www.ptc.com and clicking the
receive phone support 24x5 during the workweek. GOLDplus customers get the addition of Login link. From there click the Create
weekend support for critical issues. Platinum support customers receive continuous 24x7 Basic Account link and follow the dialogue.
phone support.
United States and Canada Technical Support (800) 477-6435 NOTE: Signing up for a basic account will only give
United States and Canada Customer Care (877) ASK-4-PTC (877-275-4782) you access to basic functionality at PTCs website.
To gain access commensurate with your purchas-
PTC TECHNICAL SUPPORTWEB
es, it will be necessary to upgrade the account.
PTC provides a wealth of tools and information on the web. First, you need to have a
PTC account. Once thats in place, you may need to upgrade the account based on your UPGRADING A PTC ACCOUNT
customer information. PTC provides a knowledge base, case logger, case tracker, SPR Upgrade a basic account through the
Tracker, subscriptions, and more for your web based technical support needs. Upgrade to a Customer Support Web Ac-
count link and dialogue. Upgrading ena-
bles access to tools such as logging and
tracking calls, software downloads, and
searching the Knowledge Base.
Case Logger
BEST PRACTICE: The following are required in order
PTCs Support Website
to successfully upgrade a basic account.
http://www.ptc.com/support/ 1. Customer Number
2. Service Contract Number (SCN) or
Sales Order Number (SON)
To find out how to obtain the customer number,
SCN, and SON, refer to the Frequently Asked
Questions page for Licensing on the PTC website
by searching for the key word: PTC Order and
License Support FAQ.
CASE LOGGER
Create a new case to document a sin-
gle issue through the web or phone and a
case number is generated for you. Subse-
quent emails, phone calls, file references,
and all other records are tied to your case
number. Find the Case Logger on the PTC
support web site while logged-in.
Appendix A: Support
Back to Table of Contents
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
CASE TRACKER
The Case Tracker allows customers to
view the status of a case, see whos as-
signed to the case, view history, and upload
additional files. This is also where youd
escalate a case if necessary. Escalation will
push the call up to a technical support man-
ager.
SPR TRACKER
A software performance report (SPR)
documents an issue that requires a soft-
ware correction due to a bug or problem
with the current software version and date-
code. An SPR can be generated if multiple
call numbers or customers refer to a single
issue. The SPR Tracker allows a customer
to track the status and resolution of an
SPR.
PTC/USER SUBSCRIPTIONS
PTC/User is a free, dedicated forum for
the PTC user community. Share infor-
mation, tips and tricks, and issues with oth-
er users across the globe. Its a great site to
ask questions, receive answers, and discuss
multiple PTC-related topics.
http://www.ptcuser.org
COCREATE USER FORUM
The forum was originally sponsored by
the CoCreate Americas User Group which
has since dissolved. The main site hasnt
been updated since 2003, but the user
forums are still active. They provide a his-
torical archive and current conversations.
http://www.cocreateusers.org/forum
41
 CREO ELEMENTS/DIRECT SHORTCUTS
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS MOUSE BEHAVIOR

F1 Help on Current Context Ctrl+Z Undo One Left-Click Single select
F2 Open Selection Menu Ctrl+Y Redo One Start selection window (while dragging mouse)
Selection list: Toggle selection list membership
F3 Toggle Global Axis Ctrl+Q Hide/Show Open Menus
Middle-Click Ok/complete command (when mouse is still)
F4 Toggle 3D Hidden Edges Visibility Ctrl+X Cut Selection to Clipboard Dynamic rotate (while dragging mouse)
F5 Toggle 3D Geometry Visibility Ctrl+C Copy Selection to Clipboard Right-Click Pop-up context sensitive menu (when mouse is still)
F6 Toggle 3D Shaded/Wireframe View Ctrl+V Paste Selection Contents Dynamic pan (while dragging mouse)

F7 Toggle Workplane Borders Visibility Ctrl+N New Session Shift+Left-Click Select list start/resume

F8 Toggle Local Workplane Axis Visibility Ctrl+O Open Load Dialogue Window Shift+Middle-Click Dynamic pan (while dragging mouse)

F11 Toggle Full Screen for Current Viewport Ctrl+S Open Save Dialogue Window Shift+Right-Click Pop-up menu with catch, select, and show options

F12 Toggle Structure Browser Ctrl+F Opens Search/Filter Dialogue from Structure Browser Ctrl+Left-Click Dynamic pan (while dragging mouse)
Ctrl+Middle-Click Dynamic rotate (while dragging mouse)
ANNOTATION APPLICATION KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Ctrl+H Hide elements Shift+F5 Toggle sketched geometry Ctrl+Right-Click Dynamic zoom (while dragging mouse)
Shift+F11 Show template browser
Ctrl+U Unhide elements Shift+F7 Toggle vertexes Alt+Middle-Click Over a face: New workplane on face then start Line/Arc
Shift+F12 Show drawing browser
Shift+F4 Toggle tangent lines Shift+F10 Toggle update colors Shift+Alt+Middle-Click Over planar face: Move face by typed distance
Shift+Alt+Left-Click Over planar face: Move face by From point and To point
2D COPILOT SHORTCUTS VIEWPORT SHORTCUTS
R Relative measurement Space Open command specific mini toolbar DIALOGUE BOX
B Create a bend (arc) Shift+Space Toggle command dialogue box STRUCTURE BROWSER SHORTCUTS CONVERSIONS

Z Undo the last 2D command Delete Delete selected 2D and 3D elements Left Click Select a single item Length Units

Shift Suspend snapping Tab Initiate or cycle to next selection method in Ctrl+Left Click Select multiple items um, mm, cm, m, km, uin, mil,
sequence starting from initially highlighted face inch, foot, yard mile
I Ignore a snap Left Click and Hold Drag and drop
Angle Units
L Toggle snap locking Shift+Middle Click Expand or collapse select-
Shift+Tab Initiate or cycle to previous selection method in deg, rad, grd
ed object
Delete Clear catch memory sequence starting from initially highlighted face
(Boss/Pocket, Rib, Slot, Boss, and Pocket) Right-Click Display context-sensitive Angle Degrees to Decimal
PgUp Increase adaptive grid size
menu Degrees:Minutes:Seconds
Ctrl+Tab Activate probe selection
PgDn Decrease adaptive grid size
Double-Click Apply selection Math
Arrow keys Rotate view by 45
Home Reset adaptive grid
Right-Click Apply Apply selection +, -, *, /, sin, cos, tan, asin,
Shift+Arrow keys Rotate view by 3
Shift+Ctrl Snap to center acos, atan, sqrt, exp, PI
Ctrl+Arrow keys Pan view
floor(n), ceil(n), ^ (power)

Appendix B: Creo Elements/Direct Shortcuts 42

Back to Table of Contents
 STRUCTURE BROWSER ICONS
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

OBJECTS ANNOTATION FEATURES MACHINING MODULE

Part Drawing Feature Stepped Hole
Assembly Sheet Part group Countersunk Partially Toleranced Through Hole

Container View updated using Econofast mode Fixed or variable 3D annota- Countersunk Through Hole
tion group Counterbored Through Hole
Stock/finish relation View updated using Graphics mode
GD&T datum Counterbored Through Hole with Chamfers
Workplane View updated
GD&T tolerance Threaded Hole
Workplane set Viewnot updated
Applied taper feature Partially Threaded Through Hole
Face part Viewerror
Not applied taper feature Partially Threaded Blind Hole
Flat viewupdated
Wire frame part (3D curve)
Clipping feature Flat Blind Hole
Flat viewnot updated
Coordinate system
Flat viewerror Countersunk Partially Toleranced Flat Blind Hole
3D view set of an Annotation drawing
OLE object Countersunk Partially Toleranced Blind Hole
3D view of an Annotation drawing
Sketch Countersunk Flat Blind Hole
3D docuplane set
Modified CLASH ANALYSIS Countersunk Blind Hole
3D docuplane
Frame Up-to-date Blind Hole
Multi-section
Shared viewupdated Out-of-date
Part loaded with the lightweight option
Shared viewnot updated Invalid
selected
Shared viewerror Partially loaded or lightweight
Configuration
subject or undefined VERSIONS
Section line
Detail border Assembly which is a version of an original
STATUS
Cutaway border Part which is a version of an original
Modified INSEPARABLE
Picture Container which is a version of an original
Locked
Inseparable assembly Workplane which is a version of an original
Multiple versions of a part loaded
PARTIALLY LOADED Inseparable container Workplane set which is a version of an original
Shared part
Inseparable face part Face part which is a version of an original
Shared assembly Partial assembly
Inseparable part Wire frame part which is a version of an original
Selective instance Partial part
Inseparable stock/finish relation Partially loaded objects are displayed with the
Untouchabledue to open references Partial container
Inseparable wire part same icons shown in the partially loaded ob-
the object cannot be modified Partial workplane
Inseparable workplane
Open references Partial workplane set
Inseparable workplane set

Appendix C: Structure Browser Icons 43

Back to Table of Contents
 QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR, RIBBON, PROMPT, AND USER INPUT LINE
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

User Input Line. Several commands within Creo Elements/Direct

Quick Access Toolbar. Located in the upper left hand corner of the
will require keyboard input to complete without a dedicated
interface, it provides quick access to frequently-used commands.
dialogue box. Also, when drawing in 2D, you can enter coordi-
You can customize it by adding, removing and reordering commands
nates instead of clicking on the viewport. Use the U,V syntax
(buttons and groups) to it. Right-click any command from the com-
with each coordinate separated by a comma. To specify several
mand search or ribbon UI to add them to the Quick Access Toolbar.
coordinates, separate each with a space.
Enter a command name to start that command. For exam-
ple, type LINE to start the Line command. You can also set
The Ribbon UI is an interface style where a set of toolbars are placed
and retrieve variable values using setf (S E T F) and the variable
on tabs in a tab bar at the top of the screen. Each tab in the ribbon
name. For example, setf a 20 will make the variable a equal
contains icon commands that are organized into groups. This is also
to the number 20. Typing the variable name into the User
where youll see new colored tabs appear as modules and applica-
Input Line is the same as typing its value. Note: String values
tions need them.
must be contained in double quotes.
The ribbon UI provides an efficient layout for modeling
commands. The most frequently used commands are displayed in
large icons. Less common commands are displayed with smaller
icons. Uncommonly used commands are grouped into submenus
Settings. Most command groups provide a settings button that provides quick ac-
within each section of the ribbon.
cess to a dialogue for those system settings that are related to that command group.
These same settings can also be accessed from the Settings menu located in the
File tab.
Functional Areas Divided Into Tabs

Closely Related Command Groups

Utilities Command Group Is
commonly located on all but the
Prompt Bar. By default, displayed in the status bar on the bottom left corner of the interface. It provides general feedback, mes-
View and Application tabs. It
sages, and guidance. It can be removed from the Status Bar as its own entity using the Ribbon ViewToolbarsPrompt Bar.
provides quick access to several
frequently used utilities.

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown 44

Back to Table of Contents
STRUCTURE BROWSER, CATCH TOOLBAR, AND STATUS BAR
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Structure Browser lists all currently loaded 3D objects and elements and shows their interrelationships through its hierarchal structure. You can control the display of 3D objects and ele-
ments using the check box next to each one. You can also expand and collapse the hierarchy as needed with the plus and minus symbols. The structure browser has a details display
option toggled by the blue table icon located just below the Structure Browser tab icon. This alternate view will show a context sensitive list of properties. The browser area will also house
new tabs like the Template Browser, Drawing Browser, and DB Attributes Browser as your active modules and applications that require a browser. Its located on the left pane of the inter-
face but can be undocked and moved about.

Search and Filter icons will pop-up a dialogue

used to find, filter, and display items from the
Structure Browser based on your criteria.

Catch Toolbar can be activated from the View tab or by clicking

the Catch icon on the Status Bar. It controls the settings for your 2D
and 3D snaps with three unique groups of settings.
Next Catch settings only apply to the very next caught entity. It
returns to default settings after the next catch operation.
Default 2D and Default 3D refer to the default behavior in 2D
mode and 3D mode for your next catch and every subsequent opera-
tion. Take care when making changes to these settings as they can
have a drastic impact on the 2D and 3D modeling environments.

Status Bar is found on the lower right hand section of the main interface. It
shows the alert history, current workplane, part, and settings for Catch and Quick Viewport Settings. From left to
Units. Also shows pre-selection focus, quick viewport settings, and a "previous right the viewport commands are Full
application" switch. Configurable on right-click. Screen, Window, Last View, and Fit.

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown 45

Back to Table of Contents
FILE TAB
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

File Tab is a unique tab providing the applications most intrinsic commands. It pro-
vides load and save functionality, database access, print capability, and customiza-
tion.

New Session will wipe all objects from your current environment and start
fresh. There is no Close option so a New Session is the best way to start anew other
than closing and reopening the application. Open, Save, and Print work much like
youd expect from any other Windows based application with the exceptions of CAD
specific nuances such as, opening a myriad of CAD data formats with extensible
translation capabilities. Also, saving data out selectively to different file formats.
The interaction with different data storage methods might also be a little different
than Windows users may be use to, but the concept is the same New, Open, Save,
and Print.

Edit file will open the selected file in a separate text editor. The Modules sec-
tion is where youll make adjustments to which modules, applications, and interfaces
are active in your environment. Some of these options will require licenses beyond
the standard, but thats clearly indicated in the dialogue.

Use Settings to tweak how your various functional areas look and operate while
Customize will get into extensive toolbar, pop-up, and keyboard modifications. Op-
tions is where you make modifications to the Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon UI, and
Toolbox is an empty menu your Command Mini Toolbars.
that you can use to place
your frequently-used com- Finally, search for any command in the interface with your command finder at
mands. You can drag this the bottom of the File tab. Results will be displayed in a list which replaces the rest
menu item to any toolbar of your File tab options while youre searching. You can right-click results to add
or to the top menu bar them to your Quick Access Toolbar or execute directly. Take note that the command
itself in order to get faster finder search text looks in the command description as well as the command name.
access to the Toolbox
buttons.

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown 46

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 MODELING, STRUCTURE, AND FEATURE TABS
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Modeling Tab contains most of your 2D and 3D object creation and manipulation tools. Youll need to start with a workplane and a 2D profile to create 3D geometry, so those tools are available
on this tab in the New and Draw groups. The 2D CoPilot will help streamline 2D profile creation. Tweak your 2D profile with commands from the Modify 2D group. Once you Pull some geometry,
shape it with your intuitive 3D CoPilot and/or use the Model and Modify 3D commands. Round or Chamfer your edges or put your final Tapers in place with the Engineering group.

Structure Tab. Through the use of different types of containers, the Structure Tab offers faster assembly manipulation, complex feature intelligence storage, helper object creation, and even a
special container to store different assembly positions for your process drawings. Everything you would need to organize and prepare for assembly management and documentation. The Struc-
ture Tab also introduces the concepts of part and assembly sharing and instancing to capitalize on reuse. Your more advanced workplane commands are found here too. Some of the com-
mands in the Modeling tab and 3D Geometry tabs may require you to use the more advanced workplane tools found here.

Feature Tab. The Feature tab organizes your parts. While Creo Elements/Direct is history free, it may become necessary, and its even recommended in some cases, to organize part history or
design specific elements into containers for future reference. These commands allow you to group faces and other elements together into their own containers. The New Pattern command can
only be executed against certain containers fashioned in this way. Part Group extends beyond the standard feature capability and can contain full parts, assemblies, and other containers. This
tab is also where youll find the Machining operations if youve activated the Machining module. Finally, you have 3D dimensional annotations that can be added to your designs. These basic
Annotation 3D commands are representative of the functionality you see extended in the 3D Documentation Application and can provide dimension features that can also be used as a modifica-
tion reference by the Move 3D command.

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown 47

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 3D GEOMETRY, ANALYSIS, AND VIEW TABS
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3D Geometry Tab contains your basic surfacing commands. You can add 3D curves, splines, and points. Use these to create and modify Face
Parts for complex freeform surfaces. This is also where youd gain access to the Wire Editor if youve activated the Parametrics Application.

Analysis Tab provides Check Part to troubleshoot corrupt parts, Compare Parts to compare geometric and topologic information, and Clash/Interference reports and single evaluations. Youll
also find a comprehensive set of measurement tools here, some of which are repeated in the Utilities command group. Run color coded Draft analyses on your parts and Curve analyses on
your 2D and 3D curves. This is also where youd gain access to Angle and Surface analysis tools if youve activated the Surfacing Module.

View Tab. Many of the view commands are built-in to the interface through the use of shortcut commands. Many, like isometric positioning and center selection, are exclusive to the Viewing
group. Store custom camera views with Edit Camera and cycle through the list with the Next camera and Previous Camera commands. Create custom lighting, create, modify, and cycle through
new viewports, and adjust model shading modes from the View tab. From here you can open or close current and legacy toolbars. The Clipping group provides invaluable visualization tools by
adding methods to cut away model visibility with real-time editing capability. This is also where youd gain access to the Render command if you have the Rendering module active.

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown 48

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APPLICATIONS TAB
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

Applications Tab comes fully loaded with all of the application icons available
for Creo Elements/Direct Modeling. If the application is not active, the icon
will be grayed out. You can activate/deactivate the applications, if you have
access to the proper licenses, from the Modules dialogue box shown below.
You can get to the Modules dialogue box from any of the three settings but-
tons under the Applications tab groups or from File Modules.

Theres also an Previous Application function that switches between your

current application and the previously used application. The icon is located on
the bottom right hand corner of your interface in the Status Bar. The Previous
Application function is not a recognized command that can be found
using the command search, but it can be added elsewhere in the
interface using File Options.

Appendix D: Interface Breakdown 49

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 GLOSSARY
2D Copilot Refers to the automated toolset which provides
the functionality and feedback for creating all 2D geometry
in Creo Elements/Direct Modeling.
3D Copilot Refers to the 3D widgets and functionality pro-
vided by Creo Elements/Direct Modeling to facilitate the
creation of all 3D elements.
Access Control List (ACL) Describes a list of permissions
for a given object or set of objects in a computer file sys-
tem. The ACL dictates who has access as well as what
operations can be executed against an object.
Bill of Material (BoM) In Creo Elements/Direct, a list of sub
assemblies, parts, and the quantities of each as derived
from a given assembly. A final production level BoM may
include additional reference designators, attributes, and
documentation. CED provides tools to derive, modify, and
maintain production level BoMs.
Bundle File (*.bdl) Creo Elements/Direct file type that
ideally includes a 3D model and associated drawing that
have been saved together from the Creo Elements/Direct
Annotation application.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) The use of computer sys-
tems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or
optimization of a design.
Camera Position In Creo Elements/Direct, refers to the
position and orientation of the viewing perspective in a 3D
viewport.
Content File (*.sd*c) Creo Elements/Direct standard file
type that contains the master workplane, part, or assembly
properties, geometry, and topology information.
Creo PTCs newest line of CAD software applications fea-
turing a common data model, common user interface, and
common application framework. The name Creo repre-
sents the software framework along with PTCs develop-
ment path and vision for the future of CAD.
Glossary
Creo Elements/Direct (CED) PTCs direct modeling me-
chanical CAD software. Purchased in 2007 as CoCreate.
Re-branded to Creo Elements/Direct in 2010 as one of the
three core elements that make-up the Creo software
framework.
CED Integration Kit A Creo Elements/Direct tools and doc-
umentation collection provided for the purposes of custom-
izing Creo Elements/Direct and programming add-on appli-
cations on top of Creo Elements/Direct.
Creo Direct (CD) PTCs new stand-alone Direct modeling
software released under the Creo software framework in
2011.
Creo Parametric (CP) PTCs mechanical CAD software re-
leased under the Creo software framework in 2011. His-
torically referred to as Pro/E.
Creo Simulate (CP) PTCs FEA software package released
under the Creo software framework in 2011. Available as
an extension to Creo Parametric or as a standalone appli-
cation. Historically referred to as Mechanica.
Creo View (CV) PTCs viewing and interrogation software
suite released under the Creo software framework in
2011. Historically referred to as ProductView.
Direct Modeling is the history free method of CAD where
objects are manipulated based on existing geometry only;
without conforming to a rigidly controlled design con-
straints system. (see Parametric)
Drawing Browser Creo Elements/Direct Annotations inter-
face element located on the left pane. The drawing brows-
er provides a hierarchical display of object, container, and
relationship information about drawing elements in ses-
sion memory.
Drawlist In Creo Elements/Direct, refers to the list of ob-
jects and elements to be drawn in the 3D viewport. Its
contents can be edited through the use of the check boxes
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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
in the Structure Browser. A separate drawlist is also stored
with each Configuration feature.
Drawing File (*.mi) Creo Elements/Direct Annotation
standard file type for 2D drawings. The files maintain rela-
tionship information about the 3D models referred to by
the associated 2D views in the drawing. The relationship is
maintained on both ends and therefore both files must be
saved after edits to maintain the relationship.
Docuplanes Creo Elements/Direct 3D Documentation
feature represented as a plane in the 3D viewport. Doc-
uplanes provide a position reference for annotations and a
medium for the transfer of annotations from 3D to 2D.
Dynamic Modeling Term originally coined by Hewlett Pack-
ard to describe their method for history free 3D CAD mod-
eling. Later referred to as Direct Modeling.
Environment File (*.env) Creo Elements/Direct standard
file type for the storage of user specific environmental da-
ta. The environment file contains information such as
units, color of 2D geometry, and part and workplane ap-
pearance settings.
Face Part A 3D part that is made-up of individual faces
that do not form a solid body. In Creo Elements/Direct
Modeling, a Face Part becomes a solid body automatically
once the faces converge into a closed shell.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) The process of generating a
computer model that then has theoretical stresses applied
to it for the purposes of deriving the most likely physical
results.
Flexible Modeling Extension (FMX) Refers to a break-
through extension for Creo Parametric that allows a user to
apply Direct modeling modification techniques to geometry
in conjunction with the native parametric environment.
Fluid UI PTCs terminology for the interface of their Creo
suite. Includes a Ribbon UI and Quick Access Toolbar simi-
50
 GLOSSARY
lar to the Microsoft Office Fluent UI, unique mouse naviga-
tion, and a fluid look and feel to the overall colors, layout,
and interface behaviors.
Formations Goodie Creo Elements/Direct Modeling depre-
ciated add-on package provided to create assembly pro-
cess views. Replaced by Configuration features.
GDI Printer Refers to a printer that has built-in support for
the Windows Graphical Device Interface (GDI).
GRANITE Refers to PTCs feature-based interoperability,
3D surface, and 3D solid modeling kernel. Specifically
built to support a robust parametric modeling environment
and data transitions between related software packages.
HP Precision Engineering (HP PE) Hewlett-Packards suite
of mechanical engineering centric CAD software.
HP PE/ME30 Hewlett-Packards mechanical CAD package
introduced in 1986 and transitioned away from in 1995.
Instance File (*.sd*i) Creo Elements/Direct standard file
type for a workplane, part, or assembly that works in con-
junction with a parent Content File. The Instance File con-
tains additional property and position data unique to the
instance, but is dependent upon the Content File for base
information.
Package File (*.pkg) Creo Elements/Direct file type that
potentially stores an entire design; assemblies, parts, and
drawings. Typically used by solo engineers, design groups
using file system storage, and designers who need to cre-
ate a complete design package to be sent to a partner.
The package format is slower to update and comes with
the intrinsic danger of creating multiple copies of data
originally intended to be unique.
Parametric Refers to the concept of a design being com-
pletely value driven; using dimensions and parameters to
rigidly define and control the size and location of features
and components. This is done for the purposes of captur-
Glossary
ing design intent and enabling the easy modification of the
design within those constraints.
Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) As one of the
worlds largest and fastest-growing technology companies,
PTC works with over 27,000 businesses worldwide in a
wide array of manufacturing industries. They help manu-
facturers address the biggest business challenges they
face. PTC provides software solutions for Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM), Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Appli-
cation Lifecycle Management (ALM), Supply Chain Manage-
ment (SCM), and Service Lifecycle Management (SLM).
Pro/Engineer (Pro/E) PTCs parametric mechanical CAD
software. Re-branded to Creo Elements/Pro in 2010 as
one of the three core elements that make-up the Creo soft-
ware framework. Re-branded to Creo Parametric in 2011
and released under the Creo framework.
Product Data Management (PDM) Refers to the use of
software to track and control file data related to product
development. In CAD, a PDM also maintains the integrity
of CAD specific file relationships, version control, and ac-
cess control.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Refers to the use of
software to manage a single source of product information
through its entire lifecycle; from inception to obsolescence.
A PLM integrates people, data, process, and business sys-
tems to provide a software backbone for product develop-
ment companies. PLM systems typically have a wide range
of functionality thats uniquely configured to meet the indi-
vidual needs of each production environment they support.
A PLM system is generally defined as providing multi-CAD
product data management, varying degrees of embedded
visualization, distributed collaboration capabilities, docu-
ment management, BoM management, configurable pro-
cess workflows, change management, and configuration
management. Many PLM systems start with these capabil-
ities and scale well beyond them as needed.
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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
ProductView PTCs viewing and interrogation software
suite. Re-branded to Creo Elements/View in 2010 as one
of the three core elements that make-up the Creo software
framework. Re-branded to Creo View in 2011 and re-
leased under the Creo framework.
Quick Access Toolbar Coined by Microsoft to refer to one
of their user interface elements, the phrase refers to a
customizable toolbar on the upper left corner of an applica-
tion that houses frequently used command icons and
groups of the same.
Ribbon UI Describes a major software interface element
where virtually all toolbars and menus are placed in a se-
ries of narrow tabs that span the top of the window. Each
tab in the ribbon contains command icons that are orga-
nized into functional groups and arranged according to
frequency of use. These command groupings are fully con-
figurable in most environments. The Ribbon UI element is
commonly recognized as part of Microsofts Fluent UI re-
leased with their Office suite.
Session FIle (*.ses) Creo Elements/Direct file type meant
for a fast and easy saving of all current data. Theyre used
for temporary storage of projects in progress typically out-
side of a PDM system. The session file saves all parts,
assemblies, workplanes, workplane sets, and all environ-
ment settings.
Structure Browser Creo Elements/Direct Modeling inter-
face element located on the left pane. The structure
browser provides a hierarchical display of object, contain-
er, and relationship information for 3D elements in session
memory.
Template Browser Creo Elements/Direct interface element
located on the left pane. The template browser provides
clear display of stored templates of design symbols, regis-
tered sketches, and registered texts that can be added as
3D and 2D annotation elements within the active session.
51