3D Annotations

SolidWorks part and assembly documents support 3D annotations according to the ASME Y14.41-2003 standard.

3D annotations are organized according to the model's orthographic views, such as front, bottom, isometric, etc. These orientations are called annotation views, and they replicate the standard drawing view orientations. Annotation views can be created automatically or manually.

By default, one annotation view exists for parts and assemblies: Unassigned Items . This view contains any annotations that were not inserted to a specific annotation view.  Double-click any annotation view to see the annotations in the view. An arrow indicates when an annotation view is active.

After you create annotation views in the model, you can use these views in a drawing. The annotation views are converted into 2D drawing views; the annotations you inserted in the model appear in the drawing.

3D annotations in parts are not dynamically linked to their corresponding drawings. If you change a 3D annotation in a part, the drawing is not updated. You need to re-insert the drawing view for the change to take effect.

To turn on annotation view mode:

Right-click the Annotations folder and select Enable Annotation View Visibility.

The links below provide more information on 3D annotations and annotation views:

Inserting 3D annotations

Creating annotation views automatically

Creating annotation views manually

Moving 3D annotations to different annotation views

Changing the view orientation of 3D annotations

Changing the horizontal orientation of annotation views

Displaying annotation views

Creating drawings from annotation views

Setting 3D annotations options