SOLIDWORKS: Part and Assembly Templates

[@NotTheLastGinger]

THANK YOU, nothing else could come close to even mentioning that you have to save the part you change the settings in, let alone saving it as a part template. Thank you

[@buynsell365]

OMG !!!! Thank you so much for this video. I was having to consistently set the decimal to three positions each time and some times I would forget ..................now I have a custom template........thanks

[@4n2earth22]

Excellent tutorial. Thank you for the time and energy to make this!

[@miguelheras7371]

Your explanation was geat to me, I have a better understanding where to locate the Templates👍

[@63Ducati1]

You left your Drafting Standard as ANSI. Then at 2:17, you say, "If you want to make any changes to annotations or dimensions, this is where you could do it." But, as soon as I changed the font from .125 to .156, the DRAFTING standard is no longer ANSI. It becomes ANSI-MODIFIED. The same thing happens when I change anything under "Tables". I don't recall putting a bend table, bill of materials or title block in a part or assembly. Those things go in the drawing. Am I wrong on that? Then at4:39, you say for the metadata entry, "Part Number" and select "Number" without the "Part" that you said (but is not a choice) and gloss over the existence of PartNo. That caused me a problem on BOMs when the PartNo column of the BOM was blank because it was set to "Number" which was not used in my custom properties. Then you ended without even mentioning the System Options! (??) Doesn't the number of recent documents go into the template? How about the display colors? The Selection method, either box or lasso? External References? Spin Box increments, that I specify different than the SW default? Does everyone use the default Hole Wizard/Toolbox with the SW default entries. Don't all those things get specified in the Template? I have more questions now than when I started this. I was under the impression that the "System Options" went in the Template, while the "Document Properties" went into the format. I'll keep looking.

[@hawkridgesystems]

Changing the settings defined in the ANSI standard automatically changes the standard to ANSI-MODIFIED. BOM Tables can be added to an assembly in the SLDASM file itself and will be displayed in model space. The table in the assembly environment can then be imported to the associated drawing(s). BOM fields should match property names in order to pull information from the assembly file. Start by defining property names in your assembly file (and be sure to save as a template so they can be accessed on all new files). Then create a BOM and ensure the column headers are reading from the correct respective properties. You can then save the BOM as a template for reuse as well. It is recommended to leave System Options as default unless a change is specifically needed. This is the best bet for optimized performance. Hole Wizard data is very reliable because it is based on existing standards, again recommended to only change/update when specifically needed. System Options are universal system settings while Document Properties are specific to each file and must be saved with a template to reuse. Hope this helps.

[@AnirudhPadamati]

Hello! How would I link the custom properties (like material, mass etc) of the part template to drawing template? In a drawing template, when I try to link to material of the part, there is no option from the dropdown to do so.

[@thomapapa4006]

VERY GOOD VIDEOS, THANKS

[@williamhoward7121]

Excellent instructional video - Thanks

[@camothrowback1526]

Nice video. On a different note, I recently updated SolidWorks and had to do a complete wipe on my SolidWorks 2019 version for the 2020 which came with a bigger kit. My issue is I get a notification always saying that templates are not present when switching to the novice option. After making two templates in the ‘parts’ directory, I still get the same message. So, I switched to advanced to do my opening the parts. However, now my issue is the only way I can open an assembly is through the tutorial method. I attempted to make a assembly template (with the dotasm), but instead get prompted with “Assembly templates can not be made referencing something something (I believe it was the part). Any ideas to help? I would like to do assemblies without having to go always into the tutorial methodology.

[@camothrowback1526]

The exact prompt I get when attempting to make an assembly template is: “A document which references other documents may not be saved as a template.” Assemblies have to reference other documents. I am just attempting to save a more reachable template where things are all together than several files away. Any help is appreciated.

[@jasontaylor746]

Search your computer for .prtdot to see if they are somewhere else

[@jimstieben2885]

It is possible to change from one assembly template to another after creation? Example, I use the default template and create an assembly and then take the time to create a custom assembly template 2 weeks later. Is it possible to change the original using the new assembly template I created?

[@hawkridgesystems]

Hi Jim, unfortunately there is not an easy way to swap out templates after the fact. The usual course of action would be to manually adjust Document Properties and other changes to match. There is a utility called "Design Checker" that can potentially be used to batch scan documents and make sure they have the same properties, which would be useful if you made any major changes after the fact. We have a video on using it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoiTe5aNn6iKe8U There is a trick you could try specifically for assemblies, which is to create a new Assembly with your new template, insert your old assembly into it (it will come in as subassembly) and then dissolve said subassembly. Have to be careful with that approach, as it could break certain features (assembly features and so on).

[@mohawkvalleyrailfan]

Great video. Question, when I go into the file properties and click on the property pull down menu, there is nothing there in my seat of solidworks, why would that be?

[@hawkridgesystems]

There is a file type called a Custom Property File that is supposed to populate the default properties. You can check under your System Options -> File Locations and choose Custom Property Files to browse for one. It's likely yours is missing From within the regular File Properties tab though, you can also click "Edit List" which will allow you to create new names for properties that will be available from the pulldown. help.solidworks.com/2019/english/SolidWorks/sldworks/hidd_editcuspropdlg.htm Hope this helps!

[@mohawkvalleyrailfan]

@@hawkridgesystems thanks!

[@SAULSAAVEDRA]

Thank you great help, and well explained.

[@henryklassen3362]

Ho can I select an existing template when I want to create a new part from in an assembly?

[@hawkridgesystems]

This should be controlled by a system option. Under System Options -> Default Templates whatever templates are set there will be used for new parts created in-context. If you want to be able to choose which template on creation, then choose the "Prompt" option instead of "Always use these default templates" then you should receive a prompt allowing you to choose each time you create new parts in an assembly.

[@seankerslake8103]

Never understood why SW as an engineering app defaults to a graphics rather than an engineering orientation - Z vertical, x right, y back.

[@davidvileta4526]

that mechanical keyboard, lol