May 14, 2025

Unlocking Efficiency with Copy Design in Autodesk Vault

Gideon Bezuidenhout | Application Engineer

The Copy Design feature in Autodesk Vault enables users to copy, relocate, rename, reuse, and replace parts and drawings from any working folder within the vault. This powerful tool streamlines project initiation by allowing the duplication and renaming of standard documents across various file formats stored in Vault.

Why Use Copy Design?

Copy Design is one of the most valuable features in Autodesk Vault, enabling engineers to:

Leverage existing designs to save modeling time.
Reuse and modify previous designs instead of starting from scratch.
Reduce costs and time in downstream engineering, manufacturing, and purchasing.

How Copy Design Works

The process varies depending on the design application in use:

Copying a drawing and its related files for quick modifications.
Duplicating an entire design structure, including 3D models and their associated 2D drawings.
Copying individual components within a design for reuse in different projects.

How to Access Copy Design in Autodesk Vault

The Copy Design feature in Autodesk Vault can be accessed through multiple methods, including the Vault Client, Inventor and AutoCAD add-ins, or as a stand-alone application.

Accessing Copy Design in Vault Client

You can launch Copy Design in the Vault Client using any of the following methods:

Right-click on a top-level assembly drawing and select Copy Design.
Right-click on a file or multiple files in the main view and select Copy Design.
Select a file or group of files, then navigate to Edit > Copy Design in the menu.

Accessing Copy Design in Inventor and AutoCAD Add-ins

Use the Vault add-in within Inventor or AutoCAD to access Copy Design directly.

Launching the Stand-Alone Copy Design Application

Navigate to: Start > Autodesk > Autodesk Copy Design <release>.

Understanding the Main Grid in Copy Design

The main grid in the Copy Design dialogue provides an overview of the files involved in the Copy Design operation. You can assign specific actions to each file displayed in the grid. For details on available actions, refer to Copy Design Actions.

Changing the View Layout

You can modify the layout of the main grid by navigating to View > Layout. There are three available views:

Tree View – Displays the assembly hierarchy and associated files in an organized structure, helping visualize file relationships during the copy process.
List View – Shows all files associated with the selected file in the copy process.
Folder View – Displays the destination folder where the newly copied files will be stored.

The Right Panel in the Copy Design dialogue is primarily used for managing various tasks related to the copy operation. By default, the Numbering Panel is visible. To display any hidden panels, select View > Panels.

Numbering Panel

Displays a list of all files selected for the copy operation.
Shows the original and new file names for each file.
Allows editing of certain fields and individual numbering schemes.

Hidden Panels

Folders Panel – Displays the source and destination folders for the copy operation.
Where Used Panel – Tracks the origin and destination of the copied objects.
Actions Panel – Shows the operations assigned to be performed on the files in the main grid.

Action Rule Sets in Copy Design

Action Rule Sets are collections of rules that govern the property behaviours of newly created files during the Copy Design process. These rules can be used to:

Reset the category of a target file.
Map file properties from the original file to the new file.
Clear or reset file properties on the copied files.

Only one rule set can be applied to the selected data set during a copy operation. A single rule set can contain multiple rules, which define the settings for various file types based on: