Sheet Formats and Templates - SOLIDWORKS CAD Sales

Solid Solutions Management Ltd www.solidsolutions.co.uk Olympus House, Olympus Avenue 01926 333777 Europa Way [email protected] Leamington Spa CV34 6BF

SUBJECT: CREATING TEMPLATES AND SHEET

FORMATS

KEYWORDS: DRAWINGS, TEMPLATES, SHEET FORMATS, CUSTOM

PROPERTIES

CREATING TEMPLATES AND SHEET FORMATS FURTHER READING: SOLIDWORKS DRAWING TRAINING MANUAL LESSON 4

TERMINOLOGY

Template: A method of capturing customised settings in a document. The template can be reused for any new

document whether it is a Part, Assembly, or Drawing. These settings are mostly applied in Tools >

Options > Document Properties as these are not saved and available to reuse when a document/ the

software is closed, you need to save the settings as templates.

Typical options controlled by templates are:

- Dimension units (inches, mm, cm etc.)

- Overall dimensioning standards (ANSI, ISO, BSi)

- Font styles and sizes

- Arrow heads and labels

Additional items controlled in templates are:

- Sheet scale

- Orthographic projections (1st

, 3rd

Angle)*

*these are set up using a Right mouse click on the drawing, selecting properties and altering the properties as shown below (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1- Sheet Properties Dialogue

Templates are saved with the file extension .prtdot for parts, .asmdot for assemblies and .drwdot for

drawings.

Sheet Format:


The border, title block and text used to give additional information about the drawing.

This is considered a separate “layer” within the drawing sheet and is only accessible and

editable by Right Clicking the drawing sheet and selecting Edit Sheet Format (Fig. 2). Any

company logo should also be stored on the sheet format layer to ensure they are visible

with every drawing created. The sheet format can contain special custom properties that

can display automated information about the part/ assembly shown in the drawing, such

as material properties, mass properties, part numbers etc. You may consider the sheet

format to be a transparent overlay just like the old style drawing board setup

Fig. 2- Editing Sheet Formats

Fig.3- Saving Sheet Formats


USING TEMPLATES

The process of using/ opening a particular template is controlled via the File > New command. When creating any new

SolidWorks document you are presented with the screen as shown below (Fig. 4):

Fig. 4- New SolidWorks Document Dialogue

There is a unique icon for Parts, Assemblies and Drawings. Each tab along the top of the dialogue box refers to a folder

somewhere on your computer/ server that SolidWorks is linked to. Typically after a fresh installation of SolidWorks onto a

machine, only two of these tabs will be visible, Templates and Tutorial, the Training Templates folder has been subsequently

linked with the software. All the settings associated with the template you choose then become active for the new

document.


SAVING TEMPLATES

Saving templates is very similar to saving any SolidWorks document, you simply use the File > Save As method (Fig. 5). As the

image shows, you have to specify the Save As Type, to be the Template option (whether it is Part, Assembly, or Drawing).

Fig. 5- Saving Templates

***Note: When saving part templates, if you save with any geometry created i.e. sketches, or extrusions, these will be saved with the template, if you are only interested in the settings defined in the document

properties, save the template when the part is empty. This functionality is enabled for users that have the same initial base feature on all their components (e.g. a sheet metal base flange) and so saving with prevent

modelling of the feature for each new document.

It may be an idea to save all your company standard files such as templates into a new folder on a server so that all your

colleagues can access them; you can then follow the next steps to link the folder into SolidWorks.


LINKING TEMPLATES BACK INTO SOLIDWORKS

Once the template has been saved, the folder is resides in needs to be linked back into SolidWorks for future use. The

method of doing this is to define the folder as a File Location for Document Templates.

1) Go to Tools > Options (Fig. 6)

2) Choose File Locations from the left hand side of the Systems Options Tab.

3) Many different file types can be read in through this area, including

material databases, textures etc. These can be accessed from the

Show Folders For drop down menu, for templates use the default

Document Templates option.

4) The large white box shows the current file paths that SolidWorks

currently is linked to (note, the link is with the root folder and not

the specific files). By clicking on the Add button, you can add in

extra file locations (Fig. 7), these can be locations on a shared/

network location, so multiple users can access the same file. Simply

select the folder location that contains the saved template files. The

new file path appears at the bottom of the Folders list.

Fig. 7- Adding new File Location


CREATING DRAWING SHEETS FORMATS

Creating sheet formats is the second step in customising drawings sheets. Essentially the sheet format contains information

such as the drawing border/ title block (which houses things like company logos and linked properties), sheet size and scale.

CHOOSING A SHEET FORMAT

Once a drawing template has been selected, the next prompt screen asks for the Sheet Format/Size (Fig. 8). SolidWorks

provides some standard sheet sizes (A1, A2,... etc) as well as allowing a custom sheet size to be created based on preferred

directions. Similarly to templates, custom sheet formats can be imported and used.

SolidWorks drawing sheets are in essence divided into two transparent layers:

The Sheet Layer | contains drawing views, annotations and dimensions

The Sheet Format Layer | contains the title block and border

List of default sheet sizes (new

option in 2010 allows more

borders or only standard

borders

The border can be

deselected and not

shown

Preview screen shows the

background border

Custom sheet sizes can

be defined


Only one of these layers can be active at any one time. To switch between them Right Click on the drawing sheet

background and choose either Edit Sheet or Edit Sheet Format. Once in the drawing sheet, the selected sheet format can

be changed i.e. from A3 to A2. This is done by right clicking the drawing sheet and choosing Properties (Fig. 9). A similar

screen to the initial one appears, although there are a couple of extra options including sheet scale, and orthographic

projection.

Fig. 9- Sheet Properties Screen

CUSTOMISING THE SHEET FORMAT

To start changing the sheet format to your own preferences you need to be active in the Sheet Format layer (RMB Edit

Sheet Format).

The border that is currently shown can be changed to your own needs or completely deleted if you so choose (Fig. 10).

Then any of the standard sketch tools, as well as dimensions can be used to create your own border and title block (NOTE

if you use dimensions in the border setup you will need to right click on them and choose hide to stop them from being

printe

Fig. 10- Customised Sheet Format Layer


LINKING NOTES TO CUSTOM PROPERTIES

Some of the note boxes added to the sheet format can be linked to custom properties e.g. automatically show the current

date and sheet size. These properties are known as sheet properties as they are specific to the drawing file. Other

properties that Notes can be linked to are Model Specific Properties which can show things such as the file name of the

drawing views displayed, or material properties etc.

SHEET PROPERTIES

To link notes to sheet properties, simply double click on the text box as if you were editing it. In the left hand Note

Property Manager choose the icon Link to Property.

On the link to property window (Fig. 11), expand the drop down menu and there are a variety of SW specific property

values including date, file name and template etc. By selecting these, your note boxes will automatically be propagated

with the custom property values, and will all update accordingly.

Fig. 11- Link to Property Dialogue

To link the text boxes to model specific properties so that when a drawing view is inserted properties automatically come

through, then you can manually type the code that SolidWorks requires which is in the format:

$PRPSHEET:{Property Name}


e.g. $PRPSHEET:{Material} e.g. $PRPSHEET:{Description} e.g. $PRPSHEET:{Weight}

The property name inside the {} must be typed exactly as specified in the properties of the part (Fig. 12) (in 3d Part mode

File>Properties)

Fig. 12- Custom Properties in Sheet Formats

With these linked properties set up, the sheet format is essentially waiting for a drawing view to be added to the drawing

that contains a 3D part/assembly model that has those specific properties applied (Fig. 13). These properties can be set

up beforehand and saved as a template, discussed earlier, so you do not have to set them up again and again.

Fig 13- Custom Properties in Parts

CUSTOM PROPERTY TAB BUILDER

On the RHS of the screen you can now use the Customer Property Tab Builder to add properties to Parts Assemblies and

Drawings in a newer interface. This allows you to build forms based upon sequential and logical property creation. The

properties applied on the RHS are then mapped into the properties of the file and can be used as described previously. Hit

the Create Now button to start building a property form, Fig-14.


Fig-14- Property Tab Builder

DEFINE TITLE BLOCK

In the Edit Sheet Format mode you can RMB the page and choose to Define Title Block. This requires you to use the

Rectangular border to define the extent of the title block area. Within this region you can then specify which text boxes

are important and when selected they are listed in the left hand property manager with the ability to specify a custom

tooltip (Fig 15). Once the Title block is defined and you return to the Edit Sheet mode an orange fonted box appears when

in the vicinity of the title block area. When this appears you can RMB and choose to Enter Title Block Data, this will

highlight the key text boxes to fill in ensuring you don’t miss them out, and the text is mapped as a property to the file.

Fig 15- Create Title Block Interface


SAVING A SHEET FORMAT

Everything on the Sheet Format layer can be saved and reused in future documents. Simply go to File, Save Sheet Format.

As was evident in saving a template, the default saving location will be where the current SWx formats are stored, so it

may be more beneficial to save into a custom folder on a shared drive. Again the sheet formats folder location will need

to be read into SolidWorks via the Tool > Options > System Options > File Locations area, this time choosing the Sheet

Formats from the Show folders For drop down menu.

***You can now create a title block within a 3D model. This has been implemented for those who can utilise purely 3D

geometry for manufacture rather than having to create 2D details. The title block is inserted in the command Insert >

Tables > Title Block but CANNOT be transferred into a drawing of that part. The title block does however get saved with

an eDrawing file meaning it can be sent to suppliers

RECAP

DOCUMENT TEMPLATES: Properties set in the Tools>Options>Document Properties area. You can create templates for

Parts, Assemblies and Drawings, and save these settings via the File>Save As>Document Template area. These then must

be read into SolidWorks through the Tools>Options>System Options>File Location area. If you change any of the

properties, then simple save the template over the top of the original. To select which template to use, use the File, New

option

SHEET FORMATS: Are drawing specific and contains information such as sheet size, scale and orthographic

projection, as well as the title block and border. Access the Sheet Format by RMB on the drawing and selecting Edit Sheet

Format. Customise the border using sketch tools (lines and rectangles etc), and inserting logos, and linking Notes to

custom properties. Save the sheet format by using File>Save Sheet Format and again read the folder location back into

SolidWorks using Tools>Options>System Options > File Locations.

Sheet Formats and Templates - SOLIDWORKS CAD Sales

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