Size of drawing file 1

[Lysandros]

Hello people,

it seems to be a common issue in CAD that drawings derived from assemblies have a considerable file size. In Solidworks these drawing files sometimes take 50%-150% of the original assembly file size. Editing and saving drawings thus takes ages and is accompanied by frequent crashes. Should not a drawing only include a few lines of code which describe the viewing angle, the rendering settings, dimensions and scaling? How can it be that a 30 Mb assembly leads to a 30 Mb drawing and what would be methods to reduce file size and improve performance?
Thanks & cheers

 

[SBaugh]

SW drawings loads the model into the 2Drawing. It's not like AutoCAD where you only have lines. If you have a 30MB assembly your drawing might actually be larger than 30MB, because of multiple views, sections, details, notes, etc...

The key here is it's loading the model data, not 2d Drawing data you are merely looking at the side of the 3D cad model in SW drawings. Maybe you should try reducing your assemblies if you can. Once My assemblies are mated I Fix all my components so SW does not have to load all the mates into memory. That builds speed and reduces size. Another thing you could do is freeze all your part features. I believe that reduces file size and speed.

If you are crashing you need to look at your video card and especially the driver you are using. If you have a supported card then it's probably a driver. Sometimes you will have to install a couple of drivers to find the one that works best for your PC. Check the SW website for a list of drivers... FYI their new VC driver site sucks IMO, but it does give us an idea of what to use.

Scott Baugh, CSWP
CAD Systems Manager
Evapar

http://www.evapar.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

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