Lesson 1 – Introducing SolidWorks
Section I – Preliminaries 1.3 Starting SolidWorks
4. To the right of the Main Menu is the Standard toolbar, which includes the icons for
commonly used Windows and SolidWorks commands; for example New, Open, Save
and Print a document, Rebuild your model and Undo and Redo the last command. The
content of the toolbar can vary because it is possible to customize it. We will learn to
customize toolbars in Lesson 2.
Notice that if you place the mouse cursor over one of the icons, you can see what
command it represents and also the command’s keyboard-shortcut equivalent.
5. On the bottom of the screen you can see the Windows Start Button and Taskbar.
6. On the right side of the screen you can find the Task Pane. It has icons for SolidWorks
Resources, Design Library and for the SolidWorks File Explorer, which works like
Windows Explorer.
The Task Pane can be shown or hidden by clicking on one of the icons or in the
Graphics Area. The pin can be pushed to keep the Task Pane open and it must be
horizontal to allow the change from visible to hidden.
Explore the TaskPane and its contents. The SolidWorks Resources include the Online
Tutorial and What’s New, as well as access to the SolidWorks Forum. In Design
Library you can find Toolbox and 3DContentCentral. Both, Toolbox and
3DContentCentral have models of parts that can be re-used in new assemblies. This is
very convenient because screws, bearings, linear actuators and other catalog parts don’t
have to be re-drawn. Toolbox resides on your desktop but it is an extra cost item and
could be missing in your installation. 3DContentCentral requires internet access.Step 2: Click on the icon New to open a new document. Notice that to open an existing
document, you must click on the appropriate icon in the Standard toolbar. You can also select
New from the File pull-
down menu on the Main
Menu.
When we create a new
document, we get either
the novice or the expert
screen in Figures 1.3a
and 1.3b. It is possible
to toggle between these
options by clicking on
the Advanced or
Novice buttons at the
lower left corner of the
menu box. The
advantage of the
Advanced menu is that
you can select from the
customized templates that we will create in Lesson 2.
Figure 1. 3 a – Novice Screen for a New Document