Inventor Primitives are a set of tools that allow quick creation of simple shapes with very little effort. With primitive tools, the use can begin a sketch on any plane or surface and then automatically start the corresponding feature tool. The primitive tools are found on the Ribbon’s 3D Model tab, however, the Primitives panel is turned off by default, so first turn this on by selecting the panel configuration pull down at the right end of the Ribbon.

Select the check box next to Primitives and the panel will be added to the ribbon.

The Primitives are simple Box, Cylinder, Sphere or Torus shapes. When one of these tools is selected the user is prompted to select a sketch surface or plane.

The appropriate sketch geometry tool automatically starts.

When the sketch is completed the appropriate feature tool automatically starts.

These tools save many steps and can be used at any point of the design. The sketches and features used by the primitive tools are like any other sketch or feature and can be edited, redefined or deleted at any point in the design.