{"id":135,"date":"2008-12-03T05:10:40","date_gmt":"2008-12-03T13:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135"},"modified":"2010-09-05T14:21:30","modified_gmt":"2010-09-05T22:21:30","slug":"color-for-non-inserted-dimensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"Color for non inserted dimensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

SolidWorks has many default colors for different types of dimensions.\u00a0 On drawings, the two main types of dimensions are inserted <\/em>(driving) and non inserted<\/em> (driven).\u00a0 Inserted dimensions <\/em>are called such because they are inserted from the model.\u00a0 Non inserted dimensions<\/em> are created within the drawing itself.\u00a0 I’m not going to get into the philosophies about which is better to use and when.\u00a0 Let’s just stick to the topic that many times both are necessary on a drawing, and that they appear as two difference colors. Inserted dimensions<\/em> are black and non inserted dimensions<\/em> are grey, by default.<\/p>\n

A problem pops up when using or printing the drawing while in Color Display Mode is on.\u00a0 When this mode is turned off, all dimensions appear black, but so does everything else, including watermarks or lines on special layers.\u00a0 So, many of us rely on the Color Display Mode.\u00a0 When this mode is turned on, the user gets their colors right for other lines, but dimensions appear as both black and grey.\u00a0 This can send a confusing message to someone who must later read the drawing.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, on some printers, the grey color may be washed out and unreadable.<\/p>\n

\"Example<\/p>\n

So, I have a quick trick to overcome this issue.\u00a0 Simply change the color for non inserted dimensions<\/em> within the System Options.\u00a0\u00a0 What color to use?\u00a0 Well, if one still wants to know the difference between inserted <\/em>and non inserted dimensions<\/em> when editing the drawing, I recommend not picking black.\u00a0 Instead pick the darkest grey available.\u00a0 This will allow you to see the difference in SolidWorks, but such a difference will not be obvious in any printouts or PDFs.<\/p>\n

To make this change in SolidWorks, goto Tools pulldown>System Options>Color heading.\u00a0\u00a0 In the Color schemes settings<\/em> box, select Dimensions, Non Imported (driven)<\/em>.\u00a0 Click the Edit button.\u00a0 A traditional Windows color palette window will appear.\u00a0 Use this window to create a very dark grey color and then assign it to one of the slots in the Custom colors area.\u00a0 Choose that color as the setting and click OK to exit.\u00a0 Then click OK in System Options to implement the change.<\/p>\n

\"Color<\/p>\n

All inserted dimensions<\/em> will continue to be black, and non inserted dimensions<\/em> will now be that dark grey.\u00a0\u00a0 Since this is System Options setting, it affects any drawing that is opened without having to enter the Document Properties area every time. \u00a0I’ve personally used this trick successfully for a long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SolidWorks has many default colors for different types of dimensions.\u00a0 On drawings, the two main types of dimensions are inserted (driving) and non inserted (driven).\u00a0 Inserted dimensions are called such because they are inserted from the model.\u00a0 Non inserted dimensions are created within the drawing itself.\u00a0 I’m not going to get into the philosophies about … Continue reading “Color for non inserted dimensions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16,4,3],"tags":[354,339,355,356],"series":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drawing","category-how-to","category-tipstricks","tag-color","tag-dimension","tag-inserted","tag-non-inserted"],"yoast_head":"\nColor for non inserted dimensions - SolidWorks Legion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Color for non inserted dimensions - SolidWorks Legion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SolidWorks has many default colors for different types of dimensions.\u00a0 On drawings, the two main types of dimensions are inserted (driving) and non inserted (driven).\u00a0 Inserted dimensions are called such because they are inserted from the model.\u00a0 Non inserted dimensions are created within the drawing itself.\u00a0 I’m not going to get into the philosophies about … Continue reading "Color for non inserted dimensions"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolidWorks Legion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-12-03T13:10:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-09-05T22:21:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/fcsuper.com\/images\/Blog\/noninsertclr1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"fcsuper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swsuper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swsuper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"fcsuper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"fcsuper\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/#\/schema\/person\/859d9f25668554f7193852892dbad92b\"},\"headline\":\"Color for non inserted dimensions\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-12-03T13:10:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-09-05T22:21:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/#\/schema\/person\/859d9f25668554f7193852892dbad92b\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/fcsuper.com\/images\/Blog\/noninsertclr1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"color\",\"dimension\",\"inserted\",\"non inserted\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Drawing\",\"How-To\",\"Tip\/Trick\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fcsuper.com\/swblog\/?p=135\",\"name\":\"Color for non inserted dimensions - 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