SolidWorks® 2011 Parts Bible

CHAPTER 16

Using Annotations and Symbols

IN THIS CHAPTER

Placing notes

Inserting and creating blocks

Accessing symbols

Appling center marks and centerlines

Using annotations tutorial

Annotations and symbols are a major component of communicating a design through a drawing. SolidWorks has several tools available to help you manage these entities to make engineering drawings look good and communicate effectively.

Using Notes

Notes are the workhorse of SolidWorks annotations. You can use notes in many different configurations and mix them with links to custom properties, hyperlinks, and text wrapping boxes. You can also use them with styles, leaders, symbols, and balloons; and you can even embed balloons into notes.

Setting up a workflow for placing notes

Sometimes users have difficulty working through some of the interfaces in SolidWorks. This is not necessarily the fault of the software, but is often because users may not fully understand how the workflow of a particular feature is designed to function. The Model View interface from the last chapter is one that can be confusing until you have been through it a few times and gain a more intuitive feel for how it works.

Understanding the workflow is paramount to being able to use the software efficiently. I sometimes find myself using the annotations clumsily, and sometimes wind up with blank notes, double notes, or extra lines at ...