You may have heard by now, SolidWorks 2012 software (including CAD, Simulation, Sustainability, and Enterprise PDM) will be the last release that supports Windows XP.  This action is being taken as a follow-up to Microsoft’s retirement of the Windows® XP operating system in April of 2009.  SolidWorks 2013 will not install on Windows XP.

Now that most of us will be upgraded, let’s take another look at some of the Windows 7 shortcuts that may make our lives easier, regardless of what we are using our computers for:

HOTKEYS

• WIN + Up Arrow or WIN + Down Arrow = toggle between window states, Maximized, Restore and Minimized
• WIN + Shift + Left or Right Arrow = move window to another monitor
• WIN + 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 = Launch the corresponding application on the Task Bar
• WIN + P = Projector and video output sett ings
• WIN + X = Mobility Center – Several convenient controls such as projector, WiFi, etc.
• WIN + T = Task Bar navigation via arrow keys
• WIN + D = Show Desktop
• WIN + E = Windows Explorer
• WIN + L = Lock Windows
• WIN + “+” = Magnifying Glass
• Win + Tab = cycle through the open application using Aero Flip
• Alt + Tab = cycle through the open applications
• Ctrl + Tab = cycle through the open documents within an application
• Ctrl + Application Icon = cycle through the open documents within the application
• Ctrl + Shift + Application Icon = Run application as Administrator
• Shift + Application Icon = Run a new instance of an application
• Alt + F4 = Terminate the active application
• Ctrl + Shift + Escape = Windows Task Manager
• Ctrl + C = copy
• Ctrl + X = cut
• Ctrl + V = paste
• Ctrl + Drag = copy
• Shift + Drag = move

Now that’s hot!

Everyone knows that .pdf files are a great, simple way to communicate documents electronically. Most SolidWorks users are aware that you can create .pdf documents from SolidWorks. Did you know you can create Adobe PDF documents with embedded 3D models? You can convey complex 3D designs to all of your partners and clients no matter what tools they use. This allows the recipient to do things such as rotate, pan and zoom the SolidWorks model inside the pdf document. They can also do things such as change background colors and display styles as well as several other functions.

Now a simple right click inside of the Adobe Reader with the .pdf open and you are working in 3D.

When Toolbox parts are saved out as separate, unique files, they retain information about their parentage.  It’s called a Toolbox flag.  In the past it usually didn’t cause a problem but in SolidWorks 2011, a setting was added that could potentially cause your saved parts to be replaced with standard Toolbox components.  You can tell if a component has a Toolbox flag by the bolt icon showing in the Assembly tree.

The new setting tells SolidWorks to always look in the Toolbox location for Toolbox components.   Uncheck this setting and SolidWorks should find your parts correctly.

The best solution, though, is to turn off the Toolbox flag on your components and turn them into regular SolidWorks parts.  There is a program that is installed with SolidWorks that will do this.

1. Go to C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp 2011\SolidWorks\Toolbox\data utilities and look for sldsetdocprop.exe
2. Double click on the executable file.
3. Make sure the Property State is set to No under Set Document Property.
   Check Part Files.
   Select either Add Files… to select individual files or Add Directories… to select an entire folder.
4. Click Update Status.
5. To verify the status of a file after running the program, select a file and click Show Selected property.

If you have any questions, please give Tech Support a call at 763-560-8600, Option 4.

Mirrors can be your friends and your enemies both on the wall and in SolidWorks. If you’re making a part that’s symmetric, mirroring can save you a lot of time building matching features on both sides of the part. However, if you don’t do things correctly it can lead to lots of nightmares.

The biggest complications can stem from the base sketches of your part. Mirroring in a sketch is handy to create symmetric entities, but why not just mirror the feature instead? As a general rule, the more entities you have in a sketch, the more chances you’re giving your model to go wrong. Everything might be symmetric when you start, but if you go back in and edit something later it could all blow up.

Another headache can be due to how you’re defining your features. Mirroring “Blind” features is usually no problem. If you start using more advanced definitions like Up to Vertex, Up to Surface and the like the mirroring the feature may not work because it can’t find the appropriate geometry or extends to the wrong place to really be a “mirror.”

Some features like fillets and chamfers are really picky about the geometry they’re made with. If you try to mirror them, and the faces they’re being mirrored to aren’t exactly the same, they will likely fail.

There are so many ways to have issues! Why not just skip all of them? The solution: Mirror Body. Skip all the headaches of trying to mirror sketches and features and just model half your part, mirror the body and be done. Less sketch entities, less features and less hassle. If you want to ensure total symmetricity that’s your best way to go.

Solidworks has many great shortcuts built into the program already, but you can customize it in a variety of ways to fit your specific needs as well.  If you’re not already familiar with the customize dialog where you can set up your own keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures, this is an easy way to modify your settings and make your modeling operations fly.  You can access the customize dialog by going to Tools>Customize, or right-clicking on any toolbar and choosing Customize from the toolbar list. 

But don’t forget about the Shortcut toolbar.  This is a custom toolbar that pops up right next to your mouse pointer when you hit the “s” key.  With all the fancy mice in use today, one tip is to program a mouse button to the “s” key so you can launch the shortcut bar right from your mouse.  You can customize the shortcut bar by right-clicking on it when it’s visible, selecting Customize…, and dragging and dropping commands from the customize dialog just like any other toolbar.

Also, how many times a day do you use the Ctrl key?  Try programming a mouse button to this key stroke and you simply hold down that button while picking entities that you want to add a relationship between or multi-select.  It will work in other Windows programs, too!

Once you get everything set up the way you like, save your settings with the Copy Settings Wizard.  That way you can automatically apply your settings to any other workstation or new installation.  The Copy Settings Wizard is a tool that is automatically installed with SolidWorks and can be accessed through the Windows Start menu, All Programs, SolidWorks 20XX, SolidWorks Tools.

For more tips on customizing you SolidWorks interface, check out the Customizing SolidWorks tutorial available by going to Help> SolidWorks Tutorials.