Blocks in Drawings

Click Tools, Options, System Options, File Locations.
Under Show folders for, select Blocks from the list, then click Add.
In the Browse For Folder dialog box, browse to the desired folder, then click OK.

The list can include more than one directory; the first path in the list is displayed by default in the Open dialog box when you insert a block.

In a drawing document, click Make Block (Blocks toolbar) or Tools, Block, Make.

Select sketch entities or annotations (text, balloons, imported entities and text, and area hatch).

If you link a note to a system or custom property, the block stores the system variable ($PRPMODEL, for example) that identifies the entity to which the note is attached and resolves the link when the block is attached to the model, view, sheet, or document. It also stores and later resolves the system or custom variable name ("SW-Created Date", for example).

Close any sketches or PropertyManagers and click OK to add the block to the FeatureManager design tree.

The block name appears under the Blocks folder in the FeatureManager design tree. You can also save the block to file.

To move a block, select the block and drag it.

To copy a block, press Ctrl while dragging the block.

In a part or assembly, in the FeatureManager design tree, expand the Sketch that includes the block you want to copy.
Drag the block icon from the FeatureManager design tree into the drawing document.

Select the block and click Save Block (Blocks toolbar) or Tools, Block, Save.

The Save As dialog box appears. The default extension for block files is .sldblk. The SolidWorks software still supports .sldsym for inserting blocks and editing blocks, but all new blocks saved to external files use the .sldblk extension.

NOTE: Properties of the block (scale and rotation angle) are saved in the file.

Click Insert Block (Blocks toolbar) or Insert, Annotations, Block.

The Insert Block PropertyManager appears.

You can also drag a block from the Blocks folder in the FeatureManager design tree into the graphics area.
Under Blocks to Insert:

Select a block from the list of blocks in the drawing document.

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Click Browse and browse to an external file that contains a block.

You can insert files with extensions .sldblk, .dwg, and .dxf. If desired, select Create external reference to file to link the block in the document to the external file.

Click in the graphics area as many times as necessary to place as many copies of the block as you want. The block is positioned so that the block base point is at the point in the graphics area where you click.

Click OK .

Select a block in the graphics area.
Set options in the Block PropertyManager.
Click OK .

Select the block in the FeatureManager design tree and click Tools, Block, Edit.

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Right-click the block in the FeatureManager design tree or in the graphics area, and select Edit Block.

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Select the block in the graphics area, then click Edit under Definition in the Block PropertyManager.

You can add, delete, and edit entities in the graphics area.
Click in the Confirmation Corner to save changes and remake the block.

Right-click the block in the graphics area and select Explode Block.

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Select the block and click Tools, Block, Explode.
To remake the block, select the entities to include and click Tools, Block, Make.

The name of the new block appears in the FeatureManager design tree with the next sequence number.

Select the block in the graphics area.

In the PropertyManager, under Definition, click Leader & Insertion Points.

The base point is identified in the graphics area by .

The leader point is identified in the graphics area by .

Drag the base or leader point to any position in the graphics area.
Click OK .

Deleting all instances of a block

When you delete a block from the FeatureManager design tree, you also delete all of its instances in the drawing.

In the FeatureManager design tree, expand Blocks .
Right-click the block and select Delete.
Click Yes.

Deleting one instance of a block

When you delete a block from the graphics area, the block still remains in the FeatureManager design tree, even though the block is removed from the graphics area.

Right-click a block in the graphics area and select Delete.

Blocks in Drawings

You can make, save, edit, and insert blocks for drawing items that you use often, such as standard notes, title blocks, label positions, and so on. Blocks can include text, any type of sketch entity, balloons, imported entities and text, and area hatch. You can attach blocks to geometry or to drawing views, and you can insert them into sheet formats. You can also copy blocks between drawings and sketches, or insert blocks from the Design Library.

Blocks in drawings differ from blocks in parts and assemblies because blocks in drawings:

Saving blocks is optional. You can make, edit, copy, and move blocks within a drawing document without saving the blocks to file.

Base Points

Blocks have a base point. When you insert or paste a block, the block is located so that its base point is at the insertion or paste point. Blocks are scaled and rotated about their base points.

Leader

Block leaders have a leader point (the end anchored to the block). You can add a leader to a block, and you can drag the leader point anywhere within the block. You can also change the position of the leader point in the Block PropertyManager.

Leaders on notes within blocks do not adjust to attach to any model or sketch entity.

Layers

You can move sketch entities and annotations onto layers before making blocks. You can also move them onto layers in the block editor.

When a block is on a layer, the layer's display attributes are applied to the entire block, regardless of the layer attributes of any entities in the block that are on a different layer.

Snapping

You can drag a block by a sketch point within the block (a line end point or a vertex of a rectangle, for example). The points inference and snap to other points in the following ways: block-to-block, block-to-sketch, sketch-to-block, and sketch-to-sketch.