SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [206]
Document-specific settings are an important part of the template, and it is probably best to get one drawing size completely set up the way you want it, and then create the other sizes from this drawing. This helps to ensure that the settings, such as bent leader length, font, and line weight, are the same for all the templates. Uniform settings on drawings give them a consistent look and make them easier to read. An in-depth discussion of document-specific settings at Tools⇒Options⇒Document Properties can be found in Appendix B. Drafting standards are also controlled by drawing templates.
Using Pre-defined Views in drawing templates
When I use drawing templates, one of my favorite techniques to get to a multi-view drawing quickly is to put one Pre-defined View on the template along with appropriate views projected from the Pre-defined View. A Pre-defined View establishes an orientation and location on the drawing sheet. You can add multiple Pre-defined Views and align them with one another on the drawing sheet so that a drawing is automatically populated by the model, but this is not recommended because if you decide to change the orientation of the drawing, you have to change each Pre-defined View independently. If you set up a single Pre-defined View and make the rest of the views with Projected Views, changing the orientation of the Pre-defined View causes all the Projected Views to update associatively. You cannot directly change the orientation of a Projected View. Pre-defined Views and views projected from Pre-defined Views appear blank until they are populated with model geometry. The pre-defined part of a Pre-defined View is the orientation and placement of the view.
Figure 14.21 shows a template using Pre-defined and Projected Views. You can access Pre-defined Views on the Drawings toolbar; although it is not there by default, you can place it on the toolbar by choosing Tools⇒Customize⇒Commands and using the interface. You can also access Pre-defined Views by choosing Insert⇒Drawing Views⇒Pre-defined. Projected Views are also accessed from the Drawings toolbar.
FIGURE 14.21
Pre-defined Views on a template
Once a Pre-defined View has been placed, you can select an orientation for it from the PropertyManager. Figure 14.22 shows the Drawing View PropertyManager. The orientation for a view is set in the top Orientation panel. In addition to orthogonal views, you can also create isometric and other custom views as Pre-defined Views.
After the view has been oriented, you may want to create more views on the drawing that also become populated by model geometry. This is where the Projected Views are used. Make sure that the drawing properties are set to the correct projection angle.
Because the rest of the views have been created relative to the Front view, none of the views needs to be rotated as it would if, for example, the Top view was placed above the Back or Right view.
Although it is not on this drawing, many drawing templates include a Third Angle Projection symbol as a part of the Title Block, which is in the format. Figure 14.23 shows First and Third Angle Projection symbols. These are included as blocks with the sample data in the SolidWorks installation. Blocks are discussed in more detail in Chapter 16.
FIGURE 14.22
The Drawing View PropertyManager
FIGURE 14.23
Projection angle symbol blocks
Aligning Pre-defined Views
You can align views to one another through a view's RMB menu, as shown in Figure 14.24. Projected Views are aligned to one another automatically, but if you chose to use a Pre-defined View rather than a Projected View to one side of the original Pre-defined View, you can use the Align Vertical by Origin or the Align Horizontal by Origin command. This ensures that the parts in each view are aligned. Aligning by center should not be used for Projected Views on an engineering drawing, because it is not guaranteed to line up edges in adjacent views.
FIGURE 14.24
Selecting view alignment options
Populating a drawing with Pre-defined Views
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