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A
AndyChurch1-Visitor
1-Visitor
April 26, 2010
Question

Can I make an internal sketch an external sketch?

  • April 26, 2010
  • 5 replies
  • 9316 views
My memory must be going. I seem to remember being able to drag a sketch out of a feature in the tree and make it an external sketch so I can use it elsewhere. Can I do this?

    5 replies

    M
    MartinHanak24-Ruby III
    24-Ruby III
    April 28, 2010

    "Andy Church" wrote:

    My memory must be going. I seem to remember being able to drag a sketch out of a feature in the tree and make it an external sketch so I can use it elsewhere. Can I do this?

    D
    doneill2-Explorer
    2-Explorer
    April 15, 2020

    Did you get an answer? 

    R
    rohit_rajan15-Moonstone
    15-Moonstone
    April 20, 2020

    no

    D
    doneill2-Explorer
    2-Explorer
    April 20, 2020

    Okay... not the answer I was hoping for... but thanks for the response.

    W
    WS_1019329210-Marble
    10-Marble
    April 21, 2022

    Really PTC? This feature is still not available as of Creo 7 (released in 2020)?

     

    Do you guys listen to your customers at all or put any thought into GUI / user experience?

      StephenW
      StephenW23-Emerald III
      23-Emerald III
      April 21, 2022

      You can edit the sketch and then while in the sketch, save the sketch (it saves as a .sec file). You can then make a new sketch and bring in .sec file.

      This is a work-around. If the sketch is all dimensioned to itself and not to references, they usually come in clean and easy. If all the dimensions are to references, then they will all be gone. 

      Vote on this idea

      https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/RMB-Make-Internal-Section-an-External-Sketch/idi-p/454089

      W
      WS_1019329210-Marble
      10-Marble
      April 21, 2022

      Thanks for the workaround, but I do not see why converting internal to external sketch cannot be built into Creo with a simple button click. This is one of the many small annoyances with Creo that make it frustrating to use.

       

      For my particular situation, I have numerous simple rectangular extrude features with internal sketches. It would be faster for me to create sketches from scratch then export/import .sec files...

      S
      ScottGivens10-Marble
      10-Marble
      January 26, 2023

      I came across this thread while searching for the same answer.  I was convinced there had to be an easier way than saving out the .sec and reimporting.  I think there is!  While the OP may be long gone, I thought it would be good to preserve here anyway.

       

      • Create the Sketch feature you want to use to drive the multiple Shape features
        • it must exist before them in the Model Tree history, as it will become a parent to them
      • Edit Definition on the Shape feature that you want to convert to an external Sketch
      • Select the Placement tab
      • Right click on the name field of the Sketch (will say something like Internal Section 1)-->Remove
      • Select the external Sketch created earlier
      • Checkmark to complete the feature

       

      Hopefully that helps!

      StephenW
      StephenW23-Emerald III
      23-Emerald III
      January 26, 2023

      But I think what this guy was asking for was how to change an internal sketch he made in an extrude (or cut or ?) feature and convert that existing sketch in to an external sketch that is available in the model tree.

      What you are doing is making a new sketch and then using that in an existing extrude (or cut or ?) feature.

      The end result will look similar but he wanted to just drag the internal sketch out of the extrude to make it an external sketch.

        S
        ScottGivens10-Marble
        10-Marble
        January 26, 2023

        Ah, true.  I suppose he could edit the internal section, and use your method to save out the .sec, then follow the rest of the steps in my post to re-associate the Shape to the external Sketch.

         

        But you're right, references need to be watched carefully so things don't get wonky.  Perhaps this is why PTC hasn't made this functionality available.

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