Engineering & Sales Communication…3D PDF

As most engineers know there is need for an easy communication method between the engineering department and the sales department and in turn the customer. When you are using a 3D modeling program, such as SolidWorks, you have to make a decision whether a 2D document will be good enough or is 3D a necessity in order to get the most out of your design ideas. A program like eDrawings which SolidWorks offers is a great tool for communicating internally at your company and to your customers but it always has the drawback that whoever you are sending the file to needs to have some sort of a viewer installed in order to see it. This may not be a big deal but it can be to some people. eDrawings is a tool that we use quite frequently at my company but every now and then you run into a situation while using it that hinders the paths of communication.

Over the past couple of months there has been some buzz in the SolidWorks community about a SolidWorks Labs product called Presentation Studio. I have briefly played around with this SolidWorks add on and it looks great but again you need to install additional software and so on. However, this finished project is really nice and it will make your “presentation” stand out from the rest. If you haven’t already tried it, play around with it and see what you think. I personally think that the people in the SolidWorks labs are on to something great here. To see some great reviews of the product check out these links by various members of the “SolidWorks Blog Squad”.

• SolidWorks: Heard! – Episode 183 – Presentation Studio (podcast)
• SolidSmack – SolidWorks Users Crave Useful Add-In. Get Presentation Studio
• Mike Puckett’s Blog – Free 3D PDF Creation Software From SolidWorks Labs

There is also an easy way to create a 3D PDF of you model without installing any additional software and the only prerequisite that the recipient of your file needs in Adobe Reader 8 or newer (I believe Adobe 8 is the cutoff). Most companies have this program already installed on their computer for viewing 2D PDF’s so it won’t be an issue 99% of the time. Now understand, this 3D PDF that you create will be about as plain as they come but it will get your design across. It also includes some hidden functionality that is very nice by using the RMB when viewing the file. Here is what you need to do to create this simple communication file.

1. Open the SolidWorks model that you need to send someone in 3D.

2. Go to File > Save As…

3. In the “Save as type” dropdown you need to select Adobe Portable Document Format (*.pdf). Once this is selected you will have checkbox that appears that says “Save as 3D PDF”. Make sure this is checked otherwise you will get a 2D PDF of your SolidWorks model.

4. Simple as that…you now have a 3D PDF of your model. By looking at the picture below you would think that it is just a 2D picture but you can rotate it around by holding the LMB. To pan in and out you need to hold down the RMB.

You now have a 3D PDF that you can send to your sales department or to a customer to portray your ideas. But the functionality doesn’t end there. By simply clicking on the RMB you will get a list of additional functionality that is available to you. These include the ability to walk around your model, fly around it, show it shaded with edges, etc. etc. etc.

If you would like to see the 3D PDF that I show here you can open it by following this link.

I hope this helps you and your company to communicate better both internally and to your customers.