PTC Creo

About PTC Creo

Creo is a parametric modeller aimed at products that get manufactured. Geometry is built as a history of features with dimensions and relations behind it, so changing a value regenerates the part and everything downstream. Design intent is captured in the way the features are ordered and constrained, which is what makes a part editable months later by someone who did not build it.

Assemblies scale to real products rather than demonstrations. Components are constrained with mates and mechanism connections, large assemblies open in a simplified representation so a machine can handle them, interference detection runs across the whole tree, and kinematic motion is checked before anything is cut. Skeleton models and top down design let overall layout drive individual parts rather than the reverse.

The surfacing tools handle the forms that parametric solids cannot. Freestyle subdivision modelling produces smooth organic shapes that convert into the parametric tree, and the style surfacing tools cover curve driven class A work for visible product surfaces. Sheet metal, weldments, framework and piping modules cover the other end of the discipline.

Downstream everything else attaches to the same model. Simulation runs structural and thermal analysis directly on the geometry, generative design proposes shapes for a set of loads and constraints, additive manufacturing prepares lattice structures and build trays, and the drawing environment produces fully dimensioned production drawings that update when the model changes. The complete help centre installs locally, so documentation is available with no connection.

What is included in this build

• Parametric solid modelling with a regenerating feature history and design intent captured in relations
• Large assembly handling with simplified representations, interference checking and mechanism motion
• Freestyle subdivision and style surfacing for organic and class A surfaces
• Sheet metal, weldment, framework and piping design modules
• Structural and thermal simulation running directly on the model geometry
• Generative design proposing geometry from loads, constraints and manufacturing method
• Additive manufacturing preparation with lattice structures and build tray layout
• Associative production drawings that update automatically when the model changes

Changed in version 13.4.0.0

• Faster regeneration on parts with very long feature trees
• Large assembly open times reduced through improved representation handling
• Simulation solver performance raised on high core count machines
• Additional interchange format revisions supported on import and export
• Help centre content expanded and reindexed for faster local search

Installation walkthrough

These steps assume a clean machine. If a previous release of the same application is present, deal with that first, since an overlapping install is the most common cause of a setup that stops halfway.

1. Free at least 40 GB on the target drive before beginning, since the installer is very large.
2. Disable real-time protection for the length of the installation.
3. Extract the archive to a short path with no spaces in the folder name.
4. Run setup as administrator and select the modules and help centre required.
5. Reboot once after installation, then set the working directory before opening a model.

System requirements and file details

Frequently asked about this title