- Anytime you start a new document inside of SolidWorks,
it's using a template.
So up here under the defaults,
we have a Part template, we have an Assembly template
as well as a Drawing template.
Now, if I click on the advanced tab,
I actually can choose different templates.
We can have as many templates as we would like
for the different Part, Assemblies or Drawings.
And you might want to choose a different template.
For instance if you want to have like a template
that started off with aluminum,
or maybe wanted to start off with steel,
maybe you want to have one in metric,
have another template that might be in inches.
So you have a bunch different options there.
In fact we can even create Parts
that have geometry in them.
So you're starting off with a cylinder
or a rectangle or a certain type of sketch,
and you can save that as a template.
So it's going to make you get started a little bit earlier,
a little bit easier in your modeling process.
I know some people who have literally
hundreds of different templates
for the different types of parts they're going to be building,
so they can easily choose the one that makes the most sense,
for getting started with the parts they're working on.
So to do that, let's go ahead
and just choose any one of these templates
it doesn't really matter.
Let's go ahead and choose this Part template,
click on okay.
And let's go ahead and make some modifications to this Part.
Now this is just a regular Part,
like any other Part in SolidWorks at this point,
but over here under material,
let's go ahead and choose a different material.
I'm going to go ahead and choose brass
and appear under options,
let's go over and choose document properties,
and come down here to units,
and instead of inches, let's change this to millimeters.
All right, click okay.
And then let's change our background
to maybe the rooftop mode.
So, now our part looks different.
Right you've got a different background,
you've got a different material,
you've got some different units,
now we want to save that out.
So come up here under file,
come down to save as,
and instead of a Part,
let's click on that dropdown
and come down here to Part template, right?
And, it's asking us,
where do we want to save this part template?
Now I would recommend, making a folder
on your shared company folder,
or someplace that multiple people
in your company might be able to get the same file at,
it could be in a Dropbox folder,
or you could use your desktop if you wanted to,
if you're the only one using that,
but just choose a place
that's kind of like your repository where
you're going to keep your templates at.
Now SolidWorks has its own folder
called SolidWorks 2020 templates for instance,
but we can choose anywhere we want.
I'm going to go ahead and choose the desktop
and I'm going to choose exercise files,
and because of happening working
in chapter one and movie 1.3,
I'm going to go ahead and save it right into there.
Right in here is the template that I've saved out before,
so I'm just going to override it.
So, I'm calling it 1.3 temp,
and it is a solid part document
which is the template format,
go ahead and choose that one.
I'm going to go ahead and override it cause I already have it,
but in this case you would just have it originally,
click on save,
replace the file, or just save it.
Now, this is a template, notice the file name change,
it's a part template, okay.
And let's go ahead and exit out of that,
and then let's start a brand new file.
So new, and in under Part, or I can choose Advanced,
notice these tabs over here, right?
I'm saying, Hey I've got that template
but I don't see it here, what's going on.
Well, I have to create a path inside of SolidWorks
that tell SolidWorks where to find those templates, right?
So right now there's three different paths in there
that will be these individual locations,
and I can add another one if I'd like.
So let's go ahead and cancel out of this,
Come up here to the options,
right under here, under default templates
and file locations,
file locations is where our document templates are going to be.
So let's go ahead and add a new location.
Click on add, check it out.
So we already have extra file chapter one, 1.3 fin,
and let's go ahead and select that folder.
Click on okay, it's going to ask you
if you'd like to do this, say yes,
it might ask you for a SolidWorks elevation request,
say yes as well, couple times, all right.
Now we've added that path to SolidWorks.
So if I go up here to new,
notice over here, inside of there,
we've got a new tab at the top, right?
And it has my, my new starting template.
If I click on that one, select it,
notice the environment is exactly the template
that we created.
It's got the brass material,
it's got the background we wanted,
it has the unit system we're using.
So, just that easily
we're able to create a template and then use it.
The only problem is, is I save that
in my local folder for that chapter,
and that's probably not the most optimal place.
Again, I would recommend saving that
like on your company's shared folder,
or in some kind of location like a Dropbox folder
that everybody who's using it can use those same templates,
so you'll save a lot of time.
But for Solidworks' concern,
it doesn't really matter where you save it.
Just save it some place that you can use it
but definitely get in the habit of using templates
when you're creating SolidWorks files,
just 'cause it's going to save you a lot of time,
by already having the right material, the right units,
and even some geometry.