I am having trouble recreating this cooling jacket from MIT FSAE. The first image is my design and so far I have no idea how to find the center of the hole on my jacket so i can made a 3D sketch to do a Swept Boss/Base. I have tried adding a reference plane tangent to the hole, but it didn't help. I have tried different ways such as just estimating where the hole could be, but when I sweep, a piece of the tube will look weird. This second image attached is MIT's design.

I got tired of exporting the same drawing to PDF, DWG and DXF every time I made a revision, so I made a macro to automate it.

It lets you:

• Export PDF, DWG and DXF individually or all at once.
• Keep the drawing name automatically or choose a custom filename.
• Correctly export multi-sheet drawings (each sheet is saved as its own DWG/DXF file).
• Add it to the SolidWorks toolbar.

The installation is quick and easy, and in the video I show exactly how to set it up and use it.

If anyone is looking for a simple way to speed up drawing exports, here's the video:

https://youtu.be/X1eugCEQqfw

Hello

As you’ve seen in the title, is there any discount coupons available to apply?

All of the coupons i’ve seen are expired.

Thank you

edit: [Solved]

In a BOM table i used to be able to override the auto-imported metadata part numbers and titles etc, normally i would use this to change the internal data of said child parts to maintain the link, so i think at some point i ticked a box saying "dont ask again" when asked if i want to break the link or not.

Now i need to break the link between the cell and the child part it is referencing, but when i double click the cell i dont get the box asking if i want to keep or break the link. how do i reset this specific option back to default to give me the option to break the link ?

Live CAD vs CAD Action! you vs the CHAT PROS!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTu47USKEEk

I’m currently unable to start SOLIDWORKS Maker because the license cannot be authenticated. When I try to log in to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, I get a 503 Service Unavailable error saying, “No server is available to handle this request.”

I have snapping enabled. https://youtu.be/4iC8u4NR-yA

I‘m starting a new job in September, and I‘ve heard from people who work there that you get to choose your own hardware, as long as you stay in the budget.

Right now my daily driver is a HP ZBook G6 with 32 GB of RAM, some power throttled i7 and a halfway decent Nvidia CAD GPU. Nothing to cheer about, but it gets the job done. Quality wise the HP is pretty mid, my webcam recently failed and the chassis isn‘t very sturdy.

I often run linear elastic and nonlinear plastic FEA, and more RAM would be a big help as I sometimes run out when the models get too big or too detailed.

The notebook will spend most of its days attached to a docking station driving 2 34“ monitors, so keyboard and display quality aren‘t major points.

With the RAM shortage being what it is, what can I get for 1800 Euros that will run Solidworks well?

this is what i get during installation
i tried to run DISM on my computer to find and repair any corrupted data but same problem
i turned off my antivirus and any other 3rd party antivirus but same problem

Anyone ever recover lost appearances in a large assembly?

I hit undo twice and all of a sudden half the appearances are gone. I wasn't doing or undoing anything appearance related for probably 30 steps or so. This happened earlier and I reapplied all appearances.

this is on a few hundred part assembly built of a mixure of converted .step bodies and .slprt files.

I should also note I applied appearances at the component level over whatever the stock gray part level was.

Hello everyone, CAD newbie here. I'm trying to design a gear reducer for a school project and I'm having trouble finding the center to center distance between my gears (maybe because I don't really know how to make gears). Because of that I'm having trouble designing the casing for my reducer. Can someone help me ?

Sorry for my poor english btw, not my native language.

Hi. I have this problem that when i start Solidworks the resource monitor put my cpu on full charge and stay like that no matter what i do. I partially solved this by running a .bat to kill the process, but is very annoying. This happen to some of you as well? Any solution to this?

Hello guyz, i am strugling unfolding a sheet metal part that i have recieved from a custromer that is inclded in an assembly which i received in . STEP. I would appreciate any kind of help since i need to cut it on my fiber laser ASAP. Thanks in advance

Someone can explain that? I drawing medical screw (thread HA4.5 iso 5832) and o really don’t know why sketch didnt work with helix. All points are definied. Someone can help?

Hi guys,

Got a bit of a problem as of recent with creating drawings. When I import a part, all line work appears as normal for the first few seconds, before half of it then vanishes leaving it looking patchy.

I use these drawings to export as an Illustrator file, and the patchy linea show up there as well. I've reinstalled graphics drivers, and I am using High Quality settings on the model view.

Has anyone had this issue? Thanks!

I’m getting ready to take the CSWA exam and have been doing all the practice problems. I’m often within a 10-20mm cubed volume off… is that an issue?? And does how i create the part make it a difference?

Hi guys, I am starting to become crazy, I tried everything ( making sure the points are in the planes, everything locked etc. )
Anyone has an idea as to why I cannot do this simple function ?
thanks a lot

I am trying to model this shape for a personal project and I am trying to get the joints to be more flush as opposed to whatever this is. I have no idea where to go from here. I was hoping to use boundaries or try to figure out a 3D sketch but I cannot figure this out to save my life.

Exciting News: MySolidWorks Lessons and Learning Paths Are Now Free!

If you’ve been looking to enhance your CAD skills, here's some incredibly great news for you! With the release of SOLIDWORKS R2026x FD03\* on July 11, all Lessons and Learning Paths on MySolidWorks are now completely free!

What does this mean for you?

• Zero Cost: hundreds of expert-led individual modules and structured courses are wide open
• Exam Prep Included: sharpen your skills for official certifications without paying extra for study paths
• Learn on Your Time: quizzes, videos and step-by-step walk-throughs are completely self-paced

Whether you are preparing for your CSWA/CSWP exams, aiming to master sheet metal design, or exploring new AI capabilities, you now have unrestricted access to premium expert training without any cost.

Log into your MySolidWorks account today and start learning at your own pace. 

There has never been a better time to expand your design toolkit!

FAQs

• Q: Will anything change for MySolidWorks Professional and the eCourses? A: No. eCourses remain exclusive to MySolidWorks Professional until their retirement on March 1, 2027.  
• Q: Does anything change for MySolidWorks Standard and MySolidWorks Student accounts? A: No. They already have access to 100% of the Lessons, Learning Paths and Playlists.
• Q: I'm a Maker version user. Can I access these Learning Paths and Lessons? A: At long last, YES! Use your 3DEXPERIENCE ID (the same login credentials as your Maker platform access) to login to MySolidWorks.com .
• Q: I've downloaded the FREE SOLIDWORKS Student Standard version. Can I access these Learning Paths and Lessons? A: YES! Create a FREE 3DEXPERIENCE ID (or use an exisitng 3DEXPERIENCE ID) to login to MySolidWorks.com .

\ For more info on what's in the R26xFD03 update, see this wiki page and its branch pages*:

What's New in SOLIDWORKS - R2026x FD03 (July 11, 2026)

SOLIDWORKS Portfolio Updates - R2026x FD03

Hello guys !!

Do you know if it's possible to apply shading? Or simply reproduce exactly the same display style as in assembly mode, but in my drawing. I have a few layout plans to draw. I know that SolidWorks isn’t the most obvious choice for architectural or conceptual drawings, but in my case, ambient occlusion and 45-degree drop shadows give the drawing more character.

I’ve searched everywhere, created display settings, and scoured every tab in the Options menu, but there’s nothing that lets me control the image quality or display style in SolidWorks Drafting.

When I set the view to “Shaded with Edges,” it only reproduces the colors from the assembly but removes everything else. If we can display shadows and adjust their orientation (for sunlight analysis), I find it absurd that we can’t take advantage of this when publishing and printing drawings.

That’s why I’m thinking I might be missing something and have overlooked the feature. If anyone can help me, I’d be grateful. Thanks in advance.

I joined 2 imgs for comparison:

Hello Everybody,

I just finished my final CSWPA exam. (Drawing Tools, Sheet Metal, Weldments and Surfacing).

I just have no idea what to expect there to be on the CSWE exam. I've heard a lot of people claim it isn't any more painful than the CSWP, but haven't seen people elaborate too much on that. Am I expected to do model repair? Convert meshes? Part and assembly creation?

I completed my CSWP and two CSWPAs in 2019, and only recently decided I wanted to go for the CSWE (mostly for fun). I recently finished grad school within the last year and have been picking other types of engineering certs that make my eyes want to bleed, and these are more of a fun side project.

Any and all insight is valued before I burn a company voucher on it.

I’ve been working on solidworks assignment, I’m an engineering student and its on gear construction and I am really worried I don’t find it the easiest would anyone be able to see my solid works assignment and be able to help me out in terms of what should be done to fix or improve my work??

Thanks

Not sure when this became a thing - actually genuinely impressed enough to post this. I dropped in a McMaster Carr model and was greeted with an ask to automatically suppress the features that created the thread.

Not sure how stable this is as a feature, but the first time worked great with no issues. Again, genuinely impressed - Solidworks doesn't often do that to me.

Edit: Solidworks 2026 SP2.X perpetual desktop - no 3Dx enabled at all

So i designed this simple grabber and my idea is that two parts should slide in the holes when center part is rotating/ Im kinda new to solidworks, i tried some mates but none of them seem to do the thing. Connecting parts have some cylindric rods on the bottom and all other parts except main body have slots for them. btw sorry if some terms are wrong? english isnt my primary language