SOLIDWORKS Appearance

Pictures as Appearances with SOLIDWORKS

Barn with realistic appearance

For top notch marketing materials and visual effects, it is very useful to know how to use an image file as an appearance in SOLIDWORKS. This blog article will use SOLIDWORKS 2023 to demonstrate how to apply .jpeg image files as appearances for making a…

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How to Show Part Knurling in SOLIDWORKS – Part 2

In my previous SOLIDWORKS Knurling article, I promised this process would get much easier than being thrown into the deep end like in part 1. This is a kiddie pool in comparison. What I’m going to do in part 2 is very similar to what…

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Why are my SOLIDWORKS Thumbnails and Previews missing? [PART 2]

If SOLIDWORKS thumbnails in Windows Explorer or in the Preview Pane of the Open dialog are not visible, there are several reasons that could cause this problem. Please follow the solutions listed below: STEP 1: Firstly, follow all the solutions mentioned in Part 1: Why are my SOLIDWORKS…

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Why does my SOLIDWORKS Model appear Black?

When a SOLIDWORKS model changes appearance and becomes black, the cause of the change may not be found in the display-state pane…  …but because lights have been disabled.     This is how the same model looks with a directional light enabled:

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How to use SOLIDWORKS Assembly Appearance Overrides

SOLIDWORKS Assembly Appearance Overrides

SOLIDWORKS Assembly Appearance Overrides allow you to apply different colours/textures/display styles to your components only in the specific assembly you’re working in, without affecting the original part files.  The Display Pane is very useful to visualize these overrides and provides ways to remove them. Expand…

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How to Remove Appearance in a SOLIDWORKS Motion Study (Animation)

Appearances in a SOLIDWORKS Motion Study (animation) tend to return after being deleted if the corresponding animation key is not updated. In the example shown below, subassembly components appear in different colours. In the motion study, the same subassembly has an appearance override. Removing subassembly appearance from…

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How to increase the Ambient Light in your SOLIDWORKS parts [VIDEO]

It’s laundry day today, and when I took my white shirt from the wash, I noticed it looking rather grey. While I could just add bleach to my laundry cycle, it made me think that I notice the same thing happen in SOLIDWORKS. Of course,…

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Solving Component Appearance Problems in SolidWorks Display States [VIDEO]

When changing a component’s display state in the main assembly does not produce any visible changes to the appearance of the model, you might need to clear the appearance override that is sometime created in the main assembly. This video shows both the problem and the solution:

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Replace and Merge Appearances using the SOLIDWORKS Appearance Filter

My SOLIDWORKS 2013 Pick of the Day and the topic of the 21st video from this series is the new SOLIDWORKS Appearance Filter. Now that we established that appearances can be used to create and manage selection groups, the SOLIDWORKS Appearance Filter is exactly what you need in order to replace or merge appearances with ease. I am really curious if you are using or plan to use this functionality. I know that for me the ability to create selection groups on the fly is pure gold, saving a lot of time while modeling complex parts or large assemblies. Note: For merging two appearances, just copy and paste “Appearance 1” over any face that is “painted” in “Appearance 2” while using the new Appearance Filter.

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