MEAM.Design - SolidWorks - Drawings / Creating Drawings from Parts

Getting Started

If you don't have the part open, you can start a new drawing by selecting File > New... then clicking on the Drawing option.

If you've already got the part file open that you want to make the drawing from, you can click on the Make Drawing from Part/Assembly button, or select Make Drawing from Part from the File... menu.

Setting the Sheet Format/Size

You'll need to pick the sheet size and decide whether you want to display the default sheet formatting, then click OK to create the new drawing.

Placing the First View

(Coming in as a new file) - If you're coming in as a new file (not from a part), you'll see a Part/Assembly to Insert section in the Property Manager. If the file from which you want to create a drawing is shown there, you can double-click on it's name, or browse for the part you need. When you move the mouse over the drawing, you'll see an outline which represents the front view of your part. Click somewhere on the sheet to drop the first (parent) view.

(Coming in from the Make Drawing from Part function) - if you come in from a part file, the default opens the View Palette (to open this at any other time, you can click on its button in the palette chooser on the right of the screen). Click the view you want to place first, and drag it into the sheet.

Placing Other Views

Once the first view is placed, you can drag off projections by moving the mouse away from the first view and clicking to drop the new views. If you move off at a diagonal, SolidWorks should generate an isometric view of your part. You may notice that the default shows orthogonal views in first-angle projection, but we'll fix this shortly. When you're finished, click green check mark

Moving Views

To reposition a view, click and drag on either the part lines or on the dashed-line box that appears when you hover over the view. You'll see that the first view you placed (SolidWorks calls this the parent view) can be moved anywhere and that the projected views will remain aligned to the view. In contrast, projected views can only be moved along lines toward or away from the parent view

With the desired views in your drawing, you'll want to move on to some commonly changed settings.