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Practical guides on automating 3D to 2D work with AI.
Inventor 3 min read
How to export DXF and PDF from Inventor with a script, and why SaveCopyAs fails
Batch export from Inventor drawings fails in ways that name nothing. The DXF translator needs an ini file, the PDF needs the right context and all colours set to black, and orphan documents kill the next export. A working VBScript and a table of failures.
DXF 2 min read
How to measure the real width of a text in a DXF with ezdxf
ezdxf's bounding box underestimates text width by up to 44%, and a checker built on the same box reported zero overflows on 147 cells with the note sticking out. The font-based measurement that works, and the rule of one measuring function for placing, framing and testing.
Inventor 4 min read
Inventor API errors and what they really mean: err 5, 429, 0x80080005, Unspecified error
Inventor's COM errors rarely name the real cause, and some calls succeed while doing nothing. A reference of the errors and silent failures we met automating Inventor 2025 from scripts, with the cause and the fix for each.
Inventor 3 min read
How to add balloons to an Inventor assembly drawing with the API
Inventor's auto-balloon is not in the API, and balloon numbers are BOM items, not your part codes. How we put delivery codes in balloons, the placement rules measured on a drawing a designer approved, text height per view scale, and the save that rolled the file back.
Inventor 3 min read
How to choose the base view orientation for STEP parts in Inventor drawings
Bodies from a STEP file sit at any angle, and the obvious view mappings fail. Two methods that work in Inventor 2025, measuring three trial views and straightening the body with a matrix, plus the camera trick that gives wrong but plausible dimensions.
Inventor 5 min read
How to manage dimension styles in Inventor with scripts and AI: library, template, API
You change the dimension style in the template and nothing happens. Inventor keeps styles in three places, the API exposes only part of them, and some properties fail without an error. Where styles really live, what the API can and cannot set, and the procedure that works in Inventor 2025.
Inventor 3 min read
How to dimension holes and overall sizes in Inventor drawings with the API
Automatic dimensions do not work on STEP solids, so an AI agent has to place them itself. How to find the extreme points with geometry intents, why circles reported zero holes, how to keep dimensions from overlapping, and the dimensioning rules a shop actually accepts.
Inventor 3 min read
How to get a flat pattern from a STEP solid in Inventor with the API
A bent plate from a STEP file is a dumb solid with no sheet-metal data. The four API lines that turn it into a sheet-metal part and unfold it, the test that tells a real bend from a flat plate, and the flat view that silently draws the folded part instead.
Inventor 3 min read
How to fill the Inventor title block from a spreadsheet automatically
AddTitleBlock with prompt strings returns success and leaves every field empty. Most title block fields are property fields that read the model's iProperties. Set the iProperties on the part, update the drawing, and read the register with the invariant culture. The working iLogic code and the traps.
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