SolidWorks 2010 Bible

CHAPTER

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

E

ngineering 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 exam-
ple, 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 type. In this chapter,

I cover the *.drwdot file type.