Method for Fixing Corrupted SOLIDWORKS Drawing Views

I ran into a situation where I was working with a SOLIDWORKS drawing that had several sheets in it with every possible kind of view being utilized. One of these views was displaying the back view when it should have been showing the front view?! I was baffled as to why this was happening and what I needed to do to correct it. After much frustration, I was able to fix the issue. This article will provide a couple of methods for fixing corrupted drawing views for this scenario.

Symptoms

• The SOLIDWORKS drawing view is being displayed as an undesired view.
• When attempting to change the drawing view orientation from the property manager, a warning appears (see image below).
• Changing the orientation view does not change the view.
  

  Drawing View Warning

Two Methods for Fixing Corrupted Drawing Views

There were two methods I used, I need to go back into the model and change the views using the methods discussed in a blog post called changing the SOLIDWORKS Standard View Orientation.

Method 1: Create a Custom View

The most immediate way I fixed the problem was to create a custom view. To create a custom view, press the space bar and select the New View as indicated in the image below. In the drawing, I selected the affected view and changed the orientation to the custom view.

Create Custom View

Method 2: Reset Views (better method)

The second method would be to fully reset the views in the assembly. In the assembly, I pressed the space bar and selected Reset Standard Views in the Orientation dialog box as seen in step one in the image below. The second step required me to find the view that represented the front view, orient the view correctly, then select the Update Standard Views button.

Resetting Drawing Views

Keep in mind that when using this fix, some of the related views will be affected, and you may have to re-orientate some of the items; e.g. detail view boxes or notes, will need to be done.