There are four main items that may be configured and saved into a new part template: Toggle the Advanced/Novice button and then double click the default Part template to begin a new part. Click this button until it says Advanced, which indicates that you are looking at the Novice screen, and then double click the default Part template (Figure 5).įigure 5. Click the document icon to create a new document.Īfter clicking this button you may switch between the Novice and Advanced template selection window. Let’s start by clicking the icon for a New document (Figure 4).įigure 4. Let’s take a look at how to create, save and re-use a part template.

Similarly, Assembly and Drawing templates use special extensions. You may also notice in Figure 3 that the file type is different from a standard document. This setting may also be saved into our templates. Similarly, we might want our inches projects to use three-place precision (x.xxx) while our millimeter projects could use two-place precision (x.xx). Depending which units the current project is in, we can select the appropriate template and save ourselves having to change the option for units. By setting up our templates in inches and millimeters we can save a lot of time. Windows Explorer folder showing template files.Īs you can see in Figure 3, a template has been created for both inches (INCH) and millimeters (MM) for each of the three file types (Part, Assembly and Drawing). Let’s take a quick look at a screen shot of a Windows Explorer folder containing customized SOLIDWORKS 2016 templates (Figure 3).įigure 3. To get the most out of the software and accelerate the completion of your projects, you can create and save customized templates containing your desired custom settings.Ī Template is a special file type that helps users begin a project with the desired settings. These three templates provide you with out-of-the-box settings. The three default out-of-the-box templates. When first installing the software, you will be presented with a choice of three templates, Part, Assembly or Drawing, as shown in Figure 2.įigure 2. Sample of templates that use different units of measurement. If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, I encourage you to continue reading for an overview of how to configure, use and re-use templates in the software.įigure 1. Have you ever been working in SOLIDWORKS software and thought to yourself: “Why do I have to change my units from millimeters to inches every single time I start a new part document?” Have you ever wondered why you have to keep changing the precision of your units from two (x.xx) places to three (x.xxx) places? Have you ever been working in a drawing and wanted to set the driven dimensions to exclude the parentheses every time?

Solidworks file type