Fundamentals > User Interface Basics > Chains and Surface Sets > Surface Sets > About Surface Sets
  
About Surface Sets
Surface sets consist of multiple surfaces that you select and place into a group. This group or surface set enables you to efficiently perform modeling actions on the selected surfaces at one time. You can select surfaces and use surface sets at any time (within a tool, or before entering a tool) during your modeling session. Remember that when you want to construct a surface set, you must first select a reference and then press (and hold) the SHIFT key to activate the surface set construction mode.
 
* When working with an assembly inside a tool, you can select surface sets from the same model only.
To modify surface sets, you use the Surface Sets dialog box. This dialog box contains a list of surface sets that you constructed using the active part, the number of surfaces in each surface set, attributes for each surface set, and excluded surfaces. Creo Parametric provides ToolTips, messages, and labels that act as a visual aid guiding you through the surface set construction process.
When using a dashboard tool or a tool that uses the Menu Manager, you can dynamically preview the surface set geometry after every action. To disable dynamic preview, clear the Preview checkbox in the Surface Sets dialog box.
 
* When using a dashboard tool, the state of the checkbox in controls the initial setting of the Preview checkbox in the Surface Sets dialog box. For example, if you change to before opening the Surface Sets dialog box, then the Preview checkbox appears as not selected when you subsequently open the Surface Sets dialog box.
Surface Set Types
You can construct the following types of surface sets:
Non rule-based
Individual Surface Set—Contains individual solid surfaces or quilts that you select. You can also use a Individual surface set if you want to model additional surfaces along with other surface sets that you constructed. Note that if you want to exclude surfaces from a Individual surface set, you must remove the surface from the set. You cannot add them to the Excluded surface set.
Intent Surface Set—Contains intent surfaces. You can add intent surfaces to the Excluded surface set or use the intent surfaces as bounding surfaces in Seed and Boundary Surface set.
Excluded Surface Set—Contains all surfaces that you excluded from one or more surface sets. You construct the excluded surface set when you do not want to perform a modeling action on one or more individual surfaces that belong to a surface set. Note that you cannot add unwanted surfaces from a Individual surface set to an Excluded surface set.
Rule-based
All Solid Surface Set—Contains all solid surfaces of the active part.
Quilt Surface Set—Contains quilt surfaces that you selected from the active part.
Loop Surface Set—Contains two-sided edges that form a loop around a surface.
Seed and Boundary Surface Set—Contains all surfaces between and including the selected seed and boundary surfaces.
 
* Most tools require that all selected surfaces must belong to the same solid part geometry or quilt.