Detached Drawings provide another way for detailing operations to be completed without loading the referenced model. Even though the referenced model is not loaded into memory, detached drawings will verify that the drawing views are up-to-date when the detached drawing is opened. If an update is required, a message will notify you. When working with a detached drawing, the referenced model can be loaded at any time.
Some operations will be limited when working with a detached drawing such as creating Model Views and inserting Model Items. However, many view types and most other annotations can be added without loading the model.
An advantage of using detached drawings is that they can be shared and opened by other SOLIDWORKS users without access to the model. Therefore, you need not to include the part or assembly files when sharing your drawings to others.
Follow the steps below to save your drawing as a Detached Drawing:
- Open your drawing file.
- Before saving a detached drawing, it is best practice to ensure the drawing and referenced model are fully up to date. This can be achieved using Rebuild (Ctrl+B) or Force Rebuild (Ctrl+Q).
- Go to File > Save As…
- Change the Save as type to Detached Drawing (.slddrw).
Note: The file extension of a detached drawing is identical to standard SOLIDWORKS drawings.
- You have the options whether to use Save as to completely replace the drawing or Save as copy and renaming the file to retain the original drawing and create a copy of it using detached drawing. Click Save.
- Close the original drawing and open the detached drawing. You shall see that the FeatureManager design tree indicates this is a detached drawing by showing a broken link over the drawing icon and view.
