CADshift for Autodesk Inventor Documentation

CADshift for Autodesk Inventor is a power-user add-in that adds the productivity features Inventor is missing: a keyboard-driven Command Palette, a visual Document Switcher, saved Document Groups, batch DXF export for laser and punch cutting, and grain-direction marking for sheet metal.

Key Features

Command Palette  (Free)

Stop hunting through ribbons. Press S and a filterable list of commands opens right at your cursor.

• Context-aware — shows the commands that make sense for the active Part, Assembly, Drawing, or Sketch
• Type to filter — case-insensitive search on the command name
• Pinned commands — keep your favourites at the top
• Run instantly — Enter executes, Esc closes

Document Switcher  (Basic)

A visual, Alt-Tab-style switcher for your open Inventor documents.

• Press Ctrl+Tab — a centred overlay shows a thumbnail of every open document
• Hold Ctrl, tap Tab to cycle (Shift+Tab backwards); release Ctrl to switch
• Click a thumbnail, or press Esc to cancel
• Each tile shows the thumbnail, file name, and document type

Document Groups  (Professional)

Group the documents you work on together and jump between project contexts in one keystroke.

• Save the currently open documents as a named group
• The switcher gains tabs — your live “Open Documents” tab plus each saved group
• Press ` (backtick) to cycle tabs; Ctrl+Tab cycles documents within the active tab; release to switch

Insert from the Switcher  (Professional)

With a drawing or assembly active, hover a part tile in the switcher and two click zones appear.

• Left zone inserts at the default position — sheet centre for a drawing, world origin for an assembly
• Right zone is Advanced Insert: the component sticks to the cursor and you click to drop it
• Keyboard switching is unaffected, and you can turn the zones off in Settings

DXF Export  (Basic)

Batch-export sheet metal flat patterns to cut-ready DXF from a part, assembly or drawing.

• Pick by clicking components, bodies, faces, drawing views or parts lists in Inventor
• Token-built file names and folders — model title, material, thickness, quantity, any iProperty
• Output Profiles decide how the DXF looks, and are shared with CADshift for SOLIDWORKS
• One DXF per body on multi-body parts, and an HTML report with a preview of every file written
• Content Center parts and excluded components are filtered out automatically
• Professional adds bend annotations, etch text, bend-line trimming, contour clean-up, the material bounding box, opposite-hand copies, the placement rules, flat-plate export and sub-folder mapping

Grain Direction  (Free)

Mark the rolling direction on a sheet metal part so the DXF carries it.

• Select one straight edge on a flat face and click Mark Grain Direction
• The mark is stored in the .ipt, so it survives a reopen and travels with the file
• On export it becomes a grain arrow on the DXF — marking is Free, and the arrow needs only DXF export, so a Basic seat gets it
• Turning the flat pattern to suit the grain is a Professional placement rule

Getting Started

Step 1: Install

Download and run the installer, accept the licence, and approve the Windows prompt (it installs a small background service). See Installation & Licence for the full walkthrough. CADshift loads automatically the next time you start Inventor 2025 or newer.

Step 2: Open the Command Palette

With Inventor focused, press S. Start typing the name of any command and press Enter to run it. That’s the whole Free tier — no account, no sign-in.

Step 3: Switch documents

Open a few documents, then press Ctrl+Tab to bring up the Document Switcher (Basic). Hold Ctrl and tap Tab to land on the one you want.

Step 4: Make it yours

Open CadShift Settings from the Tools tab (the CadShift panel → CadShift button) to change your hotkeys, the document-switcher sort order, insert behaviour, and window opacity — no file editing needed.

Edition Comparison

CADshift for Inventor comes in three tiers. A free trial unlocks every feature for a limited time; after that the Command Palette stays free forever.

Quick Links by Task

Getting Help