We create an engineering drawing of our model to formalise its parameters, communicate its form and parameters and to archive the model.
What makes a good engineering drawing?
- Plan the sheet layout to best communicate the part
- Maximise the view scale to fill the sheet
- Use half view for symmetrical parts to save space
- Use section views to show internal detail
- Check all dimensions for clarity and ambiguity
- Always ask the question – “will someone else be able to visualise the form?”
- DO NOT accept the software defaults
All model views in the drawing file are associative, ie. there is no ‘linework’ stored in the drawing file, each time you open the file the views are recreated according to the current model version. If you change a dimensional value in the model or in a view, the system updates other drawing views accordingly.
The drawing files and the associated part or assembly files must reside in the same folder.
Inappropriate renaming of the associated files will cause the link to fail and the drawing will not regenerate.
File Management
Remember; keep the .prt file and the .drw file together and do not change the model name. If you do, the regeneration process will fail because the system cannot find the model file as originally specified.
All drawing should conform to BS8888. It is up to you to ensure your Creo drawing conforms and achieves maximum clarity by manipulating the line work and detailing and by changing the drawing setting file BS8888.dtl
File > Prepare > Drawing Properties to access the current drawing setting
Creating a Drawing
When you open a new Drawing file (.drw) the New Drawing dialog box will open.
Select the associated model
Select the Empty with Format option – this applies a border and table
Browse to find the format [.frm] file your after – A3/A4, landscape/portrait
Fill in the table information as you are prompted
Sheets
An engineering drawing isn’t necessarily a single sheet of paper – or virtual sheet in the CAD file. If more views are needed to communicate the part than can fit, at a suitable scale, on one sheet then add sheets to the engineering drawing.
Layout tab > Document > New Sheet – you will be prompted to fill in the table as you were on the first sheet
The sheet will then appear as a new tab at the bottom of the graphics area.
Multiple parts in a single drawing
Layout tab > Drawing Models > Add Model
This allows you to have multiple models on one drawing sheet, this is useful for simple parts which need limited views. You need to switch between models as you are creating views and annotation.
Keep it clear, separate each model with a sketched line on the sheet, each model must have it’s own table.
Layout tab > Drawing Models > Set Model to switch between models