Time Saving Tips You Can Use Everyday

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There’s just 24 hours in a day and it seems like we all want to get more and more done in that time. With a fixed amount of time, the only way to get more done is to increase efficiency. Here are five things I use everyday to save time. These tips will super charge your SOLIDWORKS efficiency so you can get more done. No matter what you make or how you’re using SOLIDWORKS, these tips can be used to help save some time.

 

  • Mouse gestures: With just a swipe of your mouse you can activate commands. When you use mouse gestures it’s like you don’t slow down for even a second as you go from one thing to the next. After a little practice you’ll be so quick with mouse gestures that you won’t even see the wheel appear. It’s completely customizable and context sensitive meaning you have a different set of commands for sketch, part, assembly, and drawing modes.

  • The S-key: By pressing the “S” key on your keyboard you’ll bring up the short cut bar. This gives you access to a set of commands right next to your mouse. There are two major pros to using the shortcut bar: By visually seeing the commands, you won’t have to worry about forgetting how you customized the interface. You’re not limited to only a handful of commands like mouse gestures which brings more commands to your finger tips. As with mouse gestures this is completely customizable and context sensitive.

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  • The D-Key: The D-key was a recent addition to SOLIDWORKS a few years ago which can help you save a lot of time by bringing the confirmation corner or breadcrumbs directly to your mouse pointer. More on breadcrumbs below.
  • Bread-Crumbs: These were hinted at in the last tip but these bring everything related to your selection directly next to your mouse. Think of this as a listing of anything you can access in the FeatureManager.

 

  • Command Search: Don’t spend time looking through menus to find that command you need to use. Just use the command search to access the command. Just type it in the search bar at the top of your screen and launch the command directly from the list.

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And those are the five things I use on daily basis to help save time with SOLIDWORKS. As you can see they are not unique to a job function and can be used by any user in any industry. These aren’t specific to weldments, sheetmetal, drawings, or only meant for industrial designers. These are 5 things that should be implemented in your workflow to help you shave a few seconds off your process which will add up to significant time savings.

 

Here’s a bonus tip: after customizing your interface and getting used to your SOLIDWORKS set up save your settings you can take them with you to load on to any machine you might be using.

 

Stephen Petrock

Stephen Petrock

Since 1998, TriMech has helped our clients design better products by partnering with them and offering, not only CAD, CAE, PDM, FEA, CAM software products, but also by engineering solutions involving full-time and temporary staffing, contract design, analysis and drafting services, rapid prototyping, custom programming and implementation services. TriMech is a value-added reseller of SOLIDWORKS and Stratasys 3D Printers in the Mid-Atlantic and South-East including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Stephen Petrock