Solidworks for Windows

2D and 3D design software free trial

Solidworks is a computer-aided design program for professional and personal use. While CAD software is notorious for being difficult to use, Solidworks has a reputation for being user-friendly and easy to use. Your design work is securely stored in the Solidworks EPDM. You can create 2D and 3D structures, along with common models, in Solidworks: Bill of Materials. Although Solidworks is a paid program, it comes with a free trial period that you can test out the software before committing to buy.

Dassault Systemes developed Solidworks, and another CAD platform called Catia. Catia is often used in automotive and aeronautics, while Solidworks is commonly used for machinery and product design. AutoCAD, Creo, Fusion 360, and SketchUp are alternative CAD products that let you make 2D and 3D designs.

Can I download Solidworks for free?

Solidworks offers a free trial to use before you buy the software suite and multiple plans are available to choose from once you are ready to purchase the product. The user-friendly program is often used in school settings, which is why educational packages are available for schools and students. The support team at Solidworks can help you determine the best package to get. 

Is Solidworks hard to learn?

Solidworks gives you the virtual tools to design 2D and 3D structures. Since you may have too many options on the screen in the beginning, the customizable user interface lets you remove toolbars that you do not need at the moment. You can bring the bars back whenever you are ready to use the tools.

Whether Solidworks is hard to learn or not depends on your learning style. Free tutorials are available on YouTube in case you are an auditory and visual learner. There are also paid classes that you can take instead when you want a more in-depth experience. Otherwise, you can try to master Solidworks on your own with hands-on experience.

An understanding of the toolbox and workspace is needed before you can begin efficiently working. A plane needs to be established first. You can find the plane options in the ‘FeatureManager Design Tree’ tab next to the workspace. The main planes are front, top, and right. You can use the default planes to begin or create customized areas based on the original options.

The design tree records a chronological history of your actions in the design space. The design tree area is not necessarily a toolbar, but rather a monitoring system.

How much is Solidworks for personal use?            

Solidworks is used for personal and professional purposes. The main tabs that are useful for beginners and advanced users alike are the ‘Features’ and ‘Sketch’ sections, which are directly above the design tree.

The second step in a standard design process is to draw your 2D sketch on the plane. The ‘Sketch’ tab lets you choose the drawing tools that you want to use to draw your structure, like the circle, curve, line, rectangle, and more. You can click the ‘Sketch’ button to start and then the ‘Exit Sketch’ button to finish the drawing mode.

The cursor will turn into a pencil with the selected shape on the left side. A red origin point will mark the center of the plane. Blue dashed lines appear as you move your mouse around the origin mark are called Temporary Construction Lines. TCLs appear to let you know the precise points that you can put in relation to an entity.

Entities are the points and shapes that are in the workspace, like the origin point or items that you draw. You can use the ‘Smart Dimension’ feature to easily determine the exact measurements for your entities. Your 2D drawings become 3D structures when you choose either ‘Extruded Boss/Base’ or ‘Revolved Boss/Base’ in the ‘Features’ tab.

Virtual toolbox for design

Solidworks is a trialware CAD platform that is often used to develop the parts of the whole, like machinery and product design. The user interface is customizable to fit your preferences since you can remove toolbars that you do not need to use. Solidworks lets you make 2D and 3D designs in a clean interface with features like TCL and ‘Smart Dimension’.

What’s new?

The developers release new software updates on a yearly basis. New versions are represented by the years that the updates were released. Solidworks has received steady updates since its initial release in 1995.