Drafting
You can draft in 2D in SolidWorks
drawing documents using Sketch tools, Dimension tools, and Annotations
as described in Creating Drawings. Concepts
to consider include:
|
Sketch entities |
In SolidWorks drawing documents, as in 2D CAD documents, you can add
sketch entities (lines, circles, rectangles,
and so on) at any time. You can create your own line styles using layers , the Line
Format tools, or Line
Style Options. |
|
Drawing views |
You can add sketch entities and annotations to the drawing sheet or
to drawing views.
Drawing views allow you to move and
scale all the items in the view in one
operation. You can insert empty views
onto drawing sheets to contain drafted entities. |
|
Standards |
The drafted elements follow the standard
specified in Tools, Options,
Document Properties, Drafting
Standard. Such items as dimension arrows, tolerances, annotation
display, and so on are generated based on the standard, but you can also
edit the items manually (choose a different arrowhead style, for example). |
|
Sheet formats |
SolidWorks drawing templates contain
drawing sheet formats. You can edit
the formats and save them. You can also
use a template without the format and create your own format, or import a 2D CAD block (a title block, for example). |
|
Grid |
To display a grid, right-click and select Display
Grid. Specify the grid spacing and snap control in Tools,
Options, Document
Properties, Grid/Snap. |
|
Dimensions |
Dimensions in SolidWorks control
the geometry. The sketch entity or model element must agree with its dimension.
You cannot sketch an entity at a certain size and display a dimension
of a different size. However, you can scale
entities in a drawing sheet or drawing view. |
|
Relations
|
Relations (such as Horizontal,
Concentric, Tangent)
also control geometry. Some relations are inferenced
as you sketch. You can add, display,
and delete relations. To prevent automatic relations, press Ctrl
as you sketch, or clear Automatic relations
in Tools, Options,
System Options, Sketch,
Relations/Snaps. |
|
Annotations |
Most annotations work with sketch
entities the same as they do with drawings derived from 3D models. Some
exceptions are hole
callout and autoballoon.
Single balloons
and stacked
balloons appear with question marks, which you can replace with custom
text. You can import
into drawings the dimensions and tolerances you create with DimXpert
for parts. |