SOLIDWORKS Drawing View Labels Explained

Article by Gary Ballentine on Oct 26, 2023

When working with SOLIDWORKS drawing views, it is possible to customize them in various ways. Sometimes, it is necessary to label each view to indicate the customizations made. For instance, when a custom scale is used, it is important to indicate this for each view to avoid confusion during manufacturing. Individual view labels can be inserted into each view to automatically pull relevant information such as scale, name, label, delimiter, and angle. Manual view labels can be created as well.

What is a Drawing View Label in SOLIDWORKS

How to Insert a View Label

To insert a view label, right-click the view and select Add View Label in the flyout menu. 

How to Add a View Label in SOLIDWORKS

This puts a small box in the drawing where the label will be displayed. 

You can drag and drop this label as needed. 

To edit the contents of the box, double-click with the left mouse button or right-click with the right button. 

To enable automatic labels and tags, ensure Manual View Label Text is not selected.

Manual View Label Text Option in SOLIDWORKS

To manually enter text, select Edit Text

To insert labels, select Edit Text in Window. This lets you choose from different label options, including Name, Label, Scale, Delimiter, and Angle.

Manually Enter Text in SOLIDWORKS Drawing View Labels

How to Use Automatic Labels

You might notice that some (or all) label options are grayed out. This is because they are determined by values specified in Document Properties as well as the scale. If a custom scale is not specified, the Scale label will not be enabled.

Insert Automatic Labels in SOLIDWORKS

To enable the Scale label, specify a custom scale in the PropertyManager.

Use Custom Scale in SOLIDWORKS

Other label options are specified for each view type in Document Properties. To get there, select Tools Options Document Properties > Views View Type. Specify per standard or enter custom values. Optionally, have a view label created automatically upon view insertion.

SOLIDWORKS Drawing Label Options

Note: Not all view labels are available for all view types. Auxiliary, for example, has Rotation and Label whereas Orthographic does not.

SOLIDWORKS Views and Label Options

Click OK to save these settings. You can also save these settings under a custom template for future use!

I hope this article helped explain SOLIDWORKS drawing view labels. Check out more tips and tricks listed below. Additionally, join the GoEngineer Community to participate in the conversation, create forum posts, and answer questions from other SOLIDWORKS users. 

Take your SOLIDWORKS skills to the next level by enrolling in the official SOLIDWORKS Drawings training course. This course teaches designers how to create drawings of parts & assemblies by expanding on drawing topics introduced in Essentials. Both online and in-person classes are available. 

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SOLIDWORKS CAD Cheat Sheet

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Our SOLIDWORKS CAD Cheat Sheet, featuring over 90 tips and tricks, will help speed up your process.

 

 

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About Gary Ballentine

Gary Ballentine is a Mechanical Engineer based out of our Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis, a certification in Technical Writing from San Francisco State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah. Gary has been part of the GoEngineer family since April 2019 as a Support Engineer and Certified SOLIDWORKS Instructor.

View all posts by Gary Ballentine