Drawing and Viewport Backgrounds

SolidWorks 2008 introduced the ability to control the drawing background.  This was made obvious with the notorious implementation of the Crinkled Paper image that now dons SW 2008 on-screen display of drawings.  This image is kinda cool, but also not really all that professional.  It is an unusual and quirky choice for a default image, to say the least.  Just as quirky is that fact the user cannot choose to print their drawing with that background included.  This makes the whole thing seem rather silly.  Regardless, there is a fairly easy method to change this image.  Instructions to change this image appear latter in this article.  Also included are the instructions to simply turn this function off.  Also included at the end of this article are locations where some background images are available for download.

Before SW 2008, the user only had the ability to set a solid color as the drawing background.  The user did have capabilities to control the viewport background, which also appears underneath the drawing background.  The abillity to control this viewport background has improved over the years.  In the early days, one could only set the color.  Then SW wowwed us with transitional coloration.  Later, the user could display an image as the background.  Instructions on how to apply an image to the viewport backaround appear later in this article.

Instructions to change the drawing background in SW 2008

1. Obtain or create a new Bitmap (.bmp) image for use as the background. For best results, the .bmp should be a pixel size that is similar to the current SW 2008 backgruond image (sheetbackground1.bmp).  Also, be sure the background image is light or ghost-like so that it does not obscure the drawing itself.
2.  Shutdown SolidWorks, if not already.
3. Goto the SolidWorks\data\Images\drawings folder in Windows Explorer. Note: this folder location may vary some between systems at the “Solidworks” level.
4. Rename the standard sheetbackground1.bmp to back it up.
5. Copy the new sheetbackground1.bmp into that folder.
6. Start SolidWorks and open a drawing to confirm.

Instructions to turn off the drawing background image in SW 2008

1. Start SolidWorks.
2. Goto pulldown Tools/Options…/System Options tab.
3. Select Colors in the left selection list.
4. Check the box of “Use specified color for drawings paper color”.
5. If you wish to change the default paper color, select “Drawings, Paper Color” in the “Color scheme settings” list and LMB click on the “Edit…” button to the right. This brings up a window where you can select another color. Pick “OK” button of that window to return to System Options.
6. Pick “OK” button of the System Options to implement the changes.
7. Open a drawing to confirm changes.

Instructions use an image as the viewport background for SW 2006 and above

1. Identify which image you’d like to use as a viewport background.  Note: drawing background images from SW 2008 can also be used as viewport backgrounds in SW 2006/7.
2. Start SolidWorks.
3. Goto pulldown Tools/Options…/System Options tab.
4. Select Colors in the left selection list.
5. Select the option to use an Image file under “Background appearance”. The exact name and placement of this selection may vary between versions of SolidWorks. Look for the field that allows the entry of a file name and its associated browse button (three dots).
6. Browse to the location of the image to be used as the background, and select the image file. Pick “OK” or “Open”.
7. Pick “OK” to accept the change in System Options.
8. Open a drawing to confirm change.

Locations to find drawing backgrounds

Ctopher’s Material Database – Update

The new ctopher’s Material Database is here! The long anticipated new update of my material database.

The new database version 070508 has been updated with more materials.

Because of conflicts with some of the materials between SolidWorks 2008 and older versions, we created two versions. One version is for 2007 and older and the other is for 2008 and newer. Both are included in the same file.

Also added is a text file with instructions.

Thank you to Matt and others for your help and contributions.

Chris (ctopher)

Download page: ctopher’s Material Database

(*.SLDMAT)

Product Review: Template Wizard (Part 2)

Template Wizard is a relatively new application from SolidWorks Templates by Kevin Van Liere.  He spent about 2 years developing and improving it.  It is designed to work within SolidWorks 2008, though it does have some limited functionality in SolidWorks 2007 SP4.0 or higher. This part of my article is a critique of Template Wizard’s specific functions and workflow.  Ultimately, the most important question will be answered “42”.  How easy is it to make a new Drawing Template with Template Wizard?

General Description and Workflow

This review is based on Template Wizard Version 2.5.3088.23714.  As stated before, Template Wizard allows for the creation of SolidWorks templates.  It is an add-in that runs from within SolidWorks.  When running, its interface occupies the Property Manager in what is commonly referred to as the FeatureManager or Feature Tree Pane, along the left side of the open document.  Settings and features are all selected from within this pane.

Once it is installed, Template Wizard appears as a pull down menu by the same name.  Two options appear in the menu.  “Create/Modify Templates” and “Help”.  This is very simple and to the point.  When selected, the Template Wizard pops up with some options to start a new template or modify an existing template.  These options apply to drawings, parts and assemblies.  However, if one selects anything other than Drawing Template first, the software gently reminds the user that it will work best if a Drawing Template is created first.

Template Wizard takes a step by step approach.  As one goes through the nine general steps for creating a Drawing Template, Template Wizard establishes its settings and allows the user to build what will become the Sheet Format and Drawing Template.  After that, it also flows right into the creation of part and assembly templates.  One minor drawback to this step-by-step approach is that the arrows which take you from step to step (backward and forward) are small and barely noticeable in the upper right corner of the pane.  The size of these arrow is controlled by SolidWorks itself (and not the fault of Template Wizard), but that doesn’t make it any easier to recognize.  However, once one is familiar with the interface, there are no usability issues due to this minor detail.

Creating a Drawing Template

Step 1 is the Template Wizards start-up form itself (where the user is wisely guided to first create a Drawing Template).  Once the choice is made and “Begin” is selected, a blank drawing is opened with Step 2 the Template Wizard appearing in the Program Manager.

Step 2 is very logical.  It requests sheet size, type of projection, unit system (in/mm, etc), dimensioning standard (ISO/ANSI, etc) and other fundamental settings.  As choices are made, they are immediately implemented.

Step 3 creates the border for the Sheet Format.  I’m not sure how much work went in to designing and programming this step (great or slight?), but in my opinion, this one step makes the whole Template Wizard package worth its price tag!  All the user has to do is set the margins, determine the number of zones and zone marker lengths; then click “Create Border”.  This step allows the user to generate a fully defined and complete border in seconds!  Advanced options also exist that establish other several settings.  The border can also be saved as a block for use elsewhere.

Step 4 allows the user to add title block elements to their template.  In my opinion, Step 4 is by far the most complex portion of Template Wizard.  It may even be a little scary at first.  There is a large selection of title block elements to choose from.  One must select each element from a drop down list box and place it on the drawing using the element’s insertion point.  It is fairly simply, but not immediately obvious, even with the on-screen description.  Before attempting to use step, I highly recommend reading the Help.  I especially recommend looking up “Pre-Designed Title Blocks” or “ASSY LOGO” in the Help to bring up images of the title block elements.  Once the user has the hang of how to pick and place the title block elements, this step easy and extremely powerful.  Template Wizard functionality does appear to be bumping into limitations of SolidWorks itself in this step.  One example of this is that if the user attempts to directly edit text within the template (instead of using Template Wizard functions to make such edits), SolidWorks will crash.  According to Kevin, this is a flaw in SolidWorks, but it is a flaw that pops up when using his application, so that may be a moot point.  I will say that if Template Wizard is used as intended, such issues should be minimal.

Step 5 directs the user to pick the Revision Table anchor.  Given SolidWorks 2008’s little quirks, I HIGHLY recommend choosing the upper right corner of the border.  It seems for some reason some functionality for creating Revision Tables has been reduced in 2008, making this necessary.  Very poor decision on the part of SolidWorks Corp., but I digress.  Template Wizard does insert the Revision Table once this anchor is selected.

Step 6 is a small step in which the user makes selections regarding fonts, annotations and display of tangent edges.  This step almost feels like an after-thought.  Perhaps these choices could be moved into Step 3 instead, or perhaps expanded to cover more settings that users may be interested in controlling?

Step 7 allows the user to save the drawing template (as it appears on screen) as a Sheet Format.  My only complaint here is that non-standard nomenclature is used.  Instead of referring to this function as “Save Sheet Format”, it has a button to “Save Page Design”.  I asked Kevin about this.  He made the choice to use this terminology because inexperienced users did not understand “Sheet Format” and how it is different from “Drawing Template”.  However, this choice may be confusing for experienced users.  Perhaps a statement in the on-screen help may allow Template Wizard to make this matter clear, especially if new terms are being created.

Step 8 is where the user actually saves their Drawing Template.

Step 9 allows the user to continue on to create templates for parts (models) and assemblies.  Template Wizard can carry over some information from the Drawing Template to these templates, such as unit settings and custom properties.  It also allows the user to control several other settings.  This function uses an intuitive and straightforward step-by-step approach to create those templates similar to how it works for drawings.

Conclusion

Template Wizard is a very well researched and useful product with a very low price tag.  Overall, it is easy to use and very comprehensive.  Kevin states, “I really put my heart into it to make it as good as I could.”  This dedication really shows in the end product.  The software is still a little rough around the edges in some places [as of 2008], though much of this seems to come from limitations or bugs within SolidWorks itself.  Given all factors, Template Wizard is well worth its price.  New and experienced users will benefit from this application.  Really, in my mind, the best customer for this software is anyone who has the responsibility to create templates for a new company or a company that has just started using SolidWorks.  The next best customer is one who wishes to improve already existing Drawing Templates.  I recommend Template Wizard for all such cases.

Product Review: Template Wizard (Part 1)

One of the areas where SolidWorks lacks is in the creation and editing of engineering drawings.  Specifically, there is very poor support for drawing templates.  One person has taken a stab at filling this gap in SolidWorks functionality.  Kevin Van Liere of SolidWorks Templates has created Template Wizard.

The goal for Templates Wizard is to make it easy for the end user to create and edit drawing templates.  According to Kevin, SolidWorks Corp. does not acknowledge that their lack of functionality with drawing templates is a problem.  Also not provided by SolidWorks Corp. is a best practices guide for templates during SolidWorks training.  He developed Template Wizard due to these facts and out of pure frustration.

He says that his target is end users, of course.  In particular, new users will find Template Wizard most helpful, though he does feel existing users will benefit as well.  I am inclined to agree, especially at the current list price of {outdated}.  Due to the low price, he stated that some VARs have contacted him about purchasing seats of Template Wizard to provide it to their clients for free as part of an overall package.  For the price, this is likely one of the most accessible professional SolidWorks Add-ins available.

The Add-in creates templates for drawings, models and model assemblies.  It allows the user to create such templates from scratch. In the case of drawing templates, it also allows the user to create a SolidWorks drawing template based on an AutoCAD template.  Additionally, it will edit existing SolidWorks drawing templates to add fields and functions that might be previously lacking.

The focus is on the actual templates themselves.  For example, Template Wizard intentionally does not go deep in to settings, such as centermark sizes.  It does provide general control by the selection of ANSI, ISO, etc.  However, for the most part, it offers the pure experience of creating the template itself.  I think that task is daunting enough without getting into the numerous individual settings available within SolidWorks.

Part 2 of this article will go into the details of Template Wizard, focusing on its work flow and specific functions.  It will include a (hopefully) thorough critique of the Add-in.

For the record, this review is unsolicited by SolidWorks Templates; I contacted SolidWork Templates.  This review is based on a free short term license that was provided to me by SolidWorks Templates solely for the purpose of this review.  That license is revoked upon completion of this review.  No guarantees by me were granted to SolidWorks Templates regarding the outcome of this review.  I did discuss my negative findings with Kevin regarding specific functions prior to release of this review.  All of my findings (positive and negative) will be openly presented in Part 2.

Drill and Tap (~Part 3)

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Hole Callouts

I previously discussed threaded hole callouts in the context of SolidWorks and its calloutformat.txt files (Part 1 and Part 2). As mentioned before, there is a tendency for some to callout threaded holes with too much information. Often, the thread callouts include the drill size. As argued before, including the drill size usually over-defines the threaded hole because the specifications of the thread itself identify the drill size. It also attempts to specify manufacturing processes, which is not allowed by ASME Y14.5M-1994. In fact, including the drill size within a thread callout may actually provide incorrect specification in many cases.

This is particularly true in the case of threads that are in blind holes. These are usually made with forming taps (roll taps). The diameter of the drilled hole for a roll tapped thread is bigger than it is for a cut thread. For example, for a 10-32 roll tap, the drill size is .1762, while a 10-32 cut thread drill size is .159. Once formed or cut, the specification for the ID of the thread is .156 to .164.

On drawings where customary units (inch) are used, the number of decimals places in the dimension usually determines the tolerance for that dimension. Stating a drill size as a decimal dimension applies the standard drawing tolerances to that dimension unless some general note is added.  This means that the tolerance for the drill callout likely differs with that required by the thread.  So, if the drill size is called out, drawing may be providing the wrong information to the machine shop.