Finding Your Way in the Inventor Interface - Autodesk Inventor 2010: No Experience Required - page 37

Overconstrained Dimensions When we discuss applying dimensions and con-
straints to sketches in future exercises, you'll learn that Inventor won't allow
a sketch to be “overconstrained.” Constraining a sketch means that you apply
controls to the movement of points in a sketch and to the size of a sketch.
When Inventor detects a redundant or unnecessary constraint, this option
defi nes whether Inventor automatically places a reference dimension or
prompts you for what to do.
Display When beginning a new sketch, you may or may not want to see grid
lines. Some users feel the grid helps them keep the proportions of the sketch
more accurately. Minor gridlines are smaller gridlines that appear between the
primary ones. The axes are thicker lines that cross through the center of the
sketch on the X and Y axes.
Edit Dimension When Created Selecting this check box causes Inventor to prompt
you for the value of a dimension as soon as it's placed it in a sketch. This can be
helpful for remembering to apply the values for the dimension as you place them.
Autoproject Edges for Sketch Creation and Edit When you create a new sketch
on a part or assembly face with this option selected, the edges that are coplanar
with that sketch are copied into the sketch. This can be handy for locating new
features, but I fi nd that many of these projected edges aren't used as a reference
and can also cause errors downstream. Autodesk has improved the robustness
of this feature, but it's an option that I often remove.
Look at Sketch Plane on Sketch Creation When you create a new sketch on a
face in an isometric view of a part, Inventor's default isn't to change your view
orientation. With this option selected, the display behaves like the Look At zoom-
ing tool and brings your focus perpendicular to your new sketching plane.
Autoproject Part Origin on Sketch Create This option causes Inventor to proj-
ect the location of the center point of the part into every new sketch. Having
this geometry projected doesn't mean you have to use the geometry or con-
strain geometry to it. This can be very useful if you design turned or other
components that are frequently symmetrical.
The Part Tab
The option you may want to customize here is Sketch on New Part Creation.
This allows you to choose your default sketching plane. It's a purely subjective
preference, but many people fi nd that they think about parts they are designing
in either a profi le or an overhead view. This option lets you choose how a part is
oriented when it's fi rst created.