SolidWorks® 2011 Parts Bible

CHAPTER 14

Automating Drawings: The Basics

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the difference between templates and formats

Customizing drawing formats

Creating drawing templates using Pre-defined Views

Using blocks

Engineering drawings include a lot of repetitious information from one drawing to the next. The information is not always exactly the same, but it is usually in the same format and of the same type. For example, part drawings always include information about who made the drawing, when the person made it, what the material and surface finish of the part are, and some basic notes that depend on the use of the drawing (manufacturing, assembly, or inspection).

All this information needs to appear consistently on each drawing, every time. However, humans are not always good at following dull routines, which is why we have computers to help with these boring or difficult tasks.

SolidWorks drawing templates and formats enable you to automate some of these tasks. SolidWorks can insert information on a drawing's creator and the materials to be used, and start similar types of drawings from a consistent starting point. Drawing templates and formats also save settings that you may want to reuse.

Comparing Templates and Formats

Simply put, templates are collections of document-specific settings and default views saved in the *.prtdot (part template), *.asmdot (assembly template), and *.drwdot (drawing template) file types. In this chapter, I cover the *.drwdot file type.

Formats, more ...