How to adjust the amount of Transparency applied to SOLIDWORKS Assembly Components

Have you ever wondered if you can have a different amount of transparency applied to different components in your assembly? I was asked that question recently and fortunately the answer is yes and there is a quick way to do it.

In order to have different transparency levels for your assembly components you have to change their transparency at the part level. But unlike the assembly environment there is not an easy to reach the icon for changing the transparency of a part.

To set the transparency of a part you have to edit the appearance of your part by going to Edit > Appearance > Appearance or you can simply click on the “Edit Appearance” icon in the heads up toolbar.

Then you need to switch to the Advanced tab and go to the Illumination tab.

SOLIDWORKS Transparency Amount Adjustment

Right at the bottom of the Illumination tab you can see “Transparent amount” bar that you can use to change the transparency of your part.

If you change the transparency of your assembly components at the part level then they will have different transparencies in your assembly.

Overview Video

Here is a short video that shows the steps:

Learn more about Assemblies

Take our SOLIDWORKS Assembly Modeling training course either in a Canadian city near you or live online.