Make a drawing with views, a section and GD&T

PartCraft makes a drawing sheet from the part: front, top and right views in third-angle projection, an isometric view, overall sizes and a title block on an A3 sheet. On top of that you can add a section, a detail view and GD&T symbols. The sheet updates when the part changes, and its settings are saved in the part file.

Open the drawing sheet

1. Build the part. (With nothing built: "Build a solid first, then make its drawing.")
2. Choose Drawing in the toolbar.

The 3D view is replaced by the sheet. The toolbar shows Datum, Frame, Finish, Detail, PDF and Back, and the right panel is headed Drawing. The status bar says how the views were made:

• with the exact kernel: "views by OpenCascade hidden-line removal": true circles, exact hidden lines, and sections available;
• with the mesh kernel: "curves are facets, no section views".

Move round the sheet: roll the wheel to zoom, drag with the right or middle button to pan, press FF to fit the sheet. With the sheet focused, ++ and −− zoom and ⇧Shift with the arrow keys pans.

Choose Back, Back to the model or press EscEsc (with nothing selected and no tool active) to return to the 3D model.

What is on the sheet

• A3 landscape with a border and a title block: the part name, the scale, the date, "Units: millimetres · Third-angle projection", and whether the views are exact or faceted.
• Front, top and right views: the top view above the front view, the right view to its right. Hidden edges dashed.
• An isometric view where there is room.
• Overall sizes: width and height on the front view, depth on the top view.
• One scale for the main views from the ISO series (1:1, 1:2, 1:5 … 2:1, 5:1, 10:1), picked so they fit.

The title block shows the part's Name: rename the part before exporting (click empty space in the model, then Name in the right panel).

Add a section view

Needs the exact kernel.

1. In the right panel, set Section A-A to Of the front view, Of the top view or Of the right view.
2. The section appears on the sheet, hatched where the cut passes through material, with the cutting line and its "A" arrows on the view it is taken from.
3. Set Cut at (mm) to move the cutting plane. It starts through the middle of the part.

Set Section A-A back to None to remove it.

Add a detail view

1. Set Detail B to the view to enlarge (or choose Detail in the toolbar).
2. Click the center of the area to enlarge, on that view. A circle labeled "B" marks it, and the enlarged "Detail B" appears on the sheet with its own scale, for example "Detail B (2:1)".
3. Set Detail radius (mm) for the size of the circle and Detail scale for the enlargement: 2, 4, 5 or 10 × the sheet.

A detail can be taken from the front, top, right or section view, not from the isometric. If there is no room for every view, the panel says "No room on the sheet for: detail. Make the detail smaller or drop a view."

Place GD&T and surface finish symbols

1. Choose Datum, Frame (a feature control frame) or Finish (a surface finish symbol).
2. Click the point on a view where it attaches. It snaps to the nearest drawn line within 2.5 mm.
3. The symbol appears with a leader, selected, and the right panel shows its settings.

Drag a symbol to move it; its leader stays on the point. With a symbol selected, the arrow keys nudge it 1 mm. fn DeleteDelete or DeleteBackspace (or Delete in the panel) removes it; Done or EscEsc deselects it. Every change is in the undo list.

Datum

Letter: A to Z, without I, O and Q (they read as 1, 0 and O). Each new datum takes the next free letter.

Feature control frame

PartCraft checks the frame against the rules of ASME Y14.5 and says what is wrong at the top of the panel, for example "Flatness is a form tolerance: it takes no datum references." or "Position needs at least one datum reference." The line Reads spells out the frame.

Surface finish

With nothing selected, the panel lists Notes on the sheet, each with Select.

Export the PDF

Choose PDF in the toolbar, Export PDF in the panel, or Export, then Drawing (PDF): views, section, detail, GD&T from the model. The PDF downloads as <part name> - drawing.pdf, and the status bar lists what is on it.

Print it at "Actual size" on A3 to keep the scale true.

Limits

Characters outside the Western European set print as "?" (the PDF uses the reader's built-in Helvetica). The GD&T symbols are drawn as lines, so they print in any reader.