123d Unit Settings and Inventor Fusion

The 123d beta is now available to download for free from 123dapp.com.  If you’ve been following Inventor Fusion, then you’ll already have a good idea of what 123d is like.  There are not too many differences between Inventor Fusion and 123d.  One big difference is there is no ribbon in 123d, though the commands seem almost identical.

The biggest difference between the two is that Inventor Fusion supports a much larger number of file formats.  Inventor Fusion can open many different file formats.  On the other hand, 123d is limited to open and saving only in the .123d format.  Note that currently Inventor Fusion can open the .123d file format, but cannot save in it.

One key setting if you’re using 123d, is the ability to change the units that you’re working in.  To change the units, you’ll need to turn on the Snap Bar.  On the Application Menu, click Options.  In the Options dialog, click Controls, and select Snap Bar.  You can then use the Snap Bar to set the drawing units.