GENERAL TIPS

• Avoid large sections that cut thru the model. Use smaller sections or details.
• Turn OFF the "Verification on rebuild" option.
• Simplify your models. Drawings take a long time to generate complex geometry. The less detail that exists in your models, means there will be less detail that needs to be generated in the drawing.
• Hide components that do not need to be shown in the drawing views. This reduces the amount of geometry that needs to be generated.
• In complex drawings, hide all views you are not working on during the current session.
• If you are going to reposition a few section lines, move all of the section lines as needed before using 'Update view' to rebuild the section views.
• If you are going to reposition the outline of a detail view over the model, hide the view first to reduce the update delays.
• When saving a multi sheet drawing, manually activate each sheet to force a rebuild to ensure all sheets show the proper information when the drawing is opened in SolidWorks's 'View Only' mode or opened in the SolidWorks Viewer.
• To reorder drawing sheets, you can drag and drop the drawing sheets in the feature manager.
• To move drawing views between drawing sheets, activate the drawing sheet that already has the view, select the desired drawing view in the feature manager and drag it onto the drawing sheet (in the feature manager) you want to move it to, and drop the icon.
• To copy a drawing views to another drawing sheet, activate the drawing sheet that already has the view, select the desired drawing view in the feature manager and drag it onto the drawing sheet (in the feature manager) you want to move it to. Hold down the 'CTRL' key and drop the icon. The selected drawing view will be copied to the drawing sheet.
• To ensure section lines stay where needed, you can add relationships or dimensions as needed. Dimensions can later be hidden if necessary.

SIMILAR DRAWINGS - DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS OF SAME MODEL

Follow these guidelines to save time when creating similar drawings from same model.

• Spend the extra time to generate a master detail drawing that includes common features/components that are used in most configurations. Save and close out of the master drawing.
• Repeat the following steps as needed.
  • Copy the master drawing to a new drawing file.
  • Open the drawing file in SolidWorks.
  • Change the configuration referenced in each view. Note: You can use my macro ConfigManager to automate this task.
  • Tweak the drawing as needed for the specific configuration selected.
  • Save and exit the drawing.

SIMILAR DRAWINGS - DIFFERENT MODELS

Follow these guidelines to save time when creating similar drawings from same model.

• Spend the extra time to generate a master detail drawing that includes common features/components that are used in most models. Save and close out of the master drawing.
• Repeat the following steps as needed.
  • Copy the master drawing to a new drawing file.
  • From within SolidWorks
    • Select 'File | Open' from the pull down menu.
    • Select the file name, and click on the 'References' button.
    • Double click the component in the list.
    • Migrate to, and select the component you want to use, and click 'OPEN'.
    • Click 'OK', then click 'OPEN'.
    SolidWorks will now load the drawing with the desired model.
  • Tweak the drawing as needed for the specific model selected.
  • Save and exit the drawing.