Save SOLIDWORKS Assembly as a Part

It is a common practice to export a SOLIDWORKS assembly to a neutral file format to be imported in other CAD applications.  The option to save SOLIDWORKS assembly as a part may not be as widely used, but it can be useful when assembly file set needs to be reduced to a single file and used for representation only.  Saving assembly as a part eliminates the need for sending all the reference files.

To save an assembly as a part, we use the File > Save As command.

Save SolidWorks assembly as a part file

After .sldprt file type is selected, three options appear in the Save As dialog:

1. Exterior faces – saved part includes external faces only, all bodies being surfaces.  Typical reasons for saving assembly as a part with external faces are preventing reverse engineering of the model and reducing file size of the model that is required for representation purpose.
2. Exterior components – part includes only visible components.
3. All components – all components are included as multiple bodies except those that are hidden or suppressed in the assembly.

Similar to exporting assembly to a neutral file format, a part saved from an assembly includes plain geometry without feature history.  After an assembly has been saved to a part file, there is no link between the two documents.  Further changes made to the assembly will not propagate to the part file.