You use the Sketch module to create and manage sketches that are not associated with a feature; these sketches are called stand-alone sketches. A stand-alone sketch is stored in the model; like other objects in the model, such as parts and loads, a stand-alone sketch can be edited, copied, renamed, and deleted. To create a stand-alone sketch, click the sketch create tool in the Sketch module toolbox.

When you are using the Sketcher (for example, when you are sketching the profile of a solid extrusion in the Part module), you can save your work as a stand-alone sketch by clicking the sketch save tool in the Sketcher toolbox. Similarly, you can incorporate one stand-alone sketch in another sketch by clicking the sketch retrieve tool in the Sketcher toolbox. When you retrieve a stand-alone sketch, ABAQUS/CAE does the following: