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ICAD3-Newcomer
3-Newcomer
May 20, 2026
Question

Auto Creation of family table instances drawing

  • May 20, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 34 views

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to know if there is any functionality in Creo to automatically generate drawings similar to how Family Tables automatically generate part or assembly instances.

For example:

  • If we have multiple variants created using a Family Table,

  • Can Creo automatically create corresponding drawing files for each instance?

  • Is there any built-in option, mapkey, automation, or any related approach available for this?

Any suggestions or best practices would be helpful.

Thanks!

1 reply

L
lhoogeveen17-Peridot
17-Peridot
May 20, 2026

As of Creo 10, the standard way to make separate drawings for each instance:

  • Create a drawing of a Family Table instance or generic that contains the most features. Add views, dimensions, notes, etc. that you want on the other drawings.
  • Save drawing
  • Use Creo’s Drawing Models > Replace > Select Instance for new drawing. The views, dimensions, notes, etc. are transferred to the new instance.
  • Adjust drawing as needed for new FT instance (move views, change notes, delete broken dimensions, etc.).
  • File > Save As > Save a Copy with new name (presumably the name of the instance).
  • Repeat. You may want to start again from the first/original drawing if you had to delete items (ex: dimensions).

You could create a mapkey to speed parts of this up. This could probably be automated using Creo’s API’s (VB, Toolkit, etc.).

I think most people would say don’t keep a drawing for the generic when you have drawings for the instances, but follow your company standards/best practices.

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