Design Journal

A document called Design Journal.docx is embedded in SolidWorks documents. The document has the following properties:

• Appears in the Design Binder folder in the FeatureManager design tree.

• Is a Microsoft Word® document.

• Resembles an engineering journal, with headings for File Name, Description, and Material. These fields are linked to document properties and updated whenever the journal is opened. File Name is the actual file name and Description and Material are SolidWorks document custom properties.

• Appears initially as <Empty>, a designation that disappears when you activate the journal.

• Is added to the SolidWorks file when you activate it, so the SolidWorks file size is not affected unless you activate the journal.

• Accepts both text and embedded images.

• Can be deleted, in which case it is again listed as <Empty>.

• Can be printed.

You must have Microsoft Word on your computer to use the design journal.

To edit the design journal:

1. In the FeatureManager design tree, double-click Design Journal.docx in the Design Binder folder .

To view the Design Journal when the Design Binder folder is not visible, right-click the part, assembly, or drawing and click Hidden Tree Items, Design Binder, Design Journal.docx, Open.

2. Type text, paste in images, format text, and so on.

In Microsoft Office® 2002, you can drag images from the clipboard. In other versions of Microsoft Office, use the Paste command to paste in the image from the active window in SolidWorks. You can also paste in images from screen capture software, image editing software, and so on.

3. Close the journal.

Changes are saved automatically.

You can attach other documents to SolidWorks documents by adding them to the Design Binder folder .

Design Journal Template

You can specify the file location for the design template in Tools, Options, System Options, File Locations. In Show folders for, select Design Journal Template to add or delete a location. The default journal template folder is <install_dir>\lang\<language>\.

To edit the design journal template:

1. On the File Explorer tab of the Task Pane, under <install_dir>\lang\<language>\, open journal.docx.

2. Edit the document in Microsoft Word.

3. Save and close the document.

Your changes appear when you open a new embedded Design Journal.docx in a SolidWorks document.