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New drawing reference based off of similar drawing that is already made

Question asked by Ryan Freker on Jul 11, 2018
Latest reply on Jul 11, 2018 by David Matula

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I am trying to make a drawing of a new part, while referencing an already made drawing of an old part. I know there is a way to use SolidWorks Explorer and use the references but I don't know how to do that.

Basically I am asking how to make a new drawing of a new part while referencing an already made drawing of a similar part, but the new drawing will automatically be made using the old drawing references of similar dimensions and such using SolidWorks File Explorer.

Please let me know if you understand what I am asking and how to do it. Thanks!

David Matula Jul 11, 2018 11:02 AM

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in open when your at the drawing

click the ref

then double click the part and navigate to where the new part is.

open and do a save as on the new drawing.

old drawing keeps ref

new save as should be ref to new part.

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14 Replies

Chris Saller Jul 11, 2018 10:01 AM
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All I can think of is open the old drawing and do a Save As. It will keep the ref of all the views to the old part. You can update all, or any view as needed, to the new part.
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Glenn Schroeder Jul 11, 2018 10:10 AM
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It's probably my fault, but I'm not real clear on what you're trying to do. If you have a completed Part and Drawing, and you need to create a new Part and Drawing that are very similar, then Pack and Go will work nicely. See How can I create a new Assembly or Drawing similar to an existing one?.
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- Ryan Freker @ Glenn Schroeder on Jul 11, 2018 10:50 AM
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  More so my fault since I can't explain well what I'm trying to do
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  - Glenn Schroeder @ Ryan Freker on Jul 11, 2018 10:53 AM
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    Ryan Freker wrote:
    
    More so my fault since I can't explain well what I'm trying to do
    
    Again, Pack and Go.
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John Stoltzfus Jul 11, 2018 10:15 AM
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What do you want to reference???

Geometry
Custom Properties
Sheet Layout
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- Ryan Freker @ John Stoltzfus on Jul 11, 2018 10:40 AM
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  I want to use references and solidworks file explorer to copy a drawing from an old part and automatically make a similar drawing using a new part. The layout of the views will be the same and the similar smart dimensions but with the new specific dimensions of the new part.
  
  Ex: (Old part specific dimension might be 20.5 and it will update the new part dimension to 21.5)
  
  I guess I have trouble explaining it because I have never done it and did not understand completely when it was explained, though I thought I understood.
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  - Glenn Schroeder @ Ryan Freker on Jul 11, 2018 10:45 AM
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    It sounds like Pack and Go, which I mentioned above, is what you need. Pack and Go the existing Drawing, which will create a new copy of the Drawing and its referenced Part. Close that Drawing, open the new Part, and make your changes. Open the new Drawing and it will reflect the changes.
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  - John Stoltzfus @ Ryan Freker on Jul 11, 2018 10:47 AM
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    Design table or configurations would be something you could look into
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Dan Pihlaja Jul 11, 2018 11:00 AM
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If you want to do what I think you are wanting to do then try this:

You currently have:
Drawing1 which is a drawing of Part1.
You also have Part2. And you want to make a drawing just like Drawing1, except that it now references Part2.

Here is how you do that:
Open Drawing1 and run a Save as. Call it Drawing2 (or whatever).

Now, inside Drawing2, run a "Replace Model" on the drawing views and select Part2 as the reference.
2017 SOLIDWORKS Help - Replace Model for Drawing Views

This may screw up most of the dimensions, which you might need to replace.....but all notes and whatnot will still be there. Make sure you get all drawing views
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- Ryan Freker @ Dan Pihlaja on Jul 11, 2018 11:13 AM
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  This also works, thanks!
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David Matula Jul 11, 2018 11:02 AM
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in open when your at the drawing
click the ref
then double click the part and navigate to where the new part is.

open and do a save as on the new drawing.

old drawing keeps ref
new save as should be ref to new part.
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- Ryan Freker @ David Matula on Jul 11, 2018 11:06 AM
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  This is what I was trying to do and was about to explain how I did it on my own. Thank you!
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- Timothy Taby @ David Matula on Jul 11, 2018 12:02 PM
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  This is what I do.Open the drawing, do a save as to the new drawing name, then close & re-open drawing while using the reference button to select the new part.
  
  Alternately, if your going to make a new part and drawing from an old part open both and do the save as on on the part first and the refrences on the drawing are already updated when you save as on it.
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  - David Matula @ Timothy Taby on Jul 11, 2018 12:09 PM
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    if the parts are going to be that close to the old one then I would look at configurations. Then all you need to do is change the configuration in the drawing views and do a save as on the drawing to the new drawing #.
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New drawing reference based off of similar drawing that is already made

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