Perimeter / Boundary Lines

[Netminder]

I am looking for the capability to darken the perimeter / boundary line of an assembly drawing to add the depth that you find in drawings associated with technical manuals. In AutoCAD Mechanical I select the perimeter / boundary lines and just set them as a different layer with a greater line thickness.

The difficulty in Inventor 2010 is that I want only the perimeter / boundary (think of this as the edges of the drawing that contact the background or drawing "sheet") to change along with whatever free rotation I decide to import the assembly into the drawing.

The end result is that the assembly "pops" of the page.

Is this something simple that I am just overlooking or is it something complicated that I haven't yet learned?

Thanks!

[MarkFlayler]

Questions:

Are you putting these in Technical Manuals for just a view of the assembly or the entire print? (If you are placing in just a view for a manual you can use an Illustrative style in Studio to accomplish what you want)

Have you tried clicking on the lines individually and then right clicking to get properties, this will take some time but should give you what you want. Realistically, if you are not putting these in manuals you should not need to do this, so refer to my first suggestion.

[shift1313]

the outter edge usually comes out thicker when working with .idw files. are you looking to do this in an assembly or actually make exploded view models?

[Netminder]

First of all, I attempted to attach a sample drawing but kept getting an "invalid file" error.

Next. While for the most part our drawings go to in-house manufacturing shops we also compile catalogues to "wow' our clients. True, the bolder edge is not really necessary but I think we all are drawing in Inventor because at heart we are aesthetes and consider our drawings art as well as illustration.

Why else would we spend so much time on a website with a cool fish in the corner?

Prior to printing the drawings the border lines do look a bit heavier on the screen but when printed they are the same thickness as the corresponding non-bordering lines.

Again, not a necessity but would look good.

Thanks!

[MarkFlayler]

Would this wow them? This is an animation I did in Inventor Studio with Illustrative Rendering:

 

You can also do stills obviously.

[shift1313]

There is also a presentation file or .ipn file that lets you do exploded views with trace lines. You can animate screws to rotate as they enter your parts.

 

here is a quick file i made showing you the animation with trace lines.

 

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/maperez/Explosion1_2.zip

[JD Mather]

In AutoCAD Mechanical I select the perimeter / boundary lines and just set them as a different layer with a greater line thickness.

 

You can do the same thing in Inventor. Simply RMB and change Properties.