{"id":17092,"date":"2017-06-09T11:00:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/?p=17092"},"modified":"2017-06-08T10:54:38","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T14:54:38","slug":"dimensioning-style-solidworks-dimension-styles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/2017\/06\/dimensioning-style-solidworks-dimension-styles.html","title":{"rendered":"Dimensioning in Style (with SOLIDWORKS Dimension Styles)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: Jim Peltier, CSWE, Javelin Technologies\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Often times, SOLIDWORKS Dimension Styles are passed without notice because it is quite easy to get the job done without using them. However, they can be used for dimensions that have very common notes attached to them. For instance, when I used to design automated machinery, often times, we would add text to a dimension such as \u201cBTS\u201d (Build To Suit), or \u201cDRILL AND REAM\u201d or \u201cTRANSFER AT ASSEMBLY\u201d among others. I\u2019ve created a simple example below:<\/p>\n

\n

\"SOLIDWORKS<\/a><\/p>\n

SOLIDWORKS Dimension Style Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As you can see, I am doing a few different things with my dimensions on this part. My 100.0 dimension at the top includes a note that says \u201cBuild To Suit,\u201d indicating that it will be whatever length the shop floor deems appropriate, hence why the 100.0 is to 1 decimal place and in parentheses. So, I\u2019ve done 3 things to this dimension and I do these 3 things often enough that I want a better way.<\/p>\n

I will use SOLIDWORKS Dimension Styles to make my life easier\u2026<\/p>\n

Adding a SOLIDWORKS Dimension Style<\/h3>\n

I start by selecting the dimension, then I go over to the left-hand side:<\/p>\n

\n

\"Update<\/a><\/p>\n

Update a Style<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Once on the left side, I click the \u201cAdd or Update a Style\u201d button (star with a + sign). Then a dialogue window appears and I give it a meaningful name (such as BTS). On this drawing, I can pick any dimension, and from the drop down menu below the \u201cAdd or Update a Style) button, I can choose BTS and it will change the 3 things on it. I\u2019ve just created and tested my Dimension Style and it works great. Then I create a new drawing and am dismayed to find that BTS doesn\u2019t appear in the drop down of the new drawing:<\/p>\n

\n

\"Style<\/a><\/p>\n

Style Selection<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How do I copy Dimension Styles from one drawing into another?<\/h3>\n

I then go back to the drawing that has my Dimension Styles. I need to do one more thing to them so I can access them: I need to save them out as an external file.<\/p>\n

\"Save<\/a><\/p>\n

To do this, I simply go back to the left and click on the Save Style button. I then save it to an external file (.sldstl). I repeat for each of the Dimension Styles I have created. Then I switch back to my other drawing and use the Load Style button and select the Dimension Styles I want to bring into the new drawing:<\/p>\n

\n

\"Open<\/a><\/p>\n

Open a Style<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Then I have access to the SOLIDWORKS Dimension Styles in the new drawing. I am able to select it from the drop down and apply it to the dimensions in this drawing as well:<\/p>\n

\n

\"Style<\/a><\/p>\n

Style selection available<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Apply styles to a template<\/h3>\n

Of course, I don\u2019t want to have to do this every time I want to use SOLIDWORKS Dimension Styles from a previous drawing. So, there\u2019s one other thing I need to do.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to create a new, blank drawing, then load my Dimension Styles as described before, then I\u2019m going to save my drawing as a Drawing Template, overwriting the old template. Now every new drawing I create (with this template) will have all my Dimension Styles available!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author: Jim Peltier, CSWE, Javelin Technologies\u00a0 Often times, SOLIDWORKS Dimension Styles are passed without notice because it is quite easy to get the job done without using them. However, they can be used for dimensions that have very common notes<\/p>\n... Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":17098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1475,35],"tags":[1965,464,60,453],"class_list":["post-17092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidworks-2017","category-tips-tricks","tag-dimension-styles","tag-drawing","tag-tech-tip","tag-tips-and-tricks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17092"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17100,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17092\/revisions\/17100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}