Creo Unite > Adding Foreign Components > To Set the Update Preference for a TIM Assembly and Add a Foreign Component to the TIM
  
To Set the Update Preference for a TIM Assembly and Add a Foreign Component to the TIM
1. Open a Creo assembly.
2. Click Component > Assemble > Assemble and assemble Autodesk Inventor, CATIA, SolidWorks, Creo Elements/Direct*.sdac, or NX models as the non-Creo subassembly components of the Creo assembly.
3. Click File > Save As > Save a Copy and save a non-Creo subassembly as a Translated Image Model (TIM) or convert the subassembly model as a TIM assembly as follows:
Right-click a component of the non-Creo subassembly and click Activate on the resultant menu.
Initiate changes to the component. The Convert to new Creo models dialog box opens.
Click Convert on the Convert to new Creo models dialog box.
4. Select the copied or converted TIM assembly on the Model Tree, click Model > Operations > ATB, and click one of the following buttons:
New Components as Non-Creo Models
New Components TIM
 
* Based on your choice, New Components as Non-Creo Models or New Components TIM is set as the default preference for the TIM assembly. This setting persists in the TIM assembly model.
5. Save and close the parent assembly model.
6. In the relevant CAD tool, assemble additional components in the Autodesk Inventor, CATIA, SolidWorks, Creo Elements/Direct, or NX source model that you copied or converted as the TIM assembly.
7. Retrieve the assembly model in Creo.
8. Select the TIM assembly whose source model includes the newly-added foreign components and click Model > Operations > ATB > Check Status. The TIM assembly displays the out-of-date status.
9. Select the TIM assembly again on the Model Tree and click Model > Operations > ATB > Update. The TIM assembly is updated to include the newly-added foreign components of the source model according to one of the following preferences you set for the TIM assembly:
New Components as Non-Creo Models—Adds the newly-added foreign components as non-Creo models to the TIM assembly.
New Components TIM—Adds the newly-added foreign components to the TIM assembly as TIM components.
10. Save and close the parent assembly.