For the professional engineer, the standout feature was the integrated simulation environment. Inventor Professional 2012 included the environment and Stress Analysis modules. This allowed engineers to apply loads, constraints, and motion drivers to their assemblies directly within the CAD interface. It eliminated the need to export files to third-party analysis software for basic tests, ensuring that design flaws were caught early in the development cycle.

Changing a dimension in the part model would instantly update the drawing sheet’s base views, projected views, and section views. The 2012 version added and Detail views with higher precision.