Autodesk Inventor 2018 t’s that time when Autodesk releases another version of Inventor. I’m taking Inventor 2018 out for a test drive and sharing what it has to offer. Although there are many new enhancements, my personal top three are the new measurement tool, followed by the updated browser interface, and a close tie for third place are the 3D Annotation (or Model-Based Definition – MBD) for parts and ANYCAD for Inventor. ANYCAD for Inventor”: Yes you heard that correctly. There’s now ANYCAD for Inventor. Starting with Inventor 2017 R4, you can now reference newer versions of Inventor part and assembly files into legacy Inventor models. At this time, files created in Inventor 2018 will now be able to be “linked/referenced” back into models created/saved with the R4 version of Inventor 2017. But the key word is “REFERENCED”. Models created in a newer version of Inventor can only be edited in the version they were created in. GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS Performance Improvements for Faster view compute for hidden line removed views Min frame rate is setting is now used for zooming Faster move, pan, and rotating views in models and drawings Opening Assembly especially in nested file structures Drawing view creation, preview, editing and changing view representation Faster 2D graphics (sketching, drawing view, and DWG underlay) Faster component selection with drawings Faster raster view rendering Faster selection and highlighting in both express and full mode