 |
 |
|
 |
| Maximizing Speed in SolidWorks with Advanced View Commands | |||
| by Jonathan Cubero, SolidWorks Specialist, TEDCF Publishing | |||
Controlling your views in SolidWorks is essential for maximum productivity. This tip will show you advanced view commands and hot keys that you may not have known were there. |
|||
| Zoom-to-Fit | |||
| Instead of clicking the Zoom-to-Fit magnifying glass icon in the Heads-up View toolbar, double-click the middle mouse button or type the "F" key. | |||
| Smooth Zoom | |||
| Hold the "Shift" key and the middle mouse button down. Then move the mouse up or down while still holding the middle mouse button to smoothly zoom in. | |||
| Z-Key Zoom | |||
| An alternate way to zoom in and out is with the "Z" key. Tap the "Z" key to incrementally zoom out. Hold the "Shift" key and tap the "Z" key to incrementally zoom in. | |||
| Magnifying Glass | |||
| Type the "G" key to open the magnifying glass. You can zoom into a specific area and perform normal tasks like selecting or dimensioning inside the zoomed-in area. To exit out of the magnifying glass view, retype the "G" key, type "ESC", or click in the graphics area. | |||
 |
|||
| Arrow Keys | |||
| Instead of rotating with the middle mouse button, rotate around a part using the arrow keys. Also, hold the "Shift" key and use the arrow keys to rotate in 90-degree increments. Use the left and right arrow keys while holding the "Alt" key to rotate clockwise and counter-clockwise. Holding the "Ctrl" key and using the arrows will allow you to pan around the part. | |||
| Ctrl+[Numbers] | |||
The "Ctrl" key and numbers 1-8 are hot keys for SolidWorks view commands. Ctrl+1 = Front |
|||
| Mouse Gestures | |||
| Right-click and hold to use mouse-gesture view commands. Move the mouse up for Top view, down for Bottom view, to the left for Left view, and to the right for Right view. This pop-up is customizable. | |||
 |
|||
If you want more mouse gestures, go to Tools and scroll down to Customize. |
|||
 |
 |
||
Click on the Mouse Gestures tab. The Enable Mouse Gestures box will be checked. You can choose between 4 and 8 gestures. |
|||
 |
|||
Choosing 8 gestures adds the Front, Back, Trimetric, and Zoom-To-Area commands. |
|||
 |
|||
| Previous View | |||
| A very useful view command is the Previous View command. Click the icon or type Ctrl+Shift+Z to go to the previous view. This comes in very handy if a specific, desired SolidWorks view was changed. | |||
 |
|||
| Reference Triad | |||
| The Reference Triad on the bottom-left of the graphics area helps you see the orientation of the model as the view is moved around the X, Y, and Z axes. In addition, the Reference Triad can be used to change views! Clicking on the Y-axis shows the Top or Bottom views. The X-axis gives the Left and Right views. Front or Back views can be found by clicking on the Z-axis. | |||
 |
|||
| Orientation Dialog Box | |||
| Type the space bar to open the Orientation dialog box. Double-click a view to select it. | |||
 |
|||
| Why is this important? | |||
| Easily accessing the desired view helps to increase your speed and productivity. Take the time to learn all the ways to navigate the views in SolidWorks and then use the ones that are best for your workflow. | |||
| For more SolidWorks resources, click here. For more Tips & Tricks, click here. |
|||
|
Copyright © 2010 TEDCF Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
|
|||