FAQ

Solid Edge 2D Drafting Frequently asked questions

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General questions What is 2D Drafting? Solid Edge® 2D Drafting is a full functioning and fully associative 2D Drafting software package created by UGS – Solid Edge.

How long does it take to download Solid Edge 2D Drafting from the download web page? The download time is dependant on your internet connection speed. Solid Edge 2D Drafting is downloaded as a self extracting executable and is about 250MB in size. It is suggested that you have a fast internet connection to download the product. FAQ

How much disk space do I need to download and install Solid Edge 2D Drafting? Solid Edge 2D Drafting is a self extracting executable that you download. The size of the downloaded executable is about 250MB. When the executable is run you will need an additional 250MB of temporary space for installation and the installed product size is about 600MB.

Does Solid Edge 2D Drafting use associative geometry and dimensions? Solid Edge 2D Drafting is fully associative. The associativity can be turned on and off. With the associativity turned on, making changes to geometry and dimensions will modify connected dimensions and geometry accordingly. The drawing does not fall apart when modifying the geometry. To turn on the associativity, click on Maintain Relationships from the Tools menu. Ensure that there is a check mark beside Maintain Relationships. See the following image.

I create schematic drawings. Does Solid Edge 2D Drafting provide a library of schematic symbols I can use to produce these drawings? Solid Edge 2D Drafting comes equipped with hundreds of standard symbols for creating schematic drawings for electrical, mechanical (fluid power) and piping purposes. These symbols are delivered as blocks in the ‘Sample block’ folder under the Solid Edge 2D Drafting program folder. This sample block library is one of the most comprehensive set of schematic blocks you will find. These blocks adhere to common standards such as IEEE 315-1975 (R1993), IEEE 91/91a-1991, IEC 617, IEC 117, ANSI Y32.10-1967 (R1994), Y32.9-1972, ANSI Y32.2.4-1949 (R1998) and Y32.2.3-1949 (R1999). Solid Edge 2D Drafting also provides a smart connector object that allows you to easily draw the paths between the blocks you place on the drawing.

Someone has asked me to download Solid Edge 2D Drafting so they can send drawings they create with the Solid Edge Drafting software. Can I open the files they send to me and can I see all the geometry? Solid Edge 2D Drafting has been designed with collaboration in mind. You may receive information from a company that uses Solid Edge for 3D design and drawing creation. You can open the drawings they produce from 3D models with the Solid Edge drafting software. Solid Edge and Solid Edge 2D Drafting use the same file format for the draft (.dft) files. You can open the files and perform the same 2D geometry creation as you do with the files you create initially in Solid Edge 2D Drafting. Once you have made modifications to the files, you can send the files back to the provider where they can open the same file to see your changes. This is far superior to receiving translated files. When there no translation is required, there is no risk of loss of data because of translating the files from one file format to another file format. You can also open the draft files and print the drawings easily. The image shows a simple drawing created from a 3D model in Solid Edge Draft and opened in Solid Edge 2D Drafting. FAQ

Are there any exercises I can work through to help me get started using Solid Edge 2D Drafting? Solid Edge 2D Drafting has simple tutorials that help a new user quickly get started using the product. With Solid Edge 2D Drafting running, click on ‘View all Solid Edge tutorials’. See the following image. The topic is circled in the image.

This displays the Solid Edge tutorials dialog. Click on ‘Creating 2D Drawings with Solid Edge’ under the Draft Tutorials.This will run the tutorial. Follow through the steps in the tutorial. You can then return to this dialog and run another tutorial.

Questions from AutoCAD users I am an AutoCAD user. How difficult is Solid Edge 2D Drafting to learn? Solid Edge 2D Drafting is very easy to learn. Icons on buttons and commands are similar to AutoCAD. Also, as an AutoCAD user you will find terms and functionality that is familiar to you.

One example is the use of the 2D Model environment. This is much the same as the Model environment in AutoCAD. To get to the 2D Model environment in Solid Edge 2D Drafting, click on 2D Model Sheet in the View menu. See the following image. This adds 2D Model into the sheet tab tray at the bottom of the application. Select 2D Model.

Where AutoCAD uses Layouts, Solid Edge 2D Drafting uses Sheets for the drawings. There are many other terms you will already be familiar with such as blocks, layers and styles. FAQ

I currently use AutoCAD. Where can I get more information about using Solid Edge 2D Drafting in terms I can understand? Solid Edge 2D Drafting has excellent help topics specifically designed for you the AutoCAD user. With Solid Edge 2D Drafting running, click on ‘Solid Edge 2D Drafting Help’ from the Help menu. See the following image. Read through the help topics for valuable information about getting started using Solid Edge 2D Drafting.

Solid Edge 2D Drafting help

Can I open my existing AutoCAD files In Solid Edge 2D Drafting? Solid Edge 2d Drafting has a built in AutoCAD translator. AutoCAD FILES (.DWG and .DXF) can be opened by selecting the file in the Open File dialog. Options can be set with the AutoCAD to Solid Edge Translation Wizard which control how the AutoCAD file is opened in Solid Edge 2D Drafting. Open file dialog

AutoCAD to Solid Edge translation Wizard FAQ

I have many libraries of blocks I have created in AutoCAD. Can I use my existing block libraries in Solid Edge 2D Drafting? AutoCAD blocks and block libraries can be used directly in Solid Edge. All you have to do is select the block library (.DWG or .DXF) file in the Solid Edge 2D Drafting Edge Bar. Then drag and drop the AutoCAD block into the Draft file. In this image, the AutoCAD file Drawing1.dwg has been selected. There are four blocks in this file. When you click on the block names, the image below the name will change to display the AutoCAD block selected. Once you have selected the correct block, drag and drop the AutoCAD block into the draft file. The AutoCAD block will be placed in the draft file at the drop location.

Use AutoCAD blocks directly in Solid Edge 2D Drafting

How can I set up Solid Edge 2D Drafting to display more like AutoCAD? Solid Edge 2D Drafting can be easily configured to display more like AutoCAD. AutoCAD uses a black background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting uses a white background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting has options built in so that the display very closely resembles AutoCAD. If you want to operate in this mode, there are a couple of simple things you need to do.

First, click on Options from the Tools menu and click on the Color tab on the Options dialog. On this tab change the Color Scheme to AutoCAD Model. Notice that the colors change in the preview. See the following images. This should be done on both the working sheet (Sheet1) ad the 2D Model sheet. Now the colors are set to the AutoCAD type colors. This sets up the environment display. If you want to change back to the standard Solid Edge 2D Drafting display, change the Color Scheme back Tools-options- to Solid Edge Default. color tab Second, you need to set up the object display for AutoCAD looking objects. When you changed the background display, most of the objects disappeared. Most likely the draft template you used to create the current draft file has standard Solid Edge object colors. Close the current file and create a new draft file using by clicking on New from the File menu. FAQ

Click on the ‘More’ tab in the ‘New’ file dialog. There will be draft templates you can use to create draft files that display properly on black backgrounds. These template files have ‘black_background’ in their names. Click on ‘Normeng_black_background.dft’ and click the OK button. New file dialog

Now when you place geometry, it will look more like the AutoCAD display. See the following image.

Solid Edge 2D Drafting configured for AutoCAD like display

When I open an AutoCAD file (.DWG or .DXF) in Solid Edge 2D Drafting I cannot easily see all the geometry. What can I do to see all the geometry? Solid Edge 2D Drafting can be easily configured to display more like AutoCAD. AutoCAD uses a black background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting uses a white background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting has options built in so that the display very closely resembles AutoCAD. If you want to operate in this mode, there are a couple of simple things you need to do. FAQ

The following is an image of an AutoCAD file opened in Solid Edge 2D Drafting. It uses all the default Solid Edge 2D Drafting display settings. Notice that the original AutoCAD colors are not easily seen on the default Solid Edge 2D Drafting white background.

To configure Solid Edge 2D Drafting, first see the Q&A topic ‘How can I set up Solid Edge 2D Drafting to look more like AutoCAD?’. This topic will help you configure the display of Solid Edge 2D Drafting for an AutoCAD appearance.

Next, you need to use a draft template that is specifically created for the translation of the AutoCAD (.DWG or .DXF) files. These templates are provided with Solid Edge 2D Drafting. To use one of these templates when opening an AutoCAD file, click the AutoCAD file you wish to open in the Open File dialog. Click on the Options button at the bottom of the Open File dialog. This will open the AutoCAD to Solid Edge Translation Wizard. Click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of the dialog. This will present the dialog shown in the following image.

Notice that normal.DFT is the Solid Edge template currently used to translate the AutoCAD file. Change the template by clicking on the ‘Browse’ button. This will present an ‘Open’ dialog. Double click on the ‘More’ folder in the file list. Click on ‘Normeng_black_ background.dft’ as the template file as shown in the following image.

Click on the ‘Open’ button at the bottom right hand side of the dialog. Notice that the Solid Edge template has changed to the file you selected. Click on the ‘Finish’ button at the bottom right hand of the dialog. You may get a warning stating that you FAQ

cannot overwrite the default Configuration file. Click on ‘OK’. Click on the ‘Create a new configuration file’ radio button and then click on the ‘Copy To’ button.

Change the File Name from ‘seacad.ini’ to ‘seacad2.ini’ and click on the ‘Save’ button. Click on the ‘Finish’ button. You have just created your own custom configuration for translating your AutoCAD files. With the AutoCAD file still selected, click on the ‘Open’ button on the Open File dialog.

Now when you open your AutoCAD files in Solid Edge 2D Drafting, they will display more like they did in AutoCAD. See the following image.

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