UPDATE for SolidWorks 2014: The following protocol is no longer necessary to achieve a different sheet format for addition sheets on a drawing. Please see 2014 What’s New in SolidWorks – Sheet Formats for current information.
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Here is the [no-longer-necessary] protocol to set up a Drawing Template so that it can use two completely different Sheet Formats without requiring any additional action by the user when they start a new drawing.
This protocol tricks SolidWorks into having a Drawing Template use one Sheet Format for sheet 1, but also to have a different Sheet Format as the default for any added sheets. It does this by swapping around the names of the Sheet Format files.
This allows a CAD Administrator to set up their Drawing Templates to be ASME compliant by automatically calling up the simplified title block when additional sheets are added to a drawing.
Instructions
In Windows Explorer:
1. Save a backup copy of the current sheet 1 and multi-sheet Sheet Format files. Also, save a backup copy of your Drawing Template.
2. Rename multi-sheet file, such as adding an underscore in front of its name. For example, if your multi-sheet file is named “C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt”, rename it to “_C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt”.
3. Rename sheet 1 file so that is has the original name of the multi-sheet file. For example, if your sheet 1 file is “C-SIZE.slddrt”, rename it to “C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt”.
In SolidWorks:
4. Start SolidWorks.
5. Open your Drawing Template.
6. Load your renamed sheet 1 Sheet Format. In the example above, this would be “C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt”. The result should be a drawing that shows your sheet 1.
7. Save your Drawing Template.
8. Close SolidWorks
In Windows Explorer:
9. Rename sheet 1 to its original name. In the example above, rename the “C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt” file back to “C-SIZE.slddrt”.
10. Rename your original multi-sheet file to its original name. In the example above, rename “_C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt” to “C-SIZE-SECOND.slddrt”.
In SolidWorks:
11. Start SolidWorks.
12. Test results by starting a new drawing using the same Drawing Template. Sheet 1 should appear on sheet 1.
13. Create sheet 2. The multi-sheet format should appear on sheet 2.
For best results, uncheck “Show sheet format dialog on add new sheet” in Tools pulldown>Options…>System Options tab>Drawings.
The limitation of this method is when the administrator wishes to change sheet 1 of the Drawing Template, they will have to replicate these steps each time. That doesn’t happen often and well worth the savings in time produced by implementing this method within the Drawing Template.
Additional keywords: 2 title blocks drawing