SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [200]
While templates cannot be reloaded, formats can be. You might want to reload a format (drawing border and associated annotations) if you have made changes to the information or line geometry. You can also reload a format to change the sheet size for a drawing.
Maintaining different templates or formats
Different formats must be maintained for different sheet sizes. If you do contract design or detailing work, then you may need to maintain separate formats for different customers. Some people also choose to have different formats for the first sheet of a drawing and a simplified format for the following sheets.
If you put formats on the templates, then you are making separate templates for various sized drawings. Also, separate templates are frequently created for different units or standards because templates contain document-specific settings. I also keep a blank drawing template with a blank format on it just to do conceptual scribbles or to make an informal, scalable, and printable drawing without the baggage that typically accompanies formal drawings.
Caution
SolidWorks can install with default document templates that use different standards. Be careful of the difference between drawings with ANSI and ISO standards or, more importantly, the use of Third Angle Projection versus First Angle Projection. Figure 14.1 shows the difference between a Third Angle and First Angle Projection. Third Angle is part of the ANSI standard used in the United States, whereas First Angle is part of the ISO standard used in Europe.
If you work for a company that does a lot of work for manufacturing in Europe, then you may have to deal this issue more frequently. The setting that controls the projection angle is not in Tools⇒Options (where you might expect it to be) but in the Sheet Properties, which you can access by right mouse button (RMB)+clicking anywhere on the blank drawing sheet and selecting Properties.
FIGURE 14.1
Third Angle versus First Angle Projection
Creating custom drafting standards
In my experience, in companies that work in the real world, very few companies follow any of the single drafting standards perfectly. Each company seems to have its own interpretation of, or exceptions to, the standards. SolidWorks is coming to grips with this in a practical way. In SolidWorks, you can create your own custom drafting standards, equivalent to the established ISO and ANSI standards. These standards allow you to save all the settings found in Tools⇒Options⇒Document Properties to a single standard that you can then transfer to other users.
To make your own custom standard, make changes to the various settings for annotations, symbols, dimensions, and so forth, and then go back to the Drafting Standard page of the Document Properties tab, rename the Overall Drafting Standard, and save the standard to a file. I have created a new standard, which is shown in Figure 14.2.
FIGURE 14.2
Creating a new customized drafting standard
The drafting standard file type has the extension of *.sldstd. If someone else has sent you a standard file, you can read it in to your drawing using the settings shown on the right of Figure 14.2 and assign it as the active standard; your drawing will assume all the customized properties.
On the DVD
I have saved a custom standard file and put it on the DVD for Chapter 14. You can load this file into an open drawing by choosing Tools⇒Options⇒Document Properties⇒Drafting Standard and using the interface.
Creating Drawing Formats
Creating drawing formats can be either simple or difficult, depending on your requirements. Generally, copying existing drawing borders from other drawings