Part I: SolidWorks Basics
To use the Triad to control the view orientation, try the following:l Click an axis. This axis will point out of the screen.l (^) Click an axis a second time. This axis will point into the screen.
l Shift-click an axis. This view will spin 90 degrees about that axis (using the right-hand
rule).
l Alt-click an axis. This view will spin 15 degrees (or the default view rotation angle)
around the axis.
When you are in a named view, a little box in the lower-left corner shows the name of the view.
This includes standard named views and custom named views. Anything that shows up in the
View Orientation box (accessed by spacebar) displays a name in the corner. Figure 5.6 shows the
Triad and the named view box in the lower-left corner.
FIGURE 5.6
The Triad and named view box
By Shift-clicking an axis of the triad, the view is rotated 90 degrees from the original orientation.
Alt-clicking rotates the view around the clicked axis by the view rotation increment set in
Tools ➪ Options ➪ View, which is 15 degrees by default. Pressing Ctrl in conjunction with any of
these causes the view to rotate in the opposite direction. Therefore, if pressing Shift-click makes
the view rotate against the right-hand rule about the clicked axis, pressing Ctrl+Shift-click makes
the view rotate with the right-hand rule.
Using the View Tools
Manipulating the view is one of the most important and commonly used methods to help you
visualize a CAD model to which users have access. SolidWorks has a very wide range of tools,
mostly represented by the tools on the View toolbar.
The tools in this section will help you to view parts and assemblies. The following tools are mainly
found in the View ➪ Display and View ➪ Modify menu areas.
l Zoom to Fit. Resizes the graphics window to include everything that is shown in the
model. You can also access this command by pressing the F key, or double MMB-clicking.
l Zoom to Area. When you drag the diagonal of a rectangle in the display area, the display
resizes to fit it. The border size around the fit area is fixed, and cannot be adjusted. This
only zooms in, not out.