SOLIDWORKS Balloons in Drawings

Balloons in SOLIDWORKS Drawings are a useful tool for annotating your project. Balloons help identify different aspects and pieces of your assembly drawing. You can choose to manually add a balloon or use the auto-balloon command.

Customizing Balloons

You can change the number inside the balloon and the BOM will change the item number as well to keep everything up to date. For balloons, you can control the direction of ordering. For a sequential order, a BOM must be included. You can still add balloons and SOLIDWORKS will act as if there is a BOM attached and assign items as needed but they will not be in sequential order unless there is a physical BOM. Double-clicking inside a balloon allows you to edit the text or edit the properties of the specified balloon. Balloons can also be attached to an assembly by using notes and referencing the drawing assigned to the assembly.

Document Properties – Balloons

Auto Balloons

The auto-balloon command inserts balloons in sequential order around a drawing of an assembly. You can also change the sequential order to follow the assembly order in the property manager. Magnetic lines are automatically added with this command to keep with the neatness of a drawing, but you can still remove a balloon from the line and customize how you see fit.

Magnetic Lines

Magnetic lines allow for balloons to stay aligned. You can move the line in any position and any angle, and the attached balloons will follow the line. When printing a drawing, the magnetic lines do not show up, they are merely there as a tool to help keep your drawing neat. You can attach balloons to any magnetic line.

Balloons are one of the easiest ways to annotate and add notes to your drawings. They allow for others to use your drawing and assembly together to identify key parts and order of manufacturing. Balloon commands are super easy to use and customize.