SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part V: Creating Drawings

FIGURE 21.26

The Component Line Font dialog box

Layers

Yes, SolidWorks drawings can use layers. You can place individual parts onto layers, and the layers

can have different colors and line fonts. Most entities can be put into layers, including edges, anno-

tations, and sketch items. Hidden layers are often used for reference information or construction

entities on a drawing. Figure 21.27 shows the Layers dialog box on a SolidWorks drawing.

FIGURE 21.27

Using the Layers dialog box in SolidWorks

Tangent edge display options

SolidWorks drawings and models offer some options for displaying tangent edges. Many users find

it distracting when tangent edges (which in a physical part are not edges at all) are given as much

visible weight as the sharp edges of, say, a chamfer. To find the settings, shown in Figure 21.28,

choose View ➪ Display, or select them from the RMB menu. The Tangent Edges Removed option

may be appropriate for parts with few fillets, but it causes a part to look oversimplified and makes

details of the shape difficult to distinguish.