Having to work from home might cause you to feel like there is a restriction in communicating with your vendors, customers, or even colleagues.
If you are looking for a medium to send your CAD files for viewing or approval, eDrawings is a useful tool to help you communicate with other parties, even if they do not have any CAD software installed on their computer.
With eDrawings, you are able to have several options to save your CAD data.
- Save as eDrawings file
If you save your files as eDrawings parts or assemblies, your recipient may open it in eDrawings software from their computer, without having to install SOLIDWORKS. The eDrawings software is a free CAD viewer software that can be downloaded from https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/eDrawings/e2_downloadcheck.htm
With eDrawings, you can;
- View CAD files
- Rotate the CAD model
- View assemblies in exploded view
- Measure model dimensions
- Play animations
- View result plot from SOLIDWORKS Simulation
- Use Markup tool
- View configurations
- View mass properties of the parts
Example to save an assembly as an eDrawing file and open it in eDrawings software:
- Open the assembly in SOLIDWORKS.
- Go to File > Save As.. select eDrawings (.easm).
- If multiple configurations exist within one SOLIDWORKS file, you may choose the specific configurations that you wish to export to eDrawings file.
- Launch the eDrawings software and browse for the file that you just created.
- The file opened successfully and you may view, rotate, measure or explode the model accordingly.
- Save as eDrawings Web HTML file.
In the case where your recipient does not have the eDrawings viewer and does not intend to install it, you may also save the file as eDrawings Web HTML file. This file type can be opened in any internet browser from the computer, or even from your smartphones, without having to install any software.
However, the file must first be created in the eDrawings viewer. Please refer the steps below:
- From the eDrawings viewer, go to File > Save As.. then select eDrawings Web HTML Files (.html)
- Once saved, you may send the html file using email, WhatsApp, or any document sharing platform.
- The recipient can then open the file using any internet browser; Eg: Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox.
[From Google Chrome]
- You can even open it from your smartphones!
[From browser on Smartphone]
With this interactive tool, you can communicate with all stakeholders effectively using CAD data. Your recipient may check the model for validation and discussion can be made remotely.
**However please keep in mind that the capabilities of the viewer on web is quite limited compared to using the eDrawings viewer installed on your computer.
Stay safe!
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