This topic explains the differences between the Appearances library and the Appearances tab.
Appearances Library
The Appearances library is in the File Libraries tab of the Palette. The Appearances library contains all of the appearance files in the
SOLIDWORKS Visualize Content\Appearances folder by default – regardless of whether you use the appearances in the project. Appearances in the Appearances library are independent of specific projects, making the entire Appearance library available to all projects.
You cannot directly edit an appearance in the Appearance library. You can bring an appearance from the Appearance library into a project, then edit the appearance with parameters in the Appearance tab, and save the modified appearance as a new appearance in the Appearance library.
Appearances Tab
The Appearances tab in the Palette contains only the appearances that you have added to a project.
On the Appearances tab, select any appearance to display its parameters. You can edit these parameters to modify the appearance. The edits affect instances of the appearance on parts in the project, but they do not affect the Appearance library.