How to Protect SOLIDWORKS Composer files when publishing

When working with SOLIDWORKS Composer there are three things you might want to consider before sharing your files for viewing:

1. How many files will I be sharing?
2. Security of my files.
3. Rights within SOLIDWORKS Composer Player

There are simple tools embedded inside SOLIDWORKS Composer to help you protect your design data.  One of these tools lets you reduce the geometric accuracy of selected actors or the entire model.  This prevents anyone viewing your document from taking accurate measurements or reverse engineering your design.  Here are the steps to protect SOLIDWORKS Composer files:

Step 1 — Open your Composer file

• Open the file that you wish to make documentation for. File > Open and pick your file.

Step 2 — Protect intellectual property

• Reduce the accuracy of selected actors by selecting two sides of the actor
• Click Geometry > Secure > Secure 3D BRUSH (icon)
• Type 0.5 for Precision to exaggerate the effect and press ENTER.
• Hold down the left-mouse button and drag the pointer over the selected actors.
• Press ESC when finished

Secure 3D BRUSH

This will DISTORT the geometry of the selected actors and limit the viewer’s ability to obtain or extract accurate measurements for those actors.

Step 3 — Reduce Accuracy

• Click File > Save as > SOLIDWORKS Composer (don’t hit SAVE yet)
• Select Reduce Accuracy and type 0.1 to apply a global distortion to ALL the actors

Reduce Accuracy

Step 4 — Password Protect (optional)

• You can select a Password (just be careful to NEVER forget that password, since the file cannot be opened without it)

Step 5 — Add rights for viewing in SOLIDWORKS Composer Player

• Select Right Manager in the bottom left of the Save As Dialog Box.
• Select annotations to allow measurements in SOLIDWORKS Composer Player
• Select Trees to be able to see the assembly tree in SOLIDWORKS Composer Player

Right Manager

Step 6 — Save the file

• Pick the Save button to finish

Applying these options will protect SOLIDWORKS Composer files because the global accuracy is reduced and the file is now secure with password protection.