What's the primary reason to select a reseller? Excellence in technical support. Check out the kind of support we offer - here are some of our most popular tips from customer calls.

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KAP's Corner

We are pleased to introduce KAP’s Corner. This monthly column will provide an in depth look into a variety of CAD topics. It’s full of useful tips and tricks, the latest innovations from SolidWorks, shortcuts through the interface, best practices and ways to maximize your CAD experience. KAP’s Corner is authored by Keith Pedersen, CAP’s resident technical guru. Topics available on our website:

New! Doll-House Techniques

FEA Mesh Architecture

FEA Thermal Strain

Reducing SolidWorks File Sizes

Life-long Mates

FEA Meshing with Solid Bodies

Synchronizing the Toolbox Library

Taking the Magic Out of the Hole Wizard

Assembly Templates

Mirrored Parts

Thinking Inside the Envelope

CAD Productivity Tools Step-by-Step Book Review

Tech Tips for SolidWorks

Listed below is an archive of older tech tips relating to SolidWorks. Some effort has been made to update them with changes to software and other technology, however our Subscription Login area has a collection of tech tips that are maintained more thoroughly.

General SolidWorks Technical Tips

• eDrawings Viewer or SolidWorks Viewer?
• How do I export files to CADKEY Classic?
• Sending an individual part from I-DEAS to SolidWorks.
• Importing an Assembly IGES file from I-DEAS to SolidWorks.
• Displaying multiple viewports.
• Changing the center of view rotation.
• Is it possible to adjust the degree of perspective in the Perspective view display?

• What are the standard SolidWorks hotkeys?

SolidWorks Sketching Technical Tips

• Sometimes I can make the value of a Sketch offset be driven by neighboring geometry, and sometimes I cannot. Why?
  
• Don't double-click to select a sketch plane
• Sketching - avoiding accidental references
• How to precisely position an un-constrained sketch

• Dragging features and Sketches in 2008 with “Instant 3D”

• Relations for points in a sketch: Coincident vs. Merge
• Why can't I create a Sketch Point at the same location as an existing point?
• How can I locate the focus of a sketched ellipse?
• Detecting Invalid Sketches
• How can I measure the overall length of a 3-D Sketch?
• 4 methods to re-position sketch data imported from a drawing

SolidWorks Part Modeling Technical Tips

• When I drop a Library Feature, like a Sheet Metal stamping tool, into a part, I cannot get it to rotate 90 degrees from where it originally landed.
• How can I make individual part files from a multibody part?
• Loft to a point
• Activating the "Link to Thickness" option.
• How can I measure the overall height of an irregular surface?
• How to extrude "Up To" or "Offset From" multiple faces
• Creating a Pattern with "skipped" instances
• Dragging and dropping features in the FeatureManager
• Can I create a configuration of my model using the rollback bar to remove some features from my model?

• How can I make individual part files from a multibody part?

SolidWorks Assembly Technical Tips

• Solidworks used to add parts to an assembly with “Smart Mates”, for snap-to-fit mating. There was even a Smart Mate Icon. Where did it go?
  
• Locking and Breaking assembly references
• Viewing the Assembly Mates for a particular component
• What is the best way to create a new copy of an existing assembly, as well as its parts (some of which have in-context features), and the assembly drawing?
• Starting a new component in the context of an assembly
• How do I save a SolidWorks generated BOM as an Excel file?
• How can I locate a component in my FeatureManager design tree if it is in a subassembly?
• I want to assemble a lot of items onto a common datum face – can I Mate them as a group?
• How can I make individual part files from a multibody part?
• When I add a new component to one assembly configuration, it appears in all of them. Why?
• I can't find the SmartMates icon in SolidWorks 2004 or later

SolidWorks DrawingsTechnical Tips

• Splitting views of a drawing
• Attaching datums to a dimension
• How do I create notes with multiple leader lines?
• What affects eDrawing size?
• How do you put a perspective view on a drawing?
• My Drawing Template no longer prompts me for the paper size or titleblock format to use. How do I get this prompt back?
• 3rd Angle vs 1st Angle Projection in drawings
• 4 methods to re-position sketch data imported from a drawing

SolidWorks Analysis and Simulation Technical Tips

• Can I compute the effect of Tolerance Stack-Up between features in a single part file?
• How can I apply a Force that is distributed evenly across more than one feature?
• I frequently use the SPLIT LINE feature to inscribe faces into sub-regions, for the precise placement of a load or boundary condition. But if I want to apply several such boundary conditions, the SPLIT LINE command only works on one closed contour at a time. Is there any way to inscribe multiple SPLITs without so many steps?
• I am trying to activate an existing study that I ran some time ago. When I click on the TAB for the study at the bottom of the Solidworks desktop, the study folders do not appear in the Feature Manager. Why?

Hardware Technical Tips

• SolidWorks System Requirements
• CAP Hardware Suggestions
• Got VISTA?
• Still Having Graphics Problems?
• How can I tune my graphics card for best performance with SolidWorks?
• Is it a requirement to have administrative privileges to install SolidWorks or upgrade to the latest Service Pack?