Creating Display States In Solidworks
Display State Configurations
SolidWorks has incorporated a feature to allow the user to save a color scheme of an assembly or part without affecting other configuration design colors of a part or assembly. This helpful feature is known as a Display State. At Perception Engineering, Display States are used to identify which parts need to be updated and which parts are good as it. When working with an assembly of 100+ parts it is helpful to visualize what is and isn’t done within the project.
Figure 1
Changing the Display States all at once may take some time for each part within the main assembly, but it helps with organization and layout schematics down the line. With multiple people working on a project it is often hard to verbally articulate what needs to be fixed, updated, or removed within an assembly. The green components, shown in figure 1 above, display a state of completion; while yellow represents of concern and red signifies the part does not work in the assembly.
Another use of Display States within SolidWorks is the transparency color scheme. Instead of constantly hiding or using cross-sections to visually see the internal components of a model a display state configuration can be made.
Figure 2
Adding/Updating Display States
In the Configurations tab within the SolidWorks part or assembly interface, Display States can be found at the bottom of the left-hand side. To add a Display State, right-click and select Add Display State.
Figure 3
Once a Display State is selected, any appearances (colors) assigned to parts, faces, bodies, or assemblies will be visible in the current Display State. Select a different Display State and the previous changes will not appear; however, if a new Display State is created all appearances currently visible will be shown in the new Display State. To erase all appearances or appearances on parts/assemblies, right-click on what needs to be cleared and click on the red “X”.
Figure 4
Switching Between Display States
Like you would switch between configurations in a SolidWorks model, switching the Display States is just as easy. Located under the Configurations tab within the modeling interface, at the very bottom of the left-hand side are all the Display States created. Double click on your desired display state and the model will auto-update to the color scheme it was assigned to earlier.
Figure 5
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