Onshape Bootcamp

Training Manual
Introduction
Onshape Bootcamp teaches Onshape’s key differentiators, laying a foundation of understanding
how these capabilities fit into your organization's processes. This manual provides supplemental
material broken into ten lessons, for the purpose of reviewing the Bootcamp topics.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2
Lesson 1: Introduction to Onshape and Onshape Documents ..................................................... 3
Lesson 2: Part Studios and Sketching Techniques .................................................................... 17
Lesson 3: Onshape Assemblies ................................................................................................. 42
Lesson 4: Document Organization .............................................................................................. 93
Lesson 5: Sharing and Collaboration ........................................................................................ 102
Lesson 6: Document History, Versions, Branching & Merging ................................................. 121
Lesson 7: Linked Documents .................................................................................................... 139
Lesson 8: Importing and Exporting ........................................................................................... 152
Lesson 9: Detailed Drawings .................................................................................................... 166
Lesson 10: Onshape as a Platform ........................................................................................... 183

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Lesson 1: Introduction to Onshape and Onshape
Documents
Onshape is a parametric, feature-based CAD system with data management and release
management capabilities wrapped within the CAD interface. Different from other CAD systems,
Onshape is a database-driven system, not a file-based system. This core architecture difference
is what allows Onshape key differentiators such as sharing and collaboration capabilities, no
backward capability issues, and zero IT overhead, among many others features.

Onshape is accessed from a secure cloud workspace. You never download or install any
software to use Onshape. Onshape updates about every three weeks. After an update, as a
user, just sign in and there are new capabilities available for use.

One of the biggest differences in Onshape compared to old CAD is there are no files in
Onshape. Onshape utilizes documents instead to contain all the needed data for a given
design, including non-CAD data. Documents do not behave like files. Several users can access
a document at once and edit the document simultaneously. A document automatically captures
every change in the Document history. Another key difference is there is not a save button in
the document interface. You never have to save your work in Onshape, every action is
automatically captured in the history.

Onshape Documents: An Onshape Document is a generic container that contains tabs for
each data type. A document can contain several tabs for all needed data for a design. It is
recommended to keep data that is unique to a design in one document. For larger designs, you
might find you need several documents, and you can organize them in folders.

There are three native tab types in Onshape: Part Studios, Assemblies, and Drawings.

● Part Studio: Sketch and model part geometry

● Assembly: Assemble, instance, and create motion between components
● Drawings: Detail the 2D drawing views of parts and assemblies

CAD and non-CAD files can be imported as tabs in an Onshape document including, but not
limited to, images, videos, and PDFs. Legacy CAD files can be imported as well, and stored as
tabs or translated in Onshape.

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Sign-in to Onshape
1. To sign-in to Onshape navigate to https://cad.onshape.com or your Enterprise domain.

2. Sign in with your email and password.

3. Once signed in, the Documents page is displayed.

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Documents Page
The Documents page lists all Documents you have permissions to edit and view, and where you
create new Documents.

1- Labels 5- Search
2- Teams 6- Help menu
3- My Onshape 7- List/Grid view
4- Create new Documents, folders, and labels 8- Details pane

My Onshape is the top-level of the documents page. All folders can be found here, and loose
documents (documents not in folders) are displayed below the folders. All teams you belong to
are listed in the Filters pane, allowing you to view only documents shared with a specific team.
All labels you created are listed below teams, allowing you to quickly view documents by label.

The Search bar enables search for any item in a document, including parts, assemblies,
drawings, Part Studios, or the Document itself, by name, part number, and other properties.

Selecting a Document displays the Details of the document on the right-side. This pane is split

into multiple sections. The Details displays the thumbnail and document-level information
about the selected document such as the owner, description, folder location, who created it, and
when it was last modified. You can also copy the link without opening the document.

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The Share detail displays who is shared into the document, and what permissions they
have. This is only visible if the user has the Share permission to the selected document.

If a document is selected, the Versions and history graph displays from the Details pane.
To open a specific workspace, version, or access properties of a workspace or version, right-
click on it and choose the corresponding option. If an object within a document is selected, such

as a part, assembly, or drawing, the properties of that object display in the Properties detail
pane. If you have edit permissions to the document that contains that object, you may edit the
properties by clicking edit.

To set the thumbnail of a document displayed on the Documents page, open the document,
right-click on the tab that contains the parts, assembly, or drawing that should be the thumbnail
and choose Select as document thumbnail. The thumbnail is set to the isometric view of that
tab.

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Search
Onshape provides a search mechanism on the Documents page with which you can locate a
particular document, set of documents, or objects contained in a document using a number of
filters.

Expand the Search box by clicking the down arrow:

Note that all searches are performed within the currently selected filter (located on the left of the
Documents page). For example, filters include: My Onshape, Recently opened, Created by me,
etc.

Advanced searches allow you to locate specific Documents, Parts, Part Studios, Assemblies
and Drawings with the active filter, based on the criteria you enter.

Several different criteria can be set to search with including:

• Entity type
• Entity name, description, part number, state, or revision
• Custom properties set by the company (Professional and Enterprise feature)

You may also set the results to be limited to the just workspaces, versions, or both; as well as
limited to the latest version, latest workspace, or all versions or workspaces.

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Search accepts multiple words as well as non-alphanumeric characters, such as punctuation.
For example: “universal handle” and “universal-handle.”

You can use a wildcard (*) in any field, but only in a trailing position, as in: “05*” to find a string
beginning with ‘05’ and followed by any characters.

Click Search to initiate the search and return results.

Click Reset to empty all fields of any entered characters and return to defaults.

Search results include all entities fulfilling the criteria, including:

• The entity type, for example: Part Studio, Document, part, etc. indicated by an icon
preceding the entity name
• The entity name
• An icon indicating whether the entity resides in a version or a workspace
• The document name and workspace name (or version name)
• The part number
• The release management state (when appropriate)

You can click on a search result to select it, then click the Details icon to open the Details
pane (if not already open), where a more detailed description of the item is presented. Some
information, for instance Labels, are only available through the Details pane.

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You can hover your cursor over a search result, and if that result is not a Document, the tab
name appears in the tool tip:

To create a new blank document, click the Create button and choose Document… Notice you
can also import files to create a new document.

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Integrations
Allow Onshape to access your Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive accounts so you
can upload, import, or export files directly from or to these applications.

Click the user icon in the top right corner of your Onshape window. In the dropdown menu that
appears, select My account.
Your Onshape profile page appears.

Click Integrations in the list on the left side of the page. On the page that appears, you can click
one of the buttons to add your account:

For example:
1. Click Add Google Drive Account.
2. Select an existing account, or click Use another account.
3. Assuming you click Use another account, follow Google instructions for another account,
continuing through the “unverified” warnings and continuing to onshape.com.
4. When you are prompted to grant onshape.com permission to access your Google
account, click Allow.
5. On the Confirm your choices page, click Allow.

You are returned to the Onshape My account page, which now lists your Google drive account.
Click the red Remove button to remove an integrated account at any time.

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Once an external account has been integrated with Onshape, you can access files stored in that
account during the Import process in Onshape. You can also export files from Onshape to an
integrated account. The integrated account is listed on the left of the Documents page.

Account Options
Account settings allow you to set the preferences of your account. Your account preferences
are as you set them regardless of what device you open Onshape from.

1. Click on your account name in top right of the window.

2. Select My account.

3. Change the Units in the Preferences section. These default units define the units and
precision of each new document. Adjusting this setting does not change existing
documents. Be sure to save the unit choice.

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4. Change the mouse control settings in the View manipulation section. You can set the
rotate, pan, and zoom action to be like another CAD system you might already be
familiar with.

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Document Interface
Onshape’s interface is streamlined to allow maximum modeling space. Each command provides
several options for creating solid features, surfaces, cuts, bosses, boolean options, etc.

Part Studio

1- Parts list 9- Share button

2- Feature list 10- View cube
3- Document toolbar 11- View settings
4- Document menu 12- Configuration panel
5- Document history and versions 13- Tabs
6- Document name 14- Add tab
7- Feature toolbar 15- Tab manager
8- Comments

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Assembly

1- Mate features
2- Instances list
3- Fix
4- Assembly toolbar
5- BOM table

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Drawing

1- Sheets
2- Drawing toolbar

Customizing Toolbars
The Feature, Sketch, Assembly, and Drawing shortcut toolbars can be customized. The shortcut
toolbar is context sensitive (Select S on the keyboard to activate it).

To customize:

1. Right-click on the toolbar.

2. Select Customize toolbar...

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Onshape Resources
There are several different resources to help with your onboarding and continuing education of
Onshape. All resources can be found in the Help menu.

Help
Access the Onshape Help documentation to learn about Onshape features.

Learning Center
Learn Onshape through guided tutorials, videos, and by registering for instructor-led courses.

Keyboard Shortcuts
View our list of the keyboard shortcuts.

What’s New
Learn about all the new features and capabilities in Onshape’s last release.

Forums
Ask the Onshape community for help and participate in CAD discussions.

Support/Report a Bug
Contact Onshape Support to report a bug. Standard, Professional, and Enterprise customers
can get Support help and request improvements via this Feedback tool as well.

System Check
Check your browser for compatibility with Onshape.

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Lesson 2: Part Studios and Sketching Techniques

What is a Part Studio?

A Part Studio is the environment or tab type with which one models geometry. The Part Studio
is where you find the Sketch and Feature toolbars. Onshape’s Part Studios were re-imagined
from an old part file, to inherently allow top-down design techniques. Designers have an option
to design multiple parts in one Part Studio in order to achieve a top-down design.

It is important to understand that a Part Studio is NOT an assembly. There is no motion and
should be no instancing in a Part Studio. The purpose of a Part Studio is to model only one of
each unique part, and then instance in an assembly, if necessary. There are several reasons for
this:

● The Parts list under the Feature list lists each item as a unique part. If you model two of
the same part in a Part Studio, it results in an incorrect BOM.
● Making design changes should propagate to all instances. When you instance in the
assembly, this is the case.
● Performances considerations, creating more sketches and features can be more
“expensive” than instancing in the assembly.

Multi-part Part Studios

To achieve a top-down design, users can decide to model more than one part in a Part Studio
tab if those parts are interrelated. In order to decide, ask yourself:

Is the geometry of one part dependent on another?

If the answer is yes, you might choose to model specific parts together in one Part Studio to
model the geometric or spatial relationships between the parts. If the part is unique and not
related to anything else (standard parts for example), it should be modeled in its own Part
Studio, or even in its own document. Best practices for document organization are explained in
Lesson 4.

Should Every Part be Modeled in One Part Studio?

You rarely want to model every part of a design in a single Part Studio. Every new feature or
sketch created in a Feature list is one more item for Onshape to build. The longer the Feature
list, the longer it takes Onshape to build (regenerate) the Part Studio. For this reason, you do
not want to “waste” rebuild time on features not related to the main design of that Part Studio.

Only model parts that are heavily interrelated to one another in a single Part Studio. A document
can contain several Part Studios. It is better to split the part modeling of a design to several Part

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Studio tabs and only model parts together that are heavily related. There are advanced
techniques such as master model and managed in-context design that allow you to relate parts
in different Part Studios.

Create a new Part Studio by clicking the icon in the bottom left of the document and
choosing Create Part Studio.

Selection Tools
Onshape uses persistent selection in every environment (Part Studios, Sketches, Assemblies,
and Drawings). This means to select more than one entity you do NOT have to hold control or
shift on the keyboard, just keep clicking.

To deselect a single entity, click on the item again. To deselect all selections, click into white
space or press the spacebar on the keyboard.

Note: To select a range of items for a list, you can press shift to choose every item between two
selections.

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Box Selection
To box select, click and drag the mouse over parts in order to choose them.
● From left to right- the entities need to be fully inside the box to be selected.

● From right to left- the entities need to cross the box to be selected.

Select Other
Select other allows you to click through parts to select an entity behind your view (without
rotating the model or hiding parts).

1. Move your mouse over the part as if you were looking through the geometry, and the
mouse will be over the needed entity.

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 2. Right-click and choose Select other…

3. Hover over the different options in the Select other dialog and click the needed entity.

Create Selection
Create selection enables you to select several faces, edges, or sketch entities from a pull-down
option. You can use this tool to preselect or while in a command. Just click Add selection to add
the selection to an open dialog or pre-select the entities.

To access this tool, right-click in white space and choose Create selection...

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Faces

● Protrusion- Selects all faces convex to the first click.

● Pocket- Selects all faces concave to the first click.
● Hole- Selects all faces of a hole.
● Fillets- Selects all fillet faces of equal size, equal or smaller, or equal or greater.
● Tangent connected- Selects all faces tangent to the first click.
● Bounded faces- Selects all faces of a part between the clicks.
● Select Patterns- chooses all the similar faces to the selection of the part.

Edges
The Edge option in the Create selection tool also selects sketch entities in an active sketch.

● Tangent connected- Selects all edges tangent to the first click.

● Loop/chain connected- Selects all edges in a close or open loop to the first click.
● Equal length/radius- Selects all edges of the same length or all arcs of the same radius
to the first click.
● Parallel- Selects all edge parallel to the first click.

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Sketching Techniques
The first step when creating new parts in Onshape is to create a sketch. Sketch 2D profiles in a
sketch environment that will be used to create 3D features. The sketch toolbar provides several
different sketch commands to create different types of sketch entities with different clicks.

To create a sketch, select the Sketch icon and choose a sketch plane. A sketch plane can
be any reference plane or any planar face.

Note: Notice as you hover over a command in the toolbar, a tooltip appears. If there is a
keyboard shortcut available, it is noted in parentheses. Leaving the mouse over the command
longer displays instructions to get your started with the command.

Whenever a sketch is active, the sketch dialog displays. The sketch plane can be changed to
any plane or planar face using the dialog.

Pro Tip: Rotate normal to the sketch plane with the N key on the keyboard.

Master Sketching
When sketching in Onshape, it is common to have one sketch define several features, and even
several parts. This technique is called creating a master sketch. Master sketches typically have
several sketch regions that are used to define different features and possibly different parts.
When selecting a sketch region to define a profile for a feature, you may choose a single profile,
several profiles, or the whole sketch. In this way, one sketch can define several features, and as
the sketch is updated, several child features update. Use this technique to define multiple parts
when achieving a top-down design in a multi-part Part Studio.

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Sketch Tools
Sketch tools create 2D profiles on a sketch plane. Different options are available for different
clicks. For example, to create a corner rectangle, click the opposite corners. For a center
rectangle, the first click is the center point and the second is the perimeter.

● Line (l)

○ Click and drag- results in only one line being sketched.

○ Clicking at the endpoints- and moving the mouse in between, results in
creating several lines with the extension following the mouse. Once you complete
a closed profile, the line extension no longer follows your mouse, but the line tool
is still active.

● Rectangle (r) (g)

● Circle (c)

● Arc (a)

● Use (u)

● Offset (o)

● Slot

● Sketch Fillet (shift+f)

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 ● Construction (q)

● Trim (m)
Note: Trimming is usually an unnecessary step in a sketch. Onshape sketches can have
several closed profiles.

● Mirror
Note: Choose the mirror line first, then select the entities to mirror.

● Transform
Note: The triad manipulator snaps to sketch points, and is used to translate and rotate

the selected sketch entities in the sketch plane. Left click to accept.

Closed sketch profiles are indicated by a shaded area. A closed sketch profile can be used to
define a profile for a feature. One sketch can contain multiple profiles.

Once a sketch is complete, select the green checkmark in the sketch dialog to accept.

Clicking the red removes any changes done in the sketch. To edit a sketch:
● Right-click on it in the feature list and choose Edit…

● Double click on the sketch in the Feature list.

Sketch Constraints
After the profile is sketched, add geometric constraints to define the shape or relate the sketch
entities to other existing geometry and dimensions to size the model.

Geometric Constraints
● Coincident (i)

● Concentric

● Parallel (b)

● Tangent (t)

● Horizontal (h)

● Vertical (v)

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 ● Perpendicular

● Equal (e)

● Midpoint

● Normal

● Pierce

● Symmetric

● Fix
Geometric sketch constraints can be created:

● While using the sketch tool

● Manually from the sketch toolbar
● Inferencing to existing sketch geometry

Sketch constraints show as white and blue boxes in a sketch. They hide on default. To show the
sketch constraints, hover over any sketch entity or check the option on the sketch dialog to
Show constraints.

Blue boxes indicate the sketch entity is related to an entity outside the sketch. White boxes
mean the all sketch entities related with that constraint are in the sketch.

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To create sketch constraints manually:
1. Select the entities to relate.
2. Choose the need constraint form the sketch toolbar or use a keyboard shortcut.

To inference to existing geometry:

1. Select the needed sketch tool.
2. Hover over existing geometry to “wake” it up.
3. Notice as you move the mouse away, the inferenced relationship. Sketching now results
in creating the sketch constraint.

To delete sketch constraints:

1. Select the constraint box.
2. Press delete on the keyboard, or right-click and choose Delete sketch entity.

Hovering over sketch constraints highlights the entities related with that constraint.

Dimensions
Dimensions size the sketch and, in turn, the model. if you accidentally sketch to a very small or
large scale, the first dimension of a Part Studio scales the sketch. The dimension tool achieves
all needed dimensions in a sketch:

● Linear
● Diameter
● Radius
● Angle

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Driving dimensions show in black and define the model. Driven dimensions show in grey and
are driven by the black dimensions.

In order for a sketch to be fully defined, all sketch entities must have:
● Location on the sketch plane
● Orientation on the sketch plane
● Size
All the sketch entities turn from blue to black. Blue sketch entities indicate an undefined sketch,
while black indicates fully defined.

Conflicting constraints result in over-defining the sketch and must be resolved.

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Sketching Tips
● If you accidentally cancel a sketch, select the Restore option.

● As you sketch profiles, keying values from the keyboard creates dimensions on the fly.
● Selecting an inner or outer arc with the dimension tool places the leader in that location.

● Press shift on the keyboard to ignore sketch constraints as you sketch.

● Any type of entity can be made into construction. Dimensioning to a construction line
and moving the mouse over the line creates a diameter or center dimension.

● Wherever possible, take advantages of master sketching in Onshape to drive several

parts and features for a top-down design approach.

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Features

Feature list and Parts list

Every sketch and feature created in a Part Studio inserts into the Feature list in the order it was
created. The Feature list is an order-dependent list. Onshape builds the list from top to bottom.
Use the filter field to quickly find a feature by name or type.

Pro Tip: To quickly filter for features that define a specific part, certain feature types, by
name, or features in a folder, select the filter icon in the Feature list, choose the needed option,
and type the search criteria.

You can insert a feature into the list by dragging the rollback bar into place or by dragging the
feature to reorder it.

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As you model, you build parent/child relationships between features and sketches in the Feature
list. A child feature depends on the parent feature. As you make edits to the parent feature, the
child feature is impacted.

Note: You cannot reorder a child feature to be above a parent feature in the Feature list.

Features may be organized into Feature folders, when working with large Features lists for

complex parts. To create a Feature folder select the Feature folder icon near the top of the
Feature list, type a name, and select the checkmark. Then drag and drop features into a folder.
Folders display as an arrow in the Feature list. Click the arrow to expand the folder and display
the features inside.

Feature folders are order-dependent, a folder can not be repositioned before a parent feature of
any of the features contained in the folder. Features may also be dragged and dropped out of
the folder.

The longer and more complex the Feature list the longer the regeneration time of the Part
Studio. Access the regeneration time dialog to understand how long it take to rebuild the
Part Studio and which feature is the most “expensive.”

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Any part, surface, or curve created inserts into the Parts list, below the Feature list. As you
model in a Part Studio, you decide if the new feature creates a new part, adds to an existing
part, removes material from a part, or intersects a part.

General Feature Options

To create part geometry from a sketch profile, use features. The basic features allow you to pick
any sketch profile(s) or planar face(s) and create three-dimensional geometry. You can model
one part or several parts in a Part Studios. For this reason, the basic feature dialog includes
several options to define how the feature is created. Onshape also has a streamlined interface,
so you will find several options in the feature dialog instead of several different commands to
perform the same operations. Onshape’s basic features allow you to decide:

● Solid or Surface
● New, Add, Remove, Intersect

Instead of several different commands to perform each operation, these options allow you to
decide the needed operation from within each feature, without cluttering the toolbar.

Solid- Create a solid feature that has an enclosed volume.

Surface- Create a surface body.

New- Create a new part from the feature.

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Add- Add the feature to an existing part defined with the merge scope option.

Remove- Cut geometry from the part(s) defined with the merge scope option.

Intersect- Find the boolean common between the profile selection(s) and the part(s) defined
with the merge scope option.

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Onshape’s basic features with these options include:

● Extrude

● Revolve

● Sweep

● Loft

Patterns
Parts, features, or faces can be patterned in a Part Studio. Decide what type of entity needs to
be patterned and choose the option in the pull-down of the pattern feature dialog.

● Parts- pattern an entire part(s)

● Features- pattern all the faces of selected features from the Feature list.

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 ○ Checking the Apply per instance option patterns the end type of the seed
feature(s). This is the most performance-expensive option.

● Face- Only pattern selected faces (least performance-expensive option).

Note: The pattern features also allow you to decide New, Add, Remove, or Intersect when
patterning parts.

Onshape pattern features include:

● Linear Pattern

● Circular Pattern

● Curve Pattern

● Mirror

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Hole
Create simple, countersink, or counterbore holes from a selected standard with the Hole
feature. The Hole feature uses points to define the hole location. You can select multiple points,
to create several holes with one feature, if needed.

Variable
Create a variable to use in expressions or to define several dimensions in sketches and
features. Variables are order-dependent and insert into the Feature list. You must define a
variable before you can use it to define a dimension.

Determine if the variable needs units, or should be unitless (instance count). Enter a name and
type a value. Variable names are case sensitive and should start with a letter. To input the
variable in a dimension, type #[VARIABLE NAME].

Pro-Tip: Variables can be patterned to create variations in the pattern.

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View options
You can adjust the view of the model including the orientation, display styles, and hide/show
options.

Views
Use the preset isometric, dimetric, or trimetric view options to adjust the orientation of the Part
Studio. You can also create Named views to capture a certain view to easily return to later or
insert into a drawing view.

You can also create a Section view within a Part Studio or Assembly. Select a planar face,
reference plane, or cylindrical face after choosing Section view. You can create up to three
cutting planes in one view. Drag the manipulator to snap it to geometry and adjust the cutting
plane. Select the hatched faces to change the cutting plane. When done with the section view,
turn it off by selecting Section view again, in the view option menu.

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Hide and Show
You can hide and show parts within a Part Studio by selecting the eye icon next to the part in
the Parts list. You can also right-click on any part in the graphics area to hide or show all other
parts with Hide other parts.

Pro Tip: The keyboard shortcut to hide a part is Y.

Display styles
Change the display of the model:
● Shaded ● Shaded without edges

● Shaded with hidden edges ● Hidden edges removed

● HIdden edges visible ● Translucent

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Final button
Every feature and sketch dialog display a Final button (except the last feature in the Feature
list). The final button is used when editing features, to be sure the changes affect the model in a
desirable way. Selecting the Final button rebuilds all the features in the Part Studio, up to the
rollback bar. This helps you decide how the edits affect child features, in the model downstream,
before accepting the change.

Features in Multi-part Part Studios

Parts in a Part Studio identify as a part. You can define different appearances and materials per
each part. Parts in a multi-part Part Studio can easily be inserted into an assembly without any
further operations needed, compared to an old CAD system where you first need to save all the
bodies as part files before inserting them into an assembly file.

You can also apply one feature to several parts. For example, use one fillet feature and select
edges or faces from different parts within the Part Studio.

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Appearance and Material
To change the appearance or define a material of a part, right-click on the part in the Parts list.

To edit the appearance:

1. Choose the needed color from the palette or mixer or enter the color code.
2. You can adjust the transparency with the slider.
3. Add the appearance as a custom color to easily user it again.

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To define a material:
1. Choose the library. (Note you can create custom material libraries).
2. Select the material and click the green checkmark to accept.

Mass Properties
Access the mass properties of selected parts in a Part Studio or Assembly by clicking the mass
properties icon in the bottom right of the graphics area. The mass is determined with the
defined material.

Note: If you did not define a material for all selected parts, a warning displays.

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Measure
Any selections made in a Part Studio or Assembly display the measurements in the bottom right
of the graphics area. Measure is not an explicit tool needed to be turned on, but is always “on.”
Select faces, edges, and vertices to measure the area, length, diameter, or distance between.

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Lesson 3: Onshape Assemblies
An Onshape Assembly is the environment to assemble components together to:
● Create relationships between the components to establish dynamic motion
● Instance parts if more than one of a unique part is needed
● Define a product structure with subassemblies

Creating an Assembly
Assemblies are a tab within a Document. To create a new assembly tab select the icon and
select Create Assembly.

After the Assembly tab is created, the first step is to insert the parts or subassemblies needed.
To insert components, select the Insert command on the assembly toolbar.

Any parts or assemblies that exist in the document can be found under Current document, parts
or assemblies in other documents can be found in Other documents, and can be linked in.

Insert natively-modeled parts into an Assembly by selecting the green checkmark on the
insert dialog. This method orients and positions the part(s) in the graphics area of the Assembly
in the same manner the part(s) is positioned and oriented in the Part Studio.

Pro Tip: Inserting only one or two parts at a time keeps your working environment uncluttered.

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All the parts from one Part Studio can be inserted into an Assembly at once, or parts can be
individually inserted. Note that sketches can also be inserted into Assemblies.

Pro Tip: Inserting ‘all’ the parts from a Part Studio into an Assembly is a one-time action.
Creating new parts in that Part Studio does NOT subsequently add them to the Assembly.

Part Orientation and Position

Parts can be reoriented and repositioned in an Assembly if necessary, with the triad
manipulator. Use this workflow to reorient or reposition a part relative to the assembly origin.

To reposition a part to the assembly origin:

1. Select the part to reposition. The triad manipulator appears on the part.

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2. To relocate the manipulator, select and drag the center circle of the manipulator. It will
snap to Mate connector points of the part. Relocate the manipulator to a Mate connector
point that you intend to align to the assembly origin.

3. Once the manipulator is in place, right-click on the center circle of the manipulator.

4. Select Move to origin. This moves the part to the assembly origin. The Mate connector
point of the part that the manipulator is attached to, is aligned to the assembly origin.

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To reorient the part:

1. Select the part to reorient. The triad manipulator appears on the part.

2. To relocate the manipulator, select and drag the center circle of the manipulator. It will
snap to Mate connector points of the part. Relocate the manipulator so that one arrow is
parallel to the part geometry that should align to the Z axis of the Assembly.

3. Once the manipulator is in place, right-click on the arrow that should align to the Z axis.

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 4. Select Align with Z or Anti-align with Z. Align with Z aligns the part so the selected
arrow is facing up. Anti-align with Z aligns the part so the selected arrow is facing down.

Align with Z Anti-align with Z

Once the components have been inserted, it is common to fix (or ground) one part.

Fix
Parts can be fixed (grounded) in an Assembly as well. This is typically used for the first part
inserted into an Assembly. To fix a part, right-click on the component and select Fix. A fixed part
displays the ground symbol next to the part in the Assembly list and also when you try to
drag the part in the graphics area. Fixed parts inside of subassemblies display an icon on
the subassembly structure to help in quickly finding those parts. To unfix a part, right-click the
component and select Unfix.

A Fix constraint is NOT a mate and only applies at the level of Assembly in which it is created.
In this example, adding this new assembly (with the one part) to a parent assembly, would allow
the part to float in space of that parent assembly. The Fix was not created in the parent
assembly. This behavior is intentional with specific benefits. These benefits include:

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 ● The ability to edit a moving sub-assembly without freezing all instances in which it is
used.
● A robust behavior that does not break Mates as an assembly structure is reorganized by
moving components in and out of subassemblies.

Do not use Fix to establish spatial relationships between multiple components, a Group should
be created instead.

Mating
Mating refers to assembling two components; creating a relationship between them in an
assembly. Parts might have motion between one another or remain static relative to each other.

In a 3D space an undefined part has six degrees of freedom:

● Three translational degrees of freedom along X, Y, and Z

● Three rotational degrees of freedom about X, Y, and Z

Mating removes the motion or eliminates the degrees of freedom not needed (sometimes this
might be all six degrees), and optionally bounds the motion allowed in the degrees of freedom
that remain.

Most old CAD systems use a mating scheme of low-level mates to eliminate unneeded degrees
of freedom. Creating a low-level mate in an old CAD system requires a selection of a geometry
entity (face, edge, or vertex) of each part and determining the needed relationship between
those selections by choosing the mate type. For example, if you need to mate a peg into a hole
you would:

1. Define a concentric mate between the cylindrical face of the peg and the cylindrical face
of the hole.
2. Define a coincident mate between two planar faces to determine how far the peg should
be in the hole.
3. Define a third mate to eliminate any rotation.

In old CAD systems, several low-level mates are often required between any pair of parts. Low-
level mates are also fragile and can easily break just by making simple design changes if those
edits include editing a mate selection entity.

The main advantage of the Onshape strategy is the ability to define the spatial relationships
between two parts with (typically) just ONE mate. Onshape avoids the low-level mate approach
all together and uses high-level mates instead. High-level mates assemble any two parts
completely with a single mate.

Pro Tip: If you find yourself adding a SECOND mate between two parts - STOP! It is probably
not needed. You can likely achieve the same goal with just a different mate type.

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The Onshape user interface streamlines the steps for creating a mate, but Onshape is
performing several actions “behind the scene” including:

● Defining a local coordinate system for each part

● Aligning those coordinate systems
● Determining the degrees of freedom needed by the chosen mate type
● Optionally including offsets and limits

These actions are consistent across all mate types, with the exception of the Tangent mate,
allowing you to easily interchange different mate types. High-level mates are more robust and
less likely to break after design changes.

Onshape subassemblies are flexible by default. That means that all mates at all levels are
solved simultaneously. This means moving parts always move, independent of where the mate
exists in the assembly structure. Old CAD systems require you to adjust the solving state to
achieve the desired motion in a top-level assembly. As an example, in the case of the 5-cylinder
radial engine shown above, there is a single sub-assembly representing ONE cylinder, this is
patterned radially 5 times. At any given moment, each piston is at a different point of its stroke
and yet each instance is of the SAME sub-assembly.

Onshape Mates
There are three terms to become familiar with as you learn how to mate in Onshape:

● Mate connector points

● Mate connectors
● Mates

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Mate connector points are an anchor point to attach a Mate connector. Mate connectors define
a local coordinate system for the part, and the mate itself determines the relationship between
the Mate connectors.

Mate Connector Points

Mate connector points are automatically generated on part geometry. They are represented in
the graphics area as white dots, when the Mate or Mate connector commands are activated.
Mate connectors can be attached to these points. Mate connector points exist at:

● Centroids of faces and sketch profiles

● Midpoints and vertices of edges and sketch lines
● Centers of circular openings
● Centers of negative space, such as cuts and slots
● Virtual sharps of conic faces

These locations will satisfy most mating requirements, and other locations can be defined.

Pro Tip: Centroids of faces or sketch profiles are the geometric center. If the shape of the face
or sketch profile is asymmetric the centroid may not be located in the intended location needed
for the Mate connector point. Notice this structural member example in the forums.

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Mate Connectors
Mate connectors define a local coordinate system for each part. Mate connectors are displayed
with a coordinate-like symbol. The blue, red, and green lines of the symbol specify the Z, X, and
Y axes of the coordinate system, respectively. The Z axis (blue line) is the primary axis entity.
The X and Y axes (red and green lines, respectively) are the secondary axis entities. The
orientation and placement of the Mate connector axes relative to the part geometry play a
crucial role when mating components.

Mate

The Mate aligns two Mate connectors to one another. The different Mate types define different
degrees of freedom.

A Mate defines:

● The degrees of freedom between two Mate connectors (one from each part).
● The Z axes between the two Mate connectors can be aligned or anti-aligned (flipping the
part).
● The X and Y axes can be realigned (clocking the part).
● Certain Mate types allow an offset between the Mate connectors in the X, Y, or Z
direction.
● Limits (linear or rotational) to the motion between two Mate connectors can be
established with values.

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Onshape’s Mate Types

● Fastened : 0 degrees of freedom - no motion

● Revolute : 1 degree of freedom - rotation about Z

● Slider : 1 degree of freedom - translation along Z

● Cylindrical : 2 degrees of freedom - rotation about Z and translation along Z

● Pin slot : 2 degrees of freedom - rotation about Z and translation along X

● Ball : 3 degrees of freedom - rotation about X, Y, and Z

● Parallel : 4 degrees of freedom - translation along X, Y, and Z and rotation about Z

● Planar : 3 degrees of freedom - translation along X and Y, and rotation about Z.

How to Mate
To mate two parts:
1. Select the Mate type that defines the desired degrees of freedom between the two
components.
2. With the Mate dialog open, hover the mouse over part geometry. This activates (shows)
the Mate connector points associated with that entity.

a. Hovering over a planar face displays a Mate connector point at the face’s
centroid, vertices and midpoints of the face’s edges, and the centers of any
circular openings.

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b. Hovering over a cylindrical or conical face displays Mate connector points aligned
to the face’s axis at the top, bottom and center of the face.

c. Hovering over a linear edge or sketch entity displays Mate connector points at
the edge’s vertices and midpoint.

d. Hovering over a circular edge or sketch entity displays Mate connector points
aligned to the axis of the edge and at the vertices.

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 e. Hovering over a conical face displays Mate connector points aligned to the top,
bottom, and virtual sharp of the face.

Pro Tip: Pressing (and holding) the Shift key locks the entity selection to the entity the
mouse is over when pressing Shift. This prohibits the entity selection from changing as
you move the mouse. This makes it easier to choose the desired Mate connector point in
instances where Mate connector points are close together. Releasing the Shift key
unlocks the selection.

3. Place the mouse over the entity of one of the parts with the desired Mate connector point
to attach the Mate connector. Move the mouse until the Mate connector snaps to that
Mate connector point and click. This attaches the Mate connector to the part, defining
the local coordinate system.

a. Mate connectors attached to a Mate connector point associated with a planar

face, positioning the Z axis of the Mate connector normal to that face:

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b. Mate connectors attached to a Mate connector point associated with a cylindrical
face, positioning the Z axis of the Mate connector parallel to the axis of that face:

c. Mate connectors attached to a Mate connector point associated with a linear

edge or sketch entity, positioning the Z axis of the Mate connector parallel to that
edge or sketch entity.

d. Mate connectors attached to a Mate connector point associated with a circular

edge or sketch entity, positioning the Z axis of the Mate connector parallel to the
center axis of that edge or sketch entity:

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Pro Tip: Mate connector point selection is important! Be sure to pick a Mate connector
point that belongs to an entity that will remain unchanged after edits. For example, there
are two Mate connector points in the same location for the center of a hole. One that
belongs to the planar face, and one that belongs to the cylindrical face. However, the
Mate connector point belonging the the planar face is the better choice. This is because
creating a fillet or a chamfer on the hole edge would change the location of the Mate
connector point belonging to the cylindrical face but not the Mate connector point
belonging to the planar face.

Cylindrical Face After Fillet: Cylindrical Face

Planar Face After Fillet: Planar Face

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4. Repeat to attach a Mate connector to a Mate connector point of the second part.
5. The Mate aligns the two Mate connectors of each part.

6. To adjust the alignment of the Mate connectors:

a. The Z alignment between the Mate connectors is set to an aligned or anti-aligned
position. To change the alignment, select the Flip primary axis icon.

Anti-aligned mate

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 b. The X and Y alignment of the Mate connectors is adjusted by selecting the
Reorient secondary axis icon.

7. An offset between the two Mate connectors can be created for the Fastened, Slider,
Revolute, Pin slot, and Planar Mates. An offset creates a clearance or space between
the Mate connectors, in the specified direction. To offset Mate connectors, check the
Offset checkbox and input the Offset value.

a. Mate connectors can be offset in the X, Y, and Z direction in a Fastened Mate.

b. Mate connectors can be offset in a X and Y direction in a Slider Mate.
c. Mate connectors can be offset in a Z direction in a Revolute, Pin slot, and Planar
Mate.

8. Mates with one or more degrees of freedom can have their range of motion limited by
using the Limits option. To bound the motion, check the Limits checkbox and input
values to define the minimum and maximum bounds. The minimum value must be
smaller than the maximum value; use a negative sign to change the motion’s direction.
Leaving the fields as No minimum or No maximum does not bound the motion in that
direction. Limits may be added to each degree of freedom of a Mate.

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9. To animate the motion, select the Animate mate degree of freedom icon.
10. When a Mate dialog is open, only the Mate being edited is being solved. This behavior
isolates the single action, making it easy to understand the one relationship. Once you
select the checkmark to accept the Mate, Onshape solves every Mate in the Mate
Feature list. To solve all Mates in the Mate Feature list, while editing a Mate (dialog
open), select the Solve button. This allows you to double-check the entire assembly with
the new Mate, before accepting the Mate.

11. Renaming Mates helps identify them, making it easier to find and edit specific Mates

later. To rename a Mate, select the pencil icon and type the new name in an open
Mate dialog or right-click on the Mate in the Mate Features list and select Rename…
12. The Mate connectors created in the Mate are available in the Mate Features list. Select
the arrow next to the Mate to expand it and access the Mate connectors. Mate
connectors created and belonging to a Mate are called implicit Mate connectors.

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Editing Mates
To edit a Mate:
1. Double-click on the Mate or right-click and select Edit…
2. Mate types can be changed by selecting a different Mate type in the pull-down menu of
the Mate dialog.

3. There will only ever be two selections in a Mate dialog. To change the selections, click
the X to clear a single entry or right-click in whitespace and select Clear selection to
clear both entries at once. Select new Mate connector point(s) to attach a new Mate
connector.

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Animating Mates
Mates can be animated to display the motion of an entire assembly, if additional relationships
between that Mate exist. To animate an assembly:

1. Right-click on the Mate to animate. Select Animate…

2. If the Mate to be animated has more than one degree of freedom, pick the degree of
freedom to animate. Only one degree of freedom may be used to drive an assembly at
any given time. Select the Play button to animate, and the Stop button to stop the
animation.
3. Start and end values of the animation stop and start the animation from the Mate
connectors of the parts. If any limits exist on the animated Mate those values
automatically add to the start and end values of the animation.
4. To make the animation faster decrease the Steps value. To make the animation slower
increase the Steps value.
5. To loop the animation, check the Reciprocating playback checkbox.

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Tangent Mate
The Tangent Mate is different than the other mate types. It does not utilize Mate connectors.
The separation of this Mate from the others in the Assembly toolbar, indicates it is different.

The Tangent Mate is most similar to tangent mates in other CAD systems. Select a face, edge,
sketch entity, or vertex of one part to be tangent to a face, edge, or vertex of another part.
Selecting the Flip primary axis icon adjusts the alignment of the selected faces. See the help
documentation for more information.

Group
The Group command fixes or groups all parts selected relative to one another; if you move one
part in the group all parts move. Use the Group for parts that are static relative to one another -
a common use case is the import of standard parts/assemblies

Groups are listed in the Mate Features list where you can edit them to add or remove parts.
New parts inserted into an assembly can be added to existing groups. To edit a group, double
click on it or right-click and select Edit...

Whenever parts are inserted into an assembly, positioned correctly relative to one another, and
they are static, the Group command replaces multiple Fastened mates. Creating a group is
most appropriate where:

● Modeling multiple parts in a Part Studio and selecting the checkmark to insert all parts
into the Assembly.
● Importing assemblies or standard content from another CAD system

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A Group is easier to create than several Fastened Mates and it solves faster, making your
document perform better!

Components that belong to a Group can be hidden or shown together. To hide all parts of a
Group, right-click the Group and select Hide instances. To show all parts of a Group, right-click
the Group and select Show instances.

Advanced Mating Scenarios

Mate connector points satisfy almost all scenarios when mating components. In some cases, a
Mate connector is needed in a location without a Mate connector point. When this happens
there are two options:

● Edit the implicit Mate connector after creating the mate

● Create an explicit Mate connector to utilize in the mate

Editing Implicit Mate Connectors

Mate connectors created inside a mate are called implicit Mate connectors. These Mate
connectors belong to the mate they were created in and can be found by expanding the mate.
Implicit Mate connectors can be edited after the mate is accepted, to adjust the alignment or
position of the Mate connector.

To edit an implicit Mate connector:

1. Double click on the Mate connector, after expanding the mate, or right-click on the Mate
connector and select Edit…

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 2. The same options from the explicit Mate connector dialog are available when editing an
implicit Mate connector. Refer to the steps below, in the explicit Mate connector section.

Explicit Mate Connectors

An explicit Mate connector does not belong to a mate. Once created, explicit Mate connectors
can be selected in a mate. Explicit Mate connectors are created for a variety of reasons
including:

● Mating components when there is not a Mate connector point available.

● Defining a unique or hard-to-find position of a Mate connector using a layout sketch.
● Creating mate references for Snap mode.
● Establishing a coordinate system to evaluate mass properties, other than the assembly
origin.
● Creating section views in assemblies where no planar faces are present to establish a
cutting plane.

Explicit Mate connectors can be created in an Onshape Assembly or in a Part Studio. A Mate
connector created in a Part Studio has an owner part, whereas a Mate connector created in an
assembly is owned by that assembly.

● Part Studio: To reuse that Mate connector, as the owner part is instanced, or inserted
into other assemblies
● Assembly: A one-off scenario or if the assembly should own the Mate connector

Pro Tip: Explicit Mate connectors created in a Part Studio, attached to a sketch, must have an
owner part. A sketch cannot own a Mate connector. If you do not need a part, insert the sketch
into an Assembly and create the explicit Mate connector at the assembly level.

To create an explicit Mate connector in a Part Studio or an Assembly:

1. Select the Mate connector icon from the toolbar.

2. Select On entity or Between entities from the pull-down:
a. Select On entity to attach a Mate connector to a Mate connection point, and then
move it from that point.
b. Select Between entities to add a Mate connector between two faces of a part (the
two faces must be of the same part).

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3. If you selected:
a. On entity, attach the Mate connector to a Mate Connector point by clicking on
the Mate connector point desired.

b. Between entities, select the Origin entity, this will choose the first face and
placement of the Mate connector. Then choose the Between entity selection,
anywhere on the second face.

4. Select the Flip primary axis icon to adjust the Z axis alignment of the Mate connector.

Before After
5. Select the Reorient secondary axes icon to adjust the X and Y axes alignment. This
clocks the Mate connectors in 90 degree increments relative to one another.

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 Before After

6. Check the Move option to translate the Mate connector in the X, Y, and/or Z direction
from the Mate connector point or to rotate the Mate connector about the X, Y, or Z axes.

Move: Before Move: After

Move: Before Move: After

7. Select the Realign option to align the axes of the Mate connector along edges of the
part, optionally define a secondary axis entity.

Realign: Before Realign: After

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 Note: The realign and move options can be combined and are available for On entity or
Between entities.

8. If you are adding an explicit Mate Connector in a Part Studio you must choose an Owner
part.

9. Once the Mate Connector is positioned as intended, select the checkmark to accept
the Mate connector.
10. The Mate connector is found in the Mate features list or the Features list (if created in a
Part Studio) and can be selected from the graphics area (if shown) or the list.

Explicit versus Implicit Mate Connectors

Create an explicit Mate connector instead of editing an implicit Mate connector if:

● The part is reused multiples times, needing that Mate connector location.
● Showing other collaborators where to mate.
● Patterning Mate connectors (must be done in the Part Studio).
● Defining multiple mating options, possibly for Snap mode.

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 ● The part geometry prevents you from editing an implicit Mate connector easily, for
example using a layout sketch to determine the Mate connector location.

There are pros and cons to each method, if both will achieve the desired results. Implicit mate
connectors are neatly organized in the Mate they belong to and it often takes fewer clicks to edit
an implicit Mate connector. However, visualizing the intended part position with an explicit Mate
connector is sometimes easier than visualizing the needed edit to the implicit Mate connector.

Mate connectors with Features

Implicit or explicit Mate connectors can be used to define features including, but not limited to:

• Defining a sketch plane with the XY orientation of the Mate connector

• Positioning holes within the Hole feature
• Defining a mirror plane with the Mirror feature with the XY orientation of the Mate
connector
• Defining a direction with the Linear or Circular pattern features (Part Studio and
Assembly) with the Z-axis of the Mate connector

Explicit Mate connectors may be created first and then selected to define the features, or implicit
Mate connectors can be created within the feature. Any feature that displays the Mate connector
icon allows you to create implicit Mate connectors. These Mate connectors belong to the feature
(unlike explicit Mate connectors), are not listed in the Feature list, and do not need an owner
part.

To create an implicit Mate connector within the feature:

1. Click on the Mate connector icon in the feature dialog.

2. Select a Mate connector point to attach the Mate connector.

To edit the location of the Mate connector:

1. Click the Mate connector icon in the selection box.

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2. Input the needed parameters and close the Mate connector dialog.

Mating Tips

Groups
Create Groups between components that are static relative to one another. Creating several
Fastened mates is a slower process, whereas a group is quick and easy to create and manage,
achieving the same results.

One strategy is to create Groups between static components and only a few Mates to define
motion between those groups. Notice the subassembly structure in the Hahn-Sternmotor
assembly. Most of the subassemblies in this document contain a small number of components,
a Group and a few Mates between moving parts. This strategy creates an easy-to-manage
assembly structure.

Avoid Chains of Dependencies

A chain of dependency refers to mating components together one after another, building on the
last pair of parts, daisy-chaining the parts together. Avoid this technique as you mate parts
together. This technique creates dependencies between the mates throughout the assembly
structure.

Daisy-chaining parts prohibit the ability to make quick design changes because each change
may require several Mates to be modified.

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Instead of daisy-chaining parts together, mate all components to the same part that drives the
motion. For example, in a planetary gear assembly mate all gears to the turning shaft, that
defines the motion, instead of mating the gears to one another. Mating all moving parts to the
turning shaft, prevents creating a chain of dependencies, and enables you to quickly make edits
to the assembly design.

Consistent Practices
Stay consistent amongst your company. As multiple designers and teams create several
models, it is recommended to document company standards. This ensures all designers and
engineers follow the same protocol in situations where multiple good practices exist. This helps
everyone collaborate effectively as they work with the models.

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An example of this, is in these two Ball Bearing documents, whereas one uses a Revolute mate
in the top-level assembly and the other uses a Fastened mate. Either of these are valid
solutions. The bearing moves as it should in either document.

● Ball Bearing: Revolute Mate

● Ball Bearing: Fastened Mate

In the Revolute mate example, there is a Revolute mate and a Gear mate relation in top-level
assembly to move the parts.

In the Fastened mate example, only a Fastened mate exits in the top-level assembly. Since
Onshape subassemblies are flexible, and the mates are properly set in the Ball Bearing sub, the
top-level assembly moves properly.

Either one of these solutions is valid. Setting organizational standards for scenarios like this,
communicates effective design strategies so all collaborators understand the model.

Displaying Mate and Mate Connector icons

Mates and Mate connectors are visible in the graphics area. Select the eye icon next to the
Mate or Mate connector in the Mate Features list to show it in the graphics area. Finding the
Mate to edit can be done from the graphics area. Sometimes this is easier if you did not rename
the mates accordingly.

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 All Mates shown All Mate connectors shown

1. Press the J key on the keyboard to show all Mates in the graphics area, or right-click
and select Show all to show all Mates, Mate connectors, and parts in an assembly.
2. Find the Mate to edit, right-click on the Mate icon, in the graphics area and select Edit
{mate name}...

Note: Mates can be deleted, suppressed, and hidden using this right-click menu.

● The K key is the keyboard shortcut to hide or show all Mate connectors in an Assembly.
● The J key is the keyboard shortcut to hide or show all Mates in an Assembly.
● A Group icon is displayed in the graphics area as well, when showing all Mates.

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Subassemblies
Whenever possible, create a subassembly structure instead of mating all parts in the top-level
assembly. Subassemblies not only help define a product structure, but also provide a
manageable path to mate parts together. Each subassembly may contain only a few Mates and
Groups. This approach simplifies assembly management. Any motion defined by Mates in a
subassembly also moves in top-level assembly.

You can insert an existing assembly into a top-level assembly or create a subassembly on the
fly. To create a subassembly on the fly:
1. Select the parts to move to the new subassembly

2. Right-click and choose Move to new subassembly

All mates between the parts and the parts move to the new assembly, and the new assembly is
inserted into the top-level assembly. You can move parts in an out of a subassembly by
dragging parts in and out of the structure in the top-level assembly Instance list.

Fix, by contrast, is only relative to the assembly that the part is fixed in. Parts fixed in a
subassembly for example, may not be fixed in the top-level assembly. Only parts may be fixed,

72
not subassemblies. Restructuring assemblies by dragging and dropping parts in and out of an
assembly structure is possible from a top-level assembly.

Note: Create new subassembly does not move any selected parts. This option creates a new
assembly tab in the document and inserts the blank assembly into the top-level assembly.

Instancing Parts
Parts should be instanced in the assembly and not the Part Studio. Only model one of each
unique part in the Part Studio. To instance parts in an assembly:
● Use the component pattern commands:

○ Linear pattern

○ Circular pattern

○ Replicate
● Copy and paste parts. (Right-click → Copy [Part name], right-click → Paste [Part
name])
○ Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V (Mac- Cmd+C and Cmd+V)
● Insert the part again with the Insert dialog.

Replicate
Replicate enables you to instance parts, subassemblies, or both based on the part geometry
and the seed instance. To use the Replicate tool:

1. Mate the first instance into the assembly.

2. Select Replicate and choose the instance(s) to replicate.

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3. Select the option to instance from the pulldown:
○ If you mated to a face, the options allow you to match faces in parts, features, or
individual faces.

○ If you mated to an edge, the options allow you to match edges in a plane, face,
or individual edges.

4. Select the faces or edges to find a match.

Match individual edges

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 Match edges on face

Snap Mode
Snap mode enables you to quickly insert and mate components with a single click. This mode
relies on explicit Mate connectors to create a mate reference defining how the component
should insert and mate. Snap mode is very useful to insert library parts into a project assembly.

The first step to using Snap mode is to create explicit Mate connectors on parts or
subassemblies to define the Mate placement. You can create several Mate connectors if a part
may be placed in different orientations or locations in different top-level assemblies. Establishing
explicit Mate connectors is a one-time operation. Once they are created, explicit Mate
connectors can be reused in any other project assembly the components are inserted into.

Once explicit Mate connectors are created in the component:

1. Be sure the top-level assembly is the active tab.

2. Select the Snap mode icon in the Assembly toolbar.

3. Select Insert in the Assembly toolbar and navigate to the part or subassembly to
insert.
4. In the dialog, select the part or subassembly to insert. Move the mouse into the graphics
area. Notice as you hover over geometry in the assembly, the part snaps to the
geometry at the explicit Mate connector.
a. To toggle between different explicit Mate connectors, press the control key on
the keyboard. This cycles through all explicit Mate connectors belonging to the
inserted component.
b. To flip the primary alignment of the Mate connector (the Z axis) press the A key
on the keyboard. This toggles the alignment between aligned and anti-aligned.
c. To reorient the secondary axes of the Mate connector (X and Y axes) press the
Q key on the keyboard. This clocks the Mate connector 90 degrees.

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 5. Once the part is in place, click to insert and mate with a Fastened Mate.
6. To turn off Snap mode, click the Snap mode icon in the toolbar again.

Standard Content
Standard content enables you to insert and manage standard hardware without needing to
model or create separate documents. You can simply insert standard content from the Insert
dialog in an assembly.

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1. Select Insert on the assembly toolbar.
2. Choose Standard content.
3. Select the Standard, Category, Class and Component:
Note: These are smart menus, they adjust per the selections.

4. Select the Size, Length, Thread length, Finish, Material (some of these options are only
applicable to certain classes of standard content). Use the Autosize fastener option
to let Onshape automatically size the fastener. You can select the hole face or another
standard component to auto size.

The Autosize option works for cuts that were not created with the Hole feature tool.

5. Optionally, select Edit to input a part number and description. Onshape remembers
these properties for your entire company. Onshape provides a pre-populate description
of the part based on the specifications chosen. You may use this or customize it. If you
would like to reset the description to the default one, select Reset to default description

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 6. The preview in the bottom of the dialog verifies you are inserting the correct part.

7. Select Insert to place one fastener or select a face with the holes and select Insert. This
inserts a fastener to every hole on the selected face(s). If you insert a part incorrectly,
just use Undo to remove the item and continue working.

To insert washers and nuts in the appropriate position within a stack, use Insert closest to
selection or Insert furthest from selection .

● Select a face with the holes and select Insert closest to selection to insert the
component closest to the face(s) selection.

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 ● Select a face with the holes and select Insert furthest from selection to insert the
component furthest from the face(s) selection.

Simultaneous BOM
The Bill of Materials enables you to interact with your assembly in a table view and add
properties to any component in the assembly. You can insert the BOM onto a drawing sheet as
well.

Selecting components in the BOM cross-selects with the assembly graphics window and
Instances list. This allows you to quickly identify, hide, show, delete, or perform other operations
on the selected components.

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The BOM can be viewed in a structured or flattened state.

Structured

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 Flattened
In the structured view, double-click on a subassembly to expand it.

To add columns, select Add column and choose the property. Custom properties are available.

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To reorder columns, right-click on the column and select Move left or Move right. To delete a
column, right-click on the column and select Remove column. If you insert the table onto a
drawing sheet, it appears exactly as it does in the assembly.

To exclude components from the table, right-click on the row and select Exclude from BOM.

You can display excluded components:

1. Select Show excluded in the overflow icon menu.
2. Right-click on the row(s) and select Include in BOM.

3. Select the overflow icon and choose Hide excluded.

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The overflow icon menu allows you to copy the table, show excluded parts, collapse all
subassemblies in a structured view, expand all subassemblies in a structured view, or export
the table to a CSV file.

To add properties to components, click into each cell and type or pick the needed property.
Inputting a property in the BOM applies the property everywhere: in other documents, parts,
tabs, etc. Likewise editing a property is reflected everywhere automatically.

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Exploded Views

Exploded Views are a great way to show how the individual parts of an assembly are put
together to create the finished product. They are also often used to show hidden or internal
parts in a drawing view, as an effective way to show all details via a ballooned drawing.

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Creating an Exploded View
Exploded Views are created in the assembly.

1. To start, expand the Exploded views tab, and then click the Add exploded view
button.

2. Select a part and use the manipulator to move it in the desired direction.

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3. For additional control, you may input a value for Distance in the Explode step dialog.

4. Click the green checkmark in the Explode step dialog to create an explode step in the
Exploded view panel on the right.

5. Repeat the process, selecting parts and moving them to continue adding additional
Explode steps as needed. Selecting multiple parts in the Instances box of the dialog
moves them simultaneously in the same Explode step.

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Parts in a subassembly explode independently of their subassembly structure. To move an
entire subassembly together, select it as a whole from the Instance list.

The parts or assemblies stay selected, even after clicking the green checkmark to create the
Explode step. This makes it easier to add additional translation or rotation steps to the same
set of parts. If you do not wish to move the parts further, click them individually to deselect
individual parts, or use the spacebar to deselect all parts all at once, or just click the next part or
parts that need exploding.

When adding an Explode step, the orientation of the manipulator is based on the axis of the
part or subassembly you have selected. In many cases, this is not aligned with the axis of the
assembly itself, or the desired direction of the explode.

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The manipulator can be reoriented by dragging its origin point and placing it on any other
geometry. Then pull on the appropriate axis to move the part in the desired direction.

When you’ve completed adding all Explode steps, click the “Done” button at the top of the
screen.

This completes the exploded view and collapses all parts to their original position.

Working with Exploded Views

You may reactivate an exploded view at any time by double-clicking the name of the Exploded
view, or by right-clicking and selecting the Activate option.

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You can edit a previously created Explode step by double-clicking it in the Exploded views tab
on the right side of the screen.

An Explode view itself, and the Explode steps in a view, can be renamed by right-clicking on it
and selecting Rename. This is a good practice to maintain organization and clarity.

Explode steps may be re-ordered by clicking and dragging them up or down in the Explode
Views panel.

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Intermediate Explode steps can also be added. To do so, use the gray Rollback bar located
just below the last Explode step of the Active Exploded view. Click and drag this to the
position where you would like to add the new step.

New steps can now be added and are placed just above the Rollback bar in the order they are
created.

When you are done, right-click the Rollback bar and select Roll to end to bring back all
subsequent steps.

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You may also create more than one Exploded view for an assembly. Simply use the Add
exploded view button at the bottom of the Exploded views panel.

Each Exploded view has its own independent Explode steps.

Exploded Views in Drawings

Once your Exploded view has been created, you can show it in a Drawing view.

When placing a view from the Insert view dialog in a drawing, under the Explode/Position
option select the name of your Exploded view.

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You may also change an existing view to show the exploded form from the same
Explode/Position option in the View Properties dialog. This is accessible by double-clicking
the view.

Pro Tip: While editing the Explode view in the assembly, you can create a Named view to
capture the best orientation of your exploded assembly. You can then show that named view on
a drawing by selecting it from the View orientation option in the same dialog shown above.

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Lesson 4: Document Organization

Inside a Document
Documents are generic containers that can contain a number of tabs for a given design. To
keep Documents with several tabs organized, create folders . To navigate large documents,
use the Tab manager . We recommend limiting the number of tabs in a single document to
about 40 or fewer. This limit helps increase performance and the ability to work within a
document quickly.

Folders
Folders within a document keep several tabs organized. To create a folder, click the plus sign
icon, choose Create folder, and enter a name.

To move tabs inside of a folder, drag and drop the tab over the folder.

Folders can be nested by dragging a folder tab onto another folder. Selecting a folder displays
what tabs are inside. The Breadcrumbs allows you to navigate back to the top level or to
another folder within the structure.

To move a folder up to the parent level, right-click and choose Move to parent folder.

To delete a folder, right-click and choose Unpack. This does not delete any tabs inside the
folder but moves them to the parent folder.

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Tab Manager

The tab manager displays on the left pane when you

select the icon at the bottom left. Use the tab
manager to navigate documents with several tabs or
search for tabs by name or type.

Display a detail view or list view . Selecting a tab

in the manager displays the thumbnail at the bottom.
Double-click to activate the tab.

Use the search field to find a tab by name, or the filter

options to find tabs by type. The filters are “smart,”
meaning the document can decipher what type of data
exists in the document, and only displays those filter
options.

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You can also sort by tab order, name, or type with the pull-down.

Right-clicking within the Tab manager displays options to add more tabs to the document. You
may also reorganize documents by dragging and dropping them to add them to a folder
structure or reorder them. Reorganizing tabs in the Tab manager compared to simply dragging
along the bottom of the document allows you to move several tabs at once by shift-selecting all
the needed tabs first.

The social cues display in the tab manager as well.

Pro Tip: Alt+T opens or closes the Tab manager, and ctrl+spacebar allows you to switch to
different tabs.

Document Page
On the Documents page, use labels, teams, and folders to keep several documents organized.

Labels
Label are just for that user’s account, they are not shared amongst a company. Use labels to
tag documents and make it easy to filter them later. A document can be tagged by more than
one label. The labels display on the document Details pane and under the document name on
the Document page.

All labels display on the left of the Documents page. Select a label to quickly list all documents
with that tag.

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To add a document to an existing label, drag and drop the document over the label, or use the
labels option with the document selected.

To create a label, select the Create button and choose Label… Right-click on a label to delete
or rename it. Labels can be deleted by right-clicking on the label and selecting Delete label, then
clicking Delete.

When a label is deleted, it is removed from the documents that were tagged with that label. The
documents tagged with the deleted label are not deleted.

Teams
Teams are a way to share a document with several users at once. Any team you belong to
displays on left of the Documents page. Selecting a team filters for all documents that are
shared to that team. This makes teams another way to keep documents organized.

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Folders
Folders on the Document page enable you to keep several documents organized and share
several documents at once. You can find any folders you created under the My Onshape filter.
Any loose documents that are not placed in a folder, show below.

To navigate inside a folder, double-click or use the breadcrumbs.

To create a folder, click the Create button and choose Folder… enter a name and select Create.

To move a document or folder inside another folder, right-click on the document (or folder) and
select Move to…

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Then choose the location and select Move here.

Note: You must have edit permissions to the folder you are moving the item into, and all
permissions to the item you are moving (Edit, Copy, Link document, Export, Share, Comment,
and Delete).

You can also drag and drop onto a folder or breadcrumb to move.

To share a folder, right-click on the folder and select Share… All documents inside the folder
are shared.

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Note: Only top-level folders can be shared.

If a user is shared into a document twice, (ex: shared into a folder and separately a document
inside the shared folder) the user receives the combination of permissions.

Folders may be moved to trash by right-clicking on the folder and selecting Send to trash.
Moving a folder to trash also moves all the documents inside the folder to the trash.

Folders and documents in the trash can be restored by navigating to the Trash, finding the
folder or document, right-clicking and selecting Restore.

Difference between Labels and Folders

Labels should be used to tag documents in a certain way for a user to quickly filter documents
with that label. Labels are not shared amongst a company or enterprise, and are meant for use
by a single user. One document may be tagged with several labels. By contrast, folders define
a specific unique location that the document “lives” in. Folders can be shared amongst a larger

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group like a team, company, or enterprise. Use folders to organize sets of documents in a
specific structure and to share sets of documents with specific collaborators.

What Goes in a Document?

Documents are flexible containers that allow organizations to use them in different ways. What
goes in a document is company-specific. You can put an individual part, assembly, or drawing
per document, or you can put all the data of a design in a document.

However, it is recommended during the conceptual stage to use documents as containers for all
data unique to a design. Design data you are reusing, or custom libraries, should be linked into
the design documents. This prevents copying data to each “project” document.

You might also find, what is contained in a document is fluid. To keep all design data organized,
you can move individual tabs into new documents and use folders to keep those documents
organized on the Documents Page. For example, if you are using a release process and your
design matures so that you start needing to revision-manage individual parts, assemblies, and
drawings, use Folders to keep data organized. This allows revision and release control over the
individual components of a design.

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Documents might also be organized differently based on what kind of data they contain. The
above graphic displays a recommended strategy to organize project data. However, documents
containing custom library components, for example, might only contain a single part, or a single
assembly, and its parts that are purchased as a unit. You might also decide what goes in a
document based on who needs access to the contents. Sharing is a document-level action;
when sharing a document, all tabs in that document are shared. If a certain part or assembly
should not be shared, you might decide to move it to its own document.

There are several different strategies for deciding what goes in a single document, this is a
company-specific decision. There is not a blanketed “right-way” to organize documents.
Documents are flexible by design so they can be used in different ways by different
organizations. With that being said, we do recommend starting with unique data to a given
project contained in one document, and moving tabs as the document gets too large or as the
design matures. Keep in mind performance implications of adding more tabs (we recommend
under 40 tabs per document), and tabs can always be moved to new or other documents when
appropriate.

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Lesson 5: Sharing and Collaboration
This lesson presents how to share documents among users and non-users alike and explains
the permissions available to you when sharing. It also covers collaborating with other users in
the same document as well.

Note: This section describes how to share Onshape documents with other Onshape users, and
non-users. While the mechanisms and controls are the same for all subscription types, if you
are using an Enterprise subscription there are additional administrative controls compared to
other subscription types and some functionality described in this section may not be allowed by
your administrators.

When using an Enterprise subscription you can only share to other users within the enterprise.
Enterprise has different user types, including guests, which can be added to the Onshape
enterprise so you can share with people who may not be part of your company but should be
part of your Onshape Enterprise, for example vendors or suppliers. This setting to allow the
invitation of guests to an enterprise is controlled by the enterprise administrators.

One important distinction to understand at the outset: When you share a document with another
person, you are not sending a copy of anything. In Onshape, you are allowing someone access
to the actual document, and that access is allowed even when other users are in the document.
Multiple users can view and edit a document at the same time.

The people you share with can view all the tabs of the document: Free Onshape users,
Standard and Professional users, even non-Onshape users (no Onshape account is required).

There are multiple concepts to understand when allowing collaboration within Onshape:
● Sharing - Allowing another user or users access to a document or group of documents
(folder) while defining which actions they can take on the document
● Teams - A means of grouping users together for ease of sharing a document to multiple
people
● Folders - A means of grouping documents together for ease of sharing multiple
documents at once to a person or group of users
● Permissions - The specific actions you can allow a person to take on a shared
document
● Simultaneous collaboration - The ability for multiple people to be active in a document
at the same time
● Follow mode - The ability to view another user’s view of a document and see the
actions they take in real time
● Comments - A mechanism for making communicating with (and notifying) other users
about specific entities within a document

Once you share a document you can edit the permissions or revoke access completely at any
time.

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Share a Document
While in a document, click Share (a button in the top-right corner of the Onshape window).

1. Select who to give access to:

○ Individuals - Enter user emails addresses to share (use a comma-separated list
to enter several emails per set of permissions).
○ Teams - You can share documents with any teams you belong to.
○ Companies - Only admins can access the Documents owned by the company
unless the document is shared with the company.
○ Public - Makes the document visible to and able to be copied by any Onshape
user.
○ Application - Allow specific third-party applications access to your document.
○ Link - Create a view-only link that can be distributed to anyone, even non-
Onshape users.
2. Select the shared option and enter the email address or pick the appropriate option from
a pull-down.

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 3. Select a general permission from the dropdown:
○ Can view - By default, allow permission to view and comment on the document.
The toolbars will not display, as the users cannot edit the document. Users with
view permission can:
■ View all tabs of a document
■ Rotate the view
■ Adjust view settings like display style and section view
■ Measure and access mass properties
■ Follow other collaborators.
○ Can edit - By default, allow permission to edit, copy, and comment on the
document. The toolbars display, allowing the user access to edit the document.
Note: Free users cannot edit private documents.
○ Select any other individual permission you want the user to have, including:
■ Copy - Permission to make a copy of the document (the copied
document is independent (no association to the first)
■ Link document - Permission to link to the parts and assemblies in the
document (being able to insert this document or part of it into another
document)
■ Export - Permission to export the parts and assemblies out of Onshape
(parasolid, STL, DXF, etc)
■ Share - Permission to share the document with other (only with the same
permissions)
■ Comment - Permission to read and write comments
■ Delete - Permission to delete the document
4. Optionally, include a personal message.
5. Click Share. This sends emails to the shared users, notifying them that they are shared
with a new document and the personal message is included in the email.
6. Optionally repeat these steps for another user.
7. Click Close.

Sharing options
When sharing a document with other people, you have many options. You can share with an
entire team of users at once, share with a company, an individual, and also send a View only
link to the document to another person who doesn’t have to be on Onshape user at all.

Individuals
To assign permissions to a single user, select the Individuals tab and enter the email address of
the user, using the instructions above for Share a Document. You can also enter a comma-
separated list. The users are not grouped together in any way with this method. They are listed
separately, and you can edit their permissions separately.

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Teams
Sharing with Teams is an efficient way to share with a group of people; better yet, create a
folder of documents and share all those documents at once to a team.

Creating a team of people who need the same type of access to the same documents is a more
efficient way to share to multiple users. Once the team is created, use the Team tab in the
Share dialog to select the team and assign permissions. Any member can create a team. Every
team has an administrator who can add and remove users from the team and delete the team.
Team members can opt to leave a team. If a member leaves a team, they no longer have
access to the documents shared with the team.

Note: Within an Enterprise subscription you must be given permission from the enterprise
administrators to create teams and manage users.

Create a Team
1. Access the User menu and select My account.
2. Select Teams in the left pane.

3. Select Create team.

4. Enter a descriptive name for the team.
5. Click Create team.

6. Add team members:

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 a. Enter the email addresses for the users you want to be on the team; a comma-
separated list will do.
b. Select whether to make the user Members or Admins.
7. Click Add.

8. Click the blue arrow at the top-left of the window to return to My account.

All teams you are a member of are listed in the filter pane on the Documents page. Use these
filters to quickly search for documents and folders shared with just that team.

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Companies
If you are a member of a company or more than one company, you can select the Companies
tab in the Share dialog and proceed to select permissions for all users in that company all at
once.

Note: In an Enterprise subscription, you may share to the All company users team if you are an
enterprise member in order to share to the entire enterprise. This team is automatically created
in an enterprise, and it only includes enterprise members, NOT guests.

By default, companies own all documents created by company users. If you leave the company,
the company still owns the documents. If you are a member of a company, then every
document you create is owned by the company. Only company admins can access all
Documents owned by the company. To allow all members of the company access to a
document or folder share it with the company with the correct permissions.

Public
Sharing with every Onshape user, or making your document Public, gives access and
permission to copy your document to literally every person with an Onshape account, thereby
making your design opensource. You cannot select specific permissions when making a
Document Public, every document is read-only and able to be copied. Users who make a copy
of the document then become owners of that copy, with all permissions on it.
Don’t do this if you want to keep your Intellectual Property private.

Public documents are displayed with the icon. Onshape customers can make public
documents private by select the “X” next to Public in the share dialog.

Application
Onshape provides an App store for companies to sell and provide 3rd Party applications such
as FEA, CFD, rendering tools, and CAM for use with your models in Onshape. Sometimes an
app will need permission to access the document with which you want the app to work. Select
the Application tab in the Share dialog and then select the app you would like to give permission
to. Remember, you can revoke access at any time.

Note: There is a global setting for your account in My account to control application access to
your documents.

Link Sharing
When the person you are sharing the document with is not an Onshape user and doesn’t have
an Onshape account, using any of the above methods of sharing will kick off an email invitation
to the person letting them know a document has been shared with them, and inviting them to
create a Free Onshape account.

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Note: You may not use the above methods if you are using an Enterprise subscription and the
user you want to share with is not a member or guest of the Enterprise. They must first be
invited to the enterprise, which creates an Onshape account that is part of the enterprise, not a
free account. You must have permissions to invite users, either as a guest or member.

When you want to share with a person who doesn’t have an Onshape account, nor any need for
one, you can use the Link sharing tab in the Share dialog to share a view-only link to the
document. You generate the link and then copy it to the clipboard. You may choose to include
the permission to export as well. You can then paste the link in an email, or direct message to
the person you wish to share with.

When the recipient clicks the link, the document opens in a browser and the person can use the
viewing tools to turn, spin, and move the model; use all display options including section view;
and also use the Mass properties and Measure tools on the model. Just as with any person
shared with, non-Onshape users will be able to see all of the tabs in the Document. However,
there are no collaborative tools; only explicit shares with an Onshape user allows collaboration,
see Comments and Follow mode, below.

When you want to remove the person’s access to the document, you can do so at any time: in
the Share dialog, click the X next to “Anyone with link” to make the link invalid and remove that
permission altogether. You can generate the link again at any time. If you regenerate the link, it
is the same link that was created the first time, so if a user still has that link it will open the
document again.

Note: Enterprise administrators can decide if Link sharing is available for the enterprise users or
not.

Sharing permissions
The permissions available to choose from when sharing a Document are:
● Edit
● View
● Owner (transfer ownership)
● Individual permission via checkboxes:
○ Copy - Permission to make a copy of the document (the copied document is
independent (no association to the first). The user who copies the document has
all permissions to the copied document.
○ Link document - Permission to link to the parts and assemblies in the document
(being able to insert this document or part of it into that person’s document)
○ Export - Permission to export the parts and assemblies out of Onshape
(parasolid, STL, DXF, etc)
○ Share - Permission to share the document with other (only with the same
permissions)
○ Comment - Permission to read and write comments

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 ○ Delete - Permission to delete the document

Clicking the Share button in the Share dialog instantly gives access to the specified users;
removing permissions is also instantaneous. When people without Onshape accounts are
explicitly shared via email the accounts are created on the fly and emails are sent with an
invitation to sign in.

Edit or Remove Permissions

To revoke a user’s permissions on a Document, open the Share dialog for the Document and
click the X next to the user’s name. You can do this at any time, and all permissions are
immediately revoked.
To edit a user’s permissions, open the Share dialog for the Document and click the pencil
icon next to the user’s name. Now you can change the permissions. Click Update and the
changes are made immediately. Click Close to close the dialog.

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To share a document with nothing but a link, to non-Onshape users so they can just look at the
parts or other tabs in the document, click Make link viewable. A link is generated with view-only
permissions. You can send that link to anyone (with a web browser) and they will be able to look
at that document without having an Onshape account.

Click the link X to make the link invalid again and remove that permission altogether.

People shared with the link sharing link can:

● Measure and access Mass properties
● Display options and section view
● View all tabs of the document
● Rotate, pan, and zoom the view

View only toolbar

When sharing with view only to Onshape users or with the link sharing link, the View only
toolbar displays. This makes it easier for non-CAD users to navigate the document.

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Note: This is a company setting that Professional and Enterprise subscription administrators
can control in the Preferences section of the company settings to set for company-owned
documents.

The commands available on the toolbar include:

1. Click the Home icon to automatically restore the initial view of your document.
2. Click the Rotate icon, then click and drag your cursor in the direction you want your
document to rotate.
3. Click the Pan icon, then click and drag your cursor in the direction you want to pan your
document.
4. Click the Zoom to fit icon to automatically zoom your image to fit the middle of the
screen. Click the dropdown menu arrow to the right of the icon to see the following
features:
• Zoom to window - Click Zoom to window, then drag your cursor to create your
zoom bounding box around the part of the entity you wish to zoom in on; your
image zooms accordingly.
• Zoom - Click Zoom, then click and drag your cursor up and down or left and right
to zoom in and out.

Note that while using the Onshape application on a desktop, you can scroll up or down
with your mouse at any time to zoom in or out.

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 On Windows machines with a standard 3-button mouse, Onshape provides the following
scheme for manipulating the 3D model in Part Studios and Assemblies:
• 3D Rotate: Right-mouse-button click+drag.
• Zoom in and out: Scroll up and scroll down, respectively
• 2D pan: CTRL+RMB and drag (middle button, click+drag)
5. Click the Section view icon to open the Section view manipulator. Select the plane,
planar face, or mate connector that you want to view, then click the check mark in the
top right corner of the Section view manipulator to finalize your decision.
6. When you are in a Part Studio, click the Properties icon to open a Properties dialog
where you can edit your Part Studio's name, description, part number, state, and more:
• To see the properties of a specific part on an entity, click the specific part and
then click the Properties icon.
• In an Assembly, click the Properties icon to open a Properties dialog.
• Light users and full users who lack write permissions do not have the ability to
edit properties.
7. Click the Configuration table icon to open the Configured part properties panel (note
that this icon appears only when your assembly or Part Studio contains configured
properties):
8. Click the BOM icon to open the BOM panel, or close the BOM panel.
9. Click the Exploded views icon to open the panel in order to select an Exploded view to
display. This tool only appears when an Assembly is selected.
10. Click the Comments icon to toggle the comments panel (note that this icon appears only
when the user has permission to comment).
11. Click the Follow a user icon to open a menu with a list of users that are currently in the
document (note that this icon only appears if there are multiple users in a document):
• Click a user you wish to follow, and your Onshape window adjusts to show you
their document view in real time.
• To stop following a user, re-click the Follow a user icon in the toolbar.
12. Click the Export icon to open the Export dialog:
• Here, you can edit your document's name and export options. Click to finalize
your decisions.
• Click the Export selected icon to export all selected geometry (note that this
icon appears only when exportable geometry is already selected). An Export
dialog appears: edit your file name, format, version, and export options, and
click to finalize your decisions.
• To export a specific assembly or part, click the dropdown menu arrow to the right
of the Export icon and click Select and export...(note that this icon only appears if
there no exportable geometry is selected). This opens an Export manipulator;
click the part or assembly you want to export, then click the check mark in the
top right corner. Choose your export settings and click to finalize your decisions.
• Note that this icon appears only when the user has permission to export.
13. Click the Print icon to open the Print setup dialog. Here, you can edit your print settings.
When you are ready to print, click the check mark in the top right corner. This opens a

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 print-preview of your document, with options to choose more printer-specific settings.
Note that this icon appears only when the user has permission to export.
14. Hold your cursor over the Measure icon to read how the Measure tool functions. This
message explains that the Measure tool is automatically shown in the lower right corner
of the Onshape window whenever an entity or part is selected. Click on the Measure
icon to see an animated example of the tool's functionality.
15. Click the Mass properties icon to open the Mass properties panel. In a Part Studio, if
there are no parts selected, the Mass properties panel displays the Part Studio
properties. If there are parts selected, it displays only the properties for those selected
parts.

Sharing Private Documents with Free accounts

Users with Free accounts cannot edit or own private documents. If you share a Free user into a
private document with edit permissions, they will only be able to view the document. You cannot
give a Free user edit, share, or delete permissions to a private document.

Users with Free accounts can collaborate in private documents. They can comment, and use
follow mode with other collaborators in the document. You can also grant view, copy, export,
and link to private documents.

● Copy - The copied Document is public

● Export - Allows the Free user to export the data out of Onshape
● Link - Allows the Free user to link the data into public documents

Onshape never makes private documents public or keeps you from accessing your data.
If you downgrade your account to a Free account, you can:
● Export
● Decide to make the document public in order to edit it again
● Reinstate your customer status

Folders and Documents

One of the easiest ways to share multiple documents is to create a folder and store the
Documents in it. Then you can share the entire folder with individual users or make it even more
efficient by sharing with a team of users. Any user added to a team after the folder has been
shared with the team also automatically have access to the shared folder and Documents
within. Similarly, any Documents added to the folder at a later date are available to all users with
whom the folder has been shared. Folders also provide a structure to keep all documents
organized and easy to locate.

Note that you can explicitly share only a top-level folder; any sub-folders are included in the
share but cannot be shared explicitly themselves.

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Create a Folder
1. On the Documents page, click Create.
2. Select Folder.
3. Enter a descriptive name for the folder.
4. Select an owner, if necessary (if you are a member of more than one company).
5. Click Create.

Move Documents into a Folder

1. Right-click the Document name on the Document page.
2. Select Move to.
3. Select the folder from the list of available folders. Folders to which you do not have
permission are listed but grayed out.
4. Click Move here.

Note: To move a document or folder, you must have all permissions to the document or folder
being moved (edit, copy, link, export, share, comment, and delete) and have edit permission to
the folder you are moving the item into.

You can drag and drop documents into and out of folders as well.

Share a Folder
Sharing a folder is just like sharing a document:

1. Right-click on a folder for which you have permission to share.

2. Select Share.
3. Follow the instructions for sharing as explained at the beginning of this lesson.

Simultaneous collaboration
When someone else is in the document, their social cue icon displays at the top right side of the
document toolbar. The social cue icon also displays on the tab that they have open at the time,
and any feature they might be editing. Onshape collaboration provides real-time feedback
because you are in the Document at the same time (remember, there are no copies) and can
see each other’s changes instantly. Multiple users can edit a document together, when granted
edit permissions and all edits are instantly updated to all users. In addition to user’s social cues
(their icon) being at the top of the window, the icon is also next to the feature being edited at the
time they are editing it. As soon as the new feature is accepted, everyone in the document sees
the changes in the model in real time. The moment the check is clicked, the model is updated.
There is only one set of CAD data and everyone is working on that one set.

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Follow mode
Follow mode is unique to Onshape: to see exactly what another user in the document is
viewing, double-click their social cue (top-right corner); now you are looking at that user’s view.
The user you are following receives a notification indicating you are following them. You can see
your cursor and their cursor. As they rotate their view, change tabs, or make selections you see
what they see. This is a great option for video conferences or phone calls, so all parties can see
exactly what the other person is talking about.

To get out of follow mode, left-click anywhere in empty space. When you take it out of follow
mode, the model is still in the same exact position the person being followed had it, and the user
you followed receives a notification you have stopped following them.

Comments
Another tool for collaboration in an Onshape Document is the ability to tag entities in a
Document with comments. A notification mechanism is built-in, and you can mention specific
users by typing the @ sign and their name or email. Keep in mind, however, that all comments
are visible to all users with comment permissions to the Document.

Any user with Comment permission can create and view comments. As soon as a comment is
made, tagged users are notified immediately. You can also opt to be notified of every new
comment by checking the option to Receive comment email notifications.

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You can tag faces, features, parts, instances, mates, and more. Features with comments

display the comment icon when the comment panel is open. Tag an entity in a comment to
cause the model to be in the same orientation when a user clicks the tag as when the comment
was created. There is no need to send a marked up screenshot. Users can edit and remove
their own comments, but not someone else's.

You may also upload an image to the comment thread. Within a comment select the Browse for

attachment icon. Browse for the image and select the needed file to upload to the comment
thread.

For example: If you want to ask if a hole diameter is the right size, simply right-click on the face,
select Add comment and the Comment panel opens and is automatically tagged with the name
of the feature. You can tag a user with the @ sign and their name or email and ask the question
right in the comment panel. If the user is in the Document, their comment panel opens and
displays the comment, like a real-time chat. If the user is not in the Document, their notification
icon shows a new notification when they next open the Document. If you mention a user in a
comment they receive an email notification even if they cleared the option to receive comment
email notifications. All users who opt into receive emails also receive an email every time a new
comment is made in the document.

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You may also assign a task to other users through a comment. When tagging a user, an option
to Assign a task appears. Check the box to assign the comment as a task and click Assign. This
notifies the tagged user via email, Onshape notifications, and on their Action items dashboard.

Tasks can be marked as resolved by checking the checkbox next to the comment. You may
also filter for your tasks only, all tasks, or completed tasks.

You may edit or remove your own comments. Company administrators can also delete
comments in a document.

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Action Items
Onshape users can view and filter lists of releases and task activities within Action items.
All subscription types except Enterprise users can navigate to their Account options and select
Action items.

Enterprise users should click the Actions items option at the top of the screen.

In the filter column on the left side of the page, use the selections to filter through releases
and/or tasks in the center of the page. The filter options include:

• Type: Choose between filtering through release activities, task activities, or both, by
selecting the check boxes to the left of the filter options.
• Role: Choose between filtering through releases or tasks assigned to you or created by
you by selecting one of the radio buttons to the left of the filter options.

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 • Status: Choose between filtering through open releases or tasks or closed releases or
tasks by selecting one of the radio buttons to the left of the filter options.

As you select different filters, the results for the corresponding selections appear in the Action
Items list located in the center of the page.
Sort your filtered results by Oldest releases and/or tasks first or Newest first by clicking the
dropdown arrow under Sort and selecting your preference (Onshape defaults to sorting by
Oldest first).

Working with the list

In the list of action items, there are many tools to interact with and obtain information from the
items returned:
• The bullet at each item: when open (white center) it indicates a task you have not yet
expanded. A closed bullet indicates an item is complete.
• Click an item to expand it:

The name of the document associated with the action item is shown along with the
document thumbnail. Click the name of the document to open it.
For release tasks, the release notes, the last comment made, and the action associated with
this workflow notification are shown. The current state of the release is also noted, along with
the names of the approvers and a color-coded indication of their action: red for rejected or
discarded, white for pending, and green for approved. There is also a link to view the release
(View release). This does not open the document, but opens the Review release dialog.
For assigned tasks, the user who assigned the task, date and time of assignment, and the
comment displays. You can click View comment to open the document and subsequently that
comment within the document. Clicking the checkbox marks the task as resolved both in the
Actions items list and the comments within the document.

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Notifications
Email notifications are sent to Onshape users or new users invited to an Onshape document
when different actions are taken including, but not limited to:

• Sharing a document or folder

• Adding/removing a user to a team
• Assigning a task
• Adding new comments in a shared document
• Exporting with email file download link
• Inviting/removing a user to a company or Enterprise
• Transferring ownership
• Release management change of states (approvers, creators, and observers named in
the Release candidate)

When using Onshape on a mobile device, notifications can also be sent to your mobile device.
To manage the notifications settings navigate to the Notifications section of your Account
options.

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Lesson 6: Document History, Versions, Branching &
Merging
Within Onshape there are different tools to manage data within a document versus releasing
parts, assemblies, drawings, and imported data. Professional and Enterprise subscriptions have
access to Onshape’s release management tools, however this lesson describes data
management tools. These tools are functionality that any Onshape subscription type has access
to use. These data management tools are meant to help manage data versus marking objects
as released or moving objects through a business operation workflow with approvers and
different states, as the release management tools do. The data management tools in Onshape
include using the Documents history, versions, branching, merging, comparing, and properties.

Document History
The Document history captures every action taken in the document from the document's
creation. Every action includes, but is not limited to:

● Green checkmark selection

● Right-click menu actions
● Moving components in an assembly
● Creating new tabs
● Editing the Feature list order
● Restoring a document
● Merging branches

The history also captures the time, date, and user who took the action. The history is a complete
audit trail of everything that happened in the document, when the action took place, and who
took the action.

More than just a list, the history can be used to restore the document to any history entry
captured. To open the document history, select the Manage Versions and history icon in the
Document toolbar. Notice the Main Workspace, expand the history by selecting Show

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changes… to display all the captured history entries. Selecting a history entry allows you to view
the document at that point in time, however, the toolbars and edit options disappear.

This is because you are just viewing the document at point in time. To continue working in the
document you must be in the Workspace.

Workspace: The Workspace is the “working” environment in the document that you can edit
(with edit permissions). You always work in the Workspace. A Workspace is denoted by a white
dot in the Versions and history graph, and the last user to modify a Workspace is noted.

To return to the Workspace to continue editing the document, select the Workspace in the
Version and history graph, or click the Return to Main link to return to the Main workspace.

When you open a document that has been edited by other users, and there are changes, a
notification indicates changes have been made.

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Clicking on the Show changes in history link opens the Version and history graph, highlighting
the new history entries.

Restore
You can restore the document to any history entry. This provides unlimited capabilities to “undo”
everything in the document. To restore a document, the Workspace must be active, then:

1. Find the history entry to restore to.

2. Right-click on the history entry and select Restore to [Workspace name].

The Restore action is captured as another step in the document history. To undo the restore,
you can restore again to the history entry below the initial restore.

Undo
It is important to note there is an Undo option, but this is different than the restore in the
document history. Undo captures the last steps done by that user only, in the tab, during that
session of the document. When the document is closed and re-opened, the undo list clears and

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starts over. The document history captures the actions taken by every user with edit
permissions, from the time the document was created.

Pro Tip: Right-click the Undo icon to access a list of the last actions you took, and select the
one to undo to.

Versions
A Version allows you to create a milestone within the document history. This makes it easy to
come back to a certain point in time without having to search through the entire history. Creating
a Version is a document-level action, meaning all tabs and all parts in a document are versioned
at once. For this reason, versions should not be thought of as revisioning a specific component
but instead, bookmarking an important milestone in the design history to easily restore,
compare, or come back to later.

You might choose to create a Version before you share a new user with Edit permissions, or as
you complete a milestone in the design process. A Version displays in the Version and history
graph as a solid dot. A Version identifies an important history entry to make it easy to find.

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To create a Version, select the Create version icon on the Document toolbar or on the
Version and history graph. Versions can also be created retroactively from a history entry. To do
this:

1. Find the history entry to create a Version from.

2. Right-click and select Create version here…

3. Name the Version and click Create.

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A Version is created at that point in the Version and history graph and opens. The name of an
active Version appears next to the document name.

Versions are immutable and cannot be deleted or edited. You can view a Version by selecting it
in the Version and history graph, but the toolbars disappear while viewing a Version. You
always work in the Workspace. You can restore a Workspace to any Version on that branch.

To restore a Workspace to a Version:

1. Be sure the Workspace is active.
2. Right-click on the Version to restore to and select Restore to [Workspace name].

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Versions create an easy to find history entry to denote a milestone in the document.

Branching
Documents can contain more than one Workspace. Branching creates another Workspace
within a Document. You might choose to branch to create another Workspace in order to:

● Evaluate a different design idea in a separate space

● Collaborate asynchronously with multiple users
● To make an engineering change order to a design

Branching creates another Workspace that is an independent environment from the other
Workspaces or a “sandbox”. Branching allows you to try a different design idea without copying
the document and maintain the entire design evolution in one document or give several users
their own sandboxes to model and work in without being in the same space. Branches can be
merged and is explained in the next section.

Note: Any user with Edit permissions to a document is able to access and edit any Workspace
in the document.

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Branching replaces the workflow of copying several files in your old file-based CAD system. If
you wanted to try a different design idea in your old CAD system, you would start by copying the
files. Then you have two (or more) sets of files to keep organized. Analyzing the evolution of the
design later becomes more difficult and merging aspects from each design is impossible.
Branching in Onshape allows you to try the different design idea, within the same document,
without copying anything. The entire design is in one document, making reviewing the design
later easy, and merging different design aspects on different branches is simple.

Note: Branching should not be used to create configurations. Workspaces are independent of
one another and are not spaces to create a family of parts. Configurations or a family of parts
should be created using the Configuration panel instead of several Workspaces.

You always branch from a Version. The new Workspace starts from that Version. You can
branch from any Version. To branch:
1. Right-click on the Version to branch.
2. Select Branch to create workspace…

3. Input a name for the new Workspace and click Create.

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The active Workspace name appears next to the document name, so you know which
Workspace is active. To switch between Workspaces, open the Version and history graph and
select another Workspace to activate it.

Pro Tip: You can also open a Workspace in another browser tab by right-clicking and choosing
Open in new browser tab.

Note, the document history is captured on every branch. Versions can be created on any branch
as well. If you have multiple branches in a document, you can adjust the view of the Versions
and history graph to show just the active Workspace.

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Pro-tip: Workspaces and versions have unique URLs. If someone is shared into a document,
sending them the URL of a version or workspace opens that specific version or workspace, as
well as the active tab when the URL was copied.

Merging
Merging adds the changes between the Workplace or Version of one branch to the Workspace
of another branch. This allows you to merge the changes between branches without remodeling
anything. A merge appears as a history entry in the document history, under the target
Workspace.

Note: To undo a merge, restore to the history entry below the merge in the document history.

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The active workspace is the target Workspace during a merge. This means all changes merge
into the active Workspace. The source Workspace or Version is what you are merging from. To
Merge:

1. Be sure the needed target Workspace is active.

2. Right-click on the Workspace or Version from another branch.

3. Select Merge into current Workspace

4. All the changes merge into the active Workspace

Merging is impossible in a old file-based CAD system with a limiting behavior of a file. Files just
allow you to replace one design with another. Onshape’s unique database architecture enables
a “true” merge, allowing you to keep aspects of one design and merges aspects of another.

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Merging Logic
A merge adds the changes made in the source Workspace or Version to the target Workspace.
This includes changes made in any tab in the source Workspace or Version. Changes include:

● Dimension, feature, or assembly edits

● Additions
● Deletions

Any changes made in the source will be added to the target. The source branch “wins,” meaning
any additions, deletions, or edits made in the source branch (Workspace or Version), merge into
the target Workspace. Merging is a Workspace-level action and merges all the changes in every
tab from the source Workspace or Version to the target Workspace.

If there are geometry conflicts in a Part Studio after a merge, the features containing the conflict
and the features dependent on those display an error. To resolve the error, you can analyze the
conflicting features and determine which one to keep, then delete or suppress the unneeded
feature(s).

Compare
Any history entry, Version or Workspace, can be compared. The Compare option allows you to
see the differences between the tabs and between Part Studios.

To compare:

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 1. Select the Compare icon from the Version and history graph.
2. Choose the two history entries to compare: this can be any Version, Workspace, or
history entry from any branch.

The Compare tool opens, comparing the two selections. Graphically you can analyze the
differences of Part Studio tabs. Slide the slider to understand the differences graphically. To
reverse the compare, select the Reverse compare link.

There are two lists comparing the different tabs and the differences between any Part Studios.

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The Part Studio option compares the Feature list between the different history entries. Selecting
a sketch highlights the sketch in the graphics area. Selecting a feature displays the feature
dialog and highlights the different selections. Clear the Only show differences checkbox to
compares the entire Feature list between the history entries.

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 ● A ≠ symbol indicates the feature or sketch exists in both history entries but there are

differences (they are not equal).

● A > symbol indicates that the feature or sketch exists only in the one history entry on the
left.
● A < symbol indicates the feature or sketch exists only in the one history entry on the
right.
● An or symbols indicates the feature or sketch has been reordered in the Feature
list.

To return to one of the compared history entries, select the link. To return to a Workspace, open
the Version and history graph and select the Workspace.

Properties
Properties can be added to any document, part, Part Studio, Assembly, Drawing, or imported
file. Properties can be entered for every part and tab in a Version or Workspace. The default
properties are:

● Appearance
● Name
● Description
● Part number
● Revision
● State- A special property that can be changed only for a Version (in manual release
management workflow)
● Vendor
● Project
● Product line
● Material
● Title 1
● Title 2
● Title 3
● Drawn by
● Date drawn
● Not revisioned managed
● Exclude from BOM
● Item No.
● Quantity

Custom properties can be created by company admins within the company settings. Newly
activated properties are instantly available for all company members.

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To enter properties within a Workspace:
1. Select the document menu and choose Workspace properties…

2. You can enter properties for all parts and tabs that exist in the Workspace. Type directly
in the fields. Any field with a yellow triangle indicates a change that has not been applied
yet.

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 3. Click Apply to apply changes and remain in the dialog. Select Save to apply the changes
and close the dialog.

Note: Right-click on any part or tab and choose Properties… to access the Properties dialog of
that specific item.

To enter properties within a Version:

1. Open the Version and history graph .
2. Right-click on the Version and select Properties…

3. All parts and tabs that exist in the Version are available to enter properties. Type in the
fields. Any field with a yellow triangle indicates a change that has not been applied yet.

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 4. Click Apply to apply changes and remain in the dialog, select Save to apply the changes
and close the dialog.

Entering properties enables you to add metadata to individual parts and tabs within a
Workspace or Version. These properties can be parametrically added to a note in a drawing or
within a bill of materials. Some of the properties such as State and Revision allow for a manual
release management workflow.

Note: Professional and Enterprise Onshape users can use an automatic Release Management
workflow. Company admins can adjust the settings within the company settings.

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Lesson 7: Linked Documents
Linked documents allow you to insert a part, assembly, or anything else that exists in one
document, into another without copying the data. You can choose to update the linked
document if changes are made to the referenced data. Using linked documents creates an
external reference between two documents. These references are managed very easily in
Onshape’s database architecture.

Linked Document Applications

It is recommended to only keep data unique to a project in a document, and link in other types
of data that are:

● Re-used from other designs

● Custom Standard Part Libraries

You also might find that certain workflows require you to link parts or assemblies between
documents such as:

● Sharing specific parts or tabs from a document

● Moving parts or assemblies to new documents for greater control over revisions and
releases for each component. The linked reference is maintained if you move a part to a
new document that is used in an assembly in the initial document.

How to Link Documents

Parts, assemblies, and other data can be linked when:

● Inserting components in an assembly

● Deriving parts in a Part Studio

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 ● Inserting DXF/DWG imports in a Sketch
● Inserting images in a Sketch
● Inserting views in a Drawing

● Moving tabs to another document and the data from the tabs being moved were inserted
into other tabs remaining in the initial document

When you reference data that exists in another document you reference the Version . The
document that contains the data must have a Version to link to that data.

To link to data in a different document:

1. Choose the command needed. (Insert , Derive , Insert View , etc.)
2. Select the Other Documents option in the insert dialog.

3. Navigate to the document that contains the data.

○ Type in the search field or copy and paste the URL into the field.
○ Navigate the folder structure from My Onshape.
○ Use your labels, teams, and other filters to find the document.
4. Choose the needed parts, assemblies, or other data. By default, the most recent Version
is referenced.
○ You can create a Version in the other document if needed, on the fly.

5. If you want to reference a different Version select the Version graph icon and choose
the Version.
Note: If you are using Release Management you can reference a Release by filtering for
only released components with the Release icon.

6. Be sure the data to insert is chosen and click the green checkmark to accept.

7. Any linked data displays the version icon.

You can open a linked document by right-clicking on the reference and selecting Open linked
document. The document opens to the referenced Version (not the Workspace).

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Note: You must have at least View permission to the document in order to open it.

Reference Versions or Workspaces within the Same Document

You can choose to reference a Workspace or Version (or Release with Release
Management) when inserting data within a single document, for example inserting a part into an
assembly within the same document. If you reference a Version within the same document, the
Version icon displays next to the instance or feature.

● Referencing a Workspace enables automatic updates when changes are made.

● Referencing a workspace when conceptualizing the design might cause several changes
to occur.
● Referencing a Version (or Release) ensures the component does not update unless you
change the Version within the Assembly or Part Studio (Derive). Use this method to
reference a specific revisioned component that you do not want to automatically update.

To reference a Version:
1. Choose the command needed. (Insert , Derive , Insert View , etc.)
2. Select the Version graph.
3. Click the Version needed.
Note: You can select the Workspace to reference in the Version graph, to change the
reference from a Version to the Workspace.
4. Choose the components.

5. Select the green checkmark to accept.

To edit a component that is referencing a Workspace to reference a Version:

1. Right-click on the instance in an assembly or Derived feature in a Feature list and select
Change to Version…

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 2. Click the Version graph.
3. Choose the Version needed.

4. Select the green checkmark to accept.

If a version is referenced, and you move that object (part, assembly, etc) to another (new or
existing) document, be sure to update the reference to the new document. Open the Reference

manager of the object by selecting the Version icon and click the message to Update to
new document.

Moving Tabs to Another Document

Tabs can be moved to other documents (new or existing) after-the-fact. You might choose to do
this because:

● The components should be reorganized to another document:

○ The components are used in other designs
○ The document needs to be split into several documents
○ The components should exist in a different document
● Greater control over versions, revisions, and releases of individual parts or assemblies is
required.

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When you move tabs but there remains a reference in another tab in the document, Onshape
automatically establishes the linked reference. For example, if you move a Part Studio to a new
document, and an assembly contains a part from that Part Studio, Onshape automatically
updates the reference to a Version (if not already) and establishes the external reference.

To move tabs:

1. Right-click on the tab to move, and select Move to document…

Note: If you choose to move a tab that references other tabs within the document, all
tabs move. For example, moving an assembly also moves the Part Studio tabs in the
document that contain the parts.
2. Choose New document or Other documents.
○ New document- Type a name for the new document.

○ Other documents- Navigate to the existing document using the filters, Onshape
creates a new Version of the document.

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 3. Select Move.

The tab and any reference tabs are moved out of the document, into another document (new or
existing) and linked references are established if necessary.

How to Update Linked Documents

To update a linked document with design changes, update the Version. The edits or design
changes must be captured in a new Version, and then the Version in the linked document can
be updated.

You decide from the “where used” document to update or not. The “where used” document is
the document you have linked the component or data into. These updates are not forced. You
might want to reference an old Version, while the linked document is in process of design
changes. This safeguards against accidental updates that were not intended. You can also
easily revert to an older Version if necessary.

Update to Latest
To update a linked document:

1. Version the changes in the linked document.

2. In the “where used” document notice the blue version notifications . These blue
notifications indicate the reference is not the most updated. The blue notifications are not
errors or warnings. You do not have to update if it is not necessary for the design. To
update, click on the blue link icon, or right-click on the instance and choose Update
linked document…

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3. The Reference manager appears: choose Update to latest to update to the most recent
Version. Click Update.

Note: You can update several linked references at once by selecting all the instances or
features, or right-click on an assembly tab with several blue link notifications and select
Update linked document...

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The document(s) updates to reference the latest Version, the blue notifications are removed,
and only the link or version icon appear.

Selective Update
You might want to reference an older Version, as you might have updated the reference too
early, or accidently. To revert to an older Version:

1. Select the instance(s) or feature(s) to edit the reference.

2. Click the Link or Version icon next to the instance, or right-click and choose
Update linked document…
3. Choose Selective update.

4. Click the Version graph icon.

5. Select the Version to reference.

6. Click Update selected.

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The blue notifications will appear to indicate the reference is not updated to the latest Version.

Update all references to latest versions

If an assembly structure is defined among several documents, you might find you need to
version and update several different assemblies in different documents to update the top-level
assembly. Instead you may “pull” version updates to the top-level assembly through all the

documents with the Update all references to the latest version feature in the Assembly
toolbar.

During this process all instances in the top-level assembly (that are not pinned) that reference
out-dated versions will also be updated. Onshape also automatically versions and updates the
references in the “in between” documents. For example, if a part is created in document A, then
inserted into a subassembly in document B, and then the subassembly is inserted into a top-
level assembly in document C, changing and versioning the part in document A would display

the Update reference to latest version icon in the top-level assembly of document C.
Clicking the icon updates the part in the subassembly in document B, versions the change
automatically in document B, and updates the reference of the subassembly in the top-level
assembly in document C. Any version created automatically from this workflow displays the

automatic version icon in the Versions and history graph.

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You may also pin a reference to prevent from updating when the Update all references to latest

version icon is clicked. To pin a reference, right-click on the instance in the Assembly
Instance list and select Pin reference. You can only pin an instance if it is referencing a version
or revision.

You may manually update a pinned reference using the Selective update option in the
Reference manager, without unpinning the instance.

The version icon displays a pin next to the instance when the reference is pinned. A pinned

reference with an open grey circle indicates there are newer versions of that instance that

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are not being referenced. Unpin a reference by right-clicking on the instance that is pinned and
selecting Unpin reference.

A down arrow indicates there are newer versions of child components within a subassembly. If

the arrow is blue the subassembly is referencing the workspace and the child component is
not pinned.

If the arrow is grey the subassembly is referencing the workspace, and the child
component is pinned.

If the subassembly is also referencing a version, the version icon displays an arrow, blue for an

unpinned child component , grey for a pinned child component.

If the subassembly that is referencing a version is also pinned and contains a child component

that is pinned at a version that is out-of-date, a pin displays on the version icon with the
grey arrow.

This feature is very powerful and allows for quick updates that automatically version and update
several documents, with the option to pin instances to prevent automatic update. Be sure you
understand the implications fully before using this functionality in a production model.

Sharing with Linked Documents

Your data is secure and protected in Onshape, you must grant users permissions to each
document (or top-level folder) to enable them access. If you share a document that is
referencing parts, assemblies, or other data from other documents, the shared user is able to
access all tabs of the shared document with the permissions granted. If the shared user tries to
open a linked document from the right-click menu, the user must have access to that document

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to open it. If the shared user does not have shared permissions, a message displays indicating
the user does not have permission to open the document.

Link Document Permission

The link document permission allows the shared user(s) to insert any data from the shared
document (or folder) into documents that the user has edit permissions to. When creating
custom standard libraries, View with link is a good permission to allow users to access the data
to use within their designs while not allowing them to edit the data in any way.

If updates are made to the linked documents by user(s) with edit permissions, the updates do
not impact the workflow of users utilizing the data. The updates must be versioned, and the blue
notifications then display in the “where used” documents, allowing those users to choose to
update, or not, or revert to a previous version, as explained before.

Sharing Specific Parts or Tabs

Sharing a document shares everything in the document, all the tabs, and all the parts in a Part
Studio. You might need to share only a specific assembly or part. To do this you can create
another document and line the needed data into it, then share that document. This workflow is
good for suppliers, vendors, or even stakeholders with whom you want to share certain aspects
of a document or control how they see updates.

1. Version the original document to reflect the needed part or assembly.

2. Create a new document.
3. Insert the part(s) or assembly needed to share via linked documents.
4. Share the new document with the user selecting the needed permissions.

There is a relationship between the original document and the new one to be shared. If design
changes are made, simply Version the changes and update the shared document.

You are sharing a separate document (not the original, where the work is happening), this
workflow also controls when updates are seen. You have control when you version and update

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the shared document. This enables you to control when those changes are visible, for example
to show stakeholders concrete steps in the design progress, but not every live detail.

Note: To control when updates are seen, shared users cannot have the link document
permission to the original document.

Sending Externally Referenced Documents to the Trash

If you send a document to Trash or permanently delete it, and it is linked to another document,
nothing happens in the “where used” document. The components do not display errors or
warnings. All moving parts move as expected. This is because the “where used” document is
referencing a Version. The external references between Versions of linked documents are very
robust and stable.

If you move a linked document to Trash or permanently delete it, the only difference you notice
in the “where used” document is you cannot update the reference to a different Version. If
you restore the linked document from Trash, all the references automatically restore, and you
can update the linked document to reference a different Version instantly. If you permanently
delete the linked document, you will never be able to update the reference in the “where used”
document(s) again, but the components do not display warnings.

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Lesson 8: Importing and Exporting

Importing Files
Onshape supports importing non-CAD files, 2D CAD files, and 3D CAD files. When importing
CAD files into a document, the geometry is translated. A Parasolid is the best generic file
format to import; Onshape is built on the Parasolid kernel. Other supported file formats include:

Parts files
● Parasolid B-rep (.x_t or .x_b) from v10 to v30
● Parasolid mesh (.xmm_txt or .xmm_bin) from v28 to v29 (view and reference meshes)
● ACIS (.sat) up to R21, 2016 1.0
● STEP (.stp or .step) AP203 and AP214 (geometry only)
● IGES (.igs or .iges) up to 5.3
● CATIA v4 from 4.15 to 4.24
● CATIA v5 R29 (v5-6R2019)
● CATIA v6 R2010x to R2013x, R2015x, R2016X
● SolidWorks (.sldprt) 1999 to 2018
● Inventor (.ipt) 9 up to 2018
● Pro/ENGINEER, Creo from Pro/E 2000i to Creo Parametric 4.0
● JT (.jt) up to 10
● Rhino (.3dm)
● STL (.stl) (view and reference meshes only)
● OBJ (.obj) (view and reference meshes only)
● NX1847, latest version NX 1847.2400, and NX1851
● Solid Edge (.par and .psm) 10 through ST10

Assembly files
● Parasolid B-rep (.x_t or .x_b) from v10 to v30
● ACIS (.sat) up to R21, 2016 1.0
● STEP (.stp or .step) AP203 and AP214 (geometry only)
● SolidWorks as Pack & Go .zip files from 1999 to 2018
● Pro/ENGINEER, Creo from Pro/E 2000i to Creo Parametric 4.0 as .zip files
● JT (.jt) up to 9.0
● Rhino (.3dm)
● NX UG15.0 through NX12
● Solid Edge 10 through ST10
● CATIA v4 from 4.15 to 4.24 (via a .zip file)
● CATIA v5 from R7 to R27 (v5-6R2017) (via a .zip file)
● CATIA v5 R29 (v5-6R2019)
● CATIA v6 R2010x to R2013x, R2015x, R2016X (via a .zip file)
● Inventor (.iam) 9 up to 2019 (via a .zip file)
● NX1847, latest version NX 1847.2400, and NX1851

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Drawing files
● AutoCAD (.dwg) up to 2018
● DXF (.dxf) up to 2013

To import directly into an existing document:

1. Select the icon in a document and choose Import…
2. Choose the file(s) and click Open.
3. Choose the import options and select Ok.

This technique adds the imports as new tabs inside of the existing document.

To create a new document by importing files:

1. Select Create on the Documents Page and choose Import files…
2. Choose the file(s) and click Open.
3. Click Ok to confirm the document name.
4. Choose the import options and select Ok

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This technique creates a new document and inserts the imported files as tabs. The notification
pane opens and displays the import progress. You are notified again when the import
completes.

Note: There is a 4.2GB/file limit on importing. Please contact Onshape Support for help if you
need to import a larger file.

You can also import a file into a new document from any connected integration account
(Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive) to your Onshape account.

Click Create and select Import from, choose the connected integration, navigate to the file,
and click Import.

You may also select the integration in the filters list. This displays the view of the files in your
connected account. Right-click on the needed file and choose Import to Onshape…

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Import Options for 3D CAD Files
When importing 3D CAD files into Onshape, choose the import options to translate into a
document as necessary. The imported file is also stored as a blob tab in the document.

Assembly options
● Import to a single document:
This option imports the top-level assembly, subassemblies, and parts into a single
document. The translated results include the assembly structure and a single Part
Studio. Each unique part is represented in the Part Studio, and parts are instanced in the
assemblies per the imported file.
● Split into multiple documents (preserve structure):
This option splits the import into several documents, one for each unique part,
subassembly, and top-level assembly. The documents are linked together and placed
into a folder (also created during the import).
● Combine to a single Part Studios (best for small assemblies)
This option does not create an assembly tab. All the parts of the top-level assembly are
translated to a single Part Studio in the same orientation and location from the assembly
import. This is not a common option but can be used if the import is not being
manipulated in any way (for example, supplier files).

Pro Tip: When importing a SOLIDWORKS Pack and Go, be sure the zip file has the same
name as the top-level assembly.

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Note: You cannot choose the split assemblies and parts into multiples documents option when
importing directly into an existing document. You can check or clear the Flatten option, and the
dialog appears slightly different, then importing from the Documents page.

Imported models are in ‘Y Axis Up’ coordinates

This option rotates the translated model 90 degrees. This is useful if the model was originally
modelled in a CAD system where the Y-axis is pointing up, whereas the Z-axis in Onshape is
pointed up. SOLIDWORKS and Inventor have the Y-axis pointed up.

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Note: Right-click on the imported feature and choose Edit… to adjust this after the imported file
is translated.

Create a composite part when importing multiple or non-solid bodies

Check the option to create a composite part when importing files whose geometry break into
several surfaces and parts during the translation process or when wanting to treat a multi-body
part file as one entity as it translates into Onshape. This option combines parts and surfaces
that belong to one part from the import as one entity, however the individual entities are still
available in the Parts and Surfaces lists. This makes it easier to manipulate after it's translated
in Onshape. You may also create a Composite part after the translation process by right-clicking

on the Import feature and checking Create composite, or by using the Composite part
feature.

Allow import of parts with faults

Onshape allows you to import faulty or bad geometry by default. After translation, the faulty
parts and surfaces display error messages and require clean up. To avoid generating faulty
geometry, edit the Import feature in the Feature list of the translated Part Studio and clear the
checkbox Allow faulty parts.

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Update
If you have an iteration of the imported file, you can update the import: right-click on the blob tab
and choose Update… This replaces the blob tab with the new file and re-translates the import
into the same Part Studio and Assembly tabs. You may also right-click on the Import feature in a
Part Studio Feature list and choose Update… Subsequent features after the import feature
rebuild.

Modifying Imported Geometry

Once the imported files are translated in Onshape, you can manipulate the geometry and edit
the assembly structure. The imported geometry shows an Import feature in the Feature list,
however Onshape’s direct editing toolset is a very powerful way to manipulate the imported
“dumb” solid. A “dumb” solid is a common industry term for an imported body without any
intelligence or parametric history.

Note: The best option for working with an assembly after it’s imported is the Import all
assemblies and parts in a single document (unflatten) option.

The direct editing features include:

● Move Face

● Replace Face

● Delete Face

● Modify Fillet

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Translated assemblies do not maintain the mates from the imported file. All of the parts are
positioned and oriented from the imported file. Use Group to group all static parts relative to
one another and add mates just between the moving parts of an assembly.

If you chose to Import all assemblies and parts in a single document, all of the parts are
positioned and oriented in one Part Studio as they were modeled from the imported file. The
parts might be jumbled on top of one another, however, the parts are instanced properly in the
translated structure. Use the Switch to technique to switch from the assemblies to the Part
Studio to find the part to edit quickly. The part is selected as you switch tabs, and you can hide
all other parts.

Importing 2D CAD Files

View an imported DXF or DWG file with the Kudos viewer. You can also quickly create an
Onshape drawing by choosing Create Drawing of [FILE NAME].

Imported DXF and DWG files can be inserted into a sketch plane within a Part Studio. The
entries are converted to sketch entities, and features can be applied to the profiles to create 3D
geometry. To insert an imported DXF or DWG file into a sketch:

1. Create a Part Studio and start a sketch .

2. Select Insert DXF or DWG on the Sketch toolbar.

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 3. Choose the units and whether the file origin should align to the Part Studio (If you leave
this option clear, the converted sketch entities are centered about the Part Studio origin).
4. Select the DXF or DWG file.

Pro Tip: Use the Transform sketch tool to translate and rotate sketch entities and the first
dimension scales the entire sketch.

Importing Non-CAD Files

Non-CAD files can be imported as well, allowing you to add images, videos, word documents,
spreadsheets, PDFs, and any other type of file into an Onshape document. This keeps all the
design data (even non-CAD data) in once place, a generic container, an Onshape document.

Non-CAD data types that display in the browser display in the document tab; including images,
videos, and PDFs.

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Exporting
You can export natively modeled CAD data or imported CAD data out of an Onshape document
in a variety of different file formats. Export file formats include:

Parts and Part Studios

● Parasolid B-rep (.x_t or .x_b) from v25 to v29
● Parasolid mesh (.xmm_txt or .xmm_bin) from v28 to v29
● ACIS (.sat) R21
● STEP (.step) AP203 and AP214 (geometry only)
● IGES (.igs or .iges) 5.3
● SolidWorks (.sldprt) 2004
● STL
● Rhino (.3dm)
● Collada (.dae) 1.4.1 without joints data (with meters as default units)
● GLTF

Assemblies
● Parasolid B-rep (.x_t or .x_b) from v25 to v29
● ACIS (.sat) R21
● STEP (.step) AP203 and AP214 (geometry only)
● IGES (.igs or .iges) 5.3
● STL
● Collada (.dae) 1.4.1 without joints data (with meters as default units)
● GLTF

Drawings
● DXF (.dxf) Release 11-14, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013
● AutoCAD (.dwg) Release 11-14, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013
● DWT Template (.dwt) 2013
● PDF

To export data:
1. Right-click on any tab, part, sketch, or planar face and select Export…

2. Name the new file.

3. Choose the needed file format and additional options per the format selection.
4. Decide where to export the file.

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 5. Select OK.

Note: If you are exporting a multi-part Part Studio tab as a Parasolid file or a STL file decide if
the export should result in a new file per each part, or one part file with multiple bodies.

If you are exporting a planar face or sketch as a DXF or DWG file decide to set the z-height to
zero and normals to positive. This option ensures that all normal vectors of components with
coordinates on the z plane have a positive z component.

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You may also export an object (part, Part Studio, Assembly, Drawing, etc) in a document by
emailing a link to download the file to a recipient. To do this, in the Export dialog:

1. Input a file name.

2. Select a format and relevant file format options.
3. Choose Email with file download link in the Options pull-down.
4. In the To field input the email addresses of the users that need to receive the export.
5. Optionally, change the Email subject and input a message.
6. Select the expiration of the download link.
7. Optionally, check Require password for download and input a password.
8. Check Send me a copy if you would like a copy of the email sent to you.
9. Select OK.

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This method sends an email to the recipients with a link to download the file.

You may also export an object directly into a connected integrated account (Google Drive,
Dropbox, or Microsoft Onedrive). To do this, select the Store file in {connected account} option.

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Tabs that store an imported file are referred to as blob tabs. You can export those tabs or
download those tabs. Export allows you to change the file format.

To download right-click on the blob tab and choose Download.

Note: Versioning a document, versions the blob tabs too, allowing you to know the design stage
that was exported.

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Lesson 9: Detailed Drawings
Once your parts or assemblies are created, you can create a drawing and add dimensions,
annotations, and give instructions to those who will be manufacturing your design. Onshape
drawings are another tab in the same document as the rest of your design, ensuring data
security and accessibility for you and your team.

Create a drawing
To create a drawing, click on the icon to insert new tab and select Create Drawing...

Note: Drawings can also be created for specific entities by right-clicking on a part, surface, or
tab and choosing Create drawing of [NAME]...

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Next, select a drawing template. Onshape has:

● ANSI inch templates for sizes A through D

● ANSI millimeter templates for sizes A through D
● ISO templates for sizes A0 through A4
● Custom template options

You can customize these templates and upload custom templates in .DWT format. To allow
other users in your company to use the same templates, share the document containing the
template with your team.

After a template is selected, choose the number of views for your drawing to start with: four
views or no views.
● Four views:
○ ANSI templates insert the top, front, right and isometric views (third angle
projection)

○ ISO templates insert the top, front, left and isometric (first angle projection)

● No views: you manually insert the needed views.

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Drawing, Sheet, and View Properties

There are three different sets of properties within your drawing.

Drawing Properties
Properties changed here affect all sheets and entities within the drawing tab within your
document. Most preferences set here can be overridden within the Dimension panel or Note

dialog, if desired. To open the drawing Properties pane, click the Properties icon on the right
side of the graphics area.
These properties include:

• Units and precision

• Dimensions

• Annotations

• Views

• Construction geometry

• Formats

• Tables

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Sheet Properties
The Sheet properties affect the current sheet. Settings are independent for each sheet. To open
the Sheet properties dialog, right-click on the sheet and select Sheet properties…. These
properties include:

• Sheet scale
• Sheet format
• Sheet size
• Sheet reference

The Sheets flyout organizes the different sheets and views within a drawing. You can drag
sheets within the list to reorder them and right-click on a sheet to rename it or delete it. The
Sheets flyout also lists the View references. You may sort by sheet or by reference.

To switch to the reference, right-click on it and select Switch to reference.

To replace a reference with a different part or assembly, right-click on the view and select
Replace… Then choose the replacement part or assembly. Replacing a parent view updates
the child views as well.

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To insert additional sheets, open the Sheet flyout and click Insert sheet .

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View Properties
The View properties affect a specific view. To open the View properties dialog, right-click on the
view and select View properties… These properties include:

• Document reference
• Workspace/version reference
• Type reference
• Link to referenced object
• View orientation
• Explode/position (assemblies)
• Display state (assemblies)
• View scale
• View alignment with parent (child views)
• Rotation angle
• Tangent edge display
• View render mode
• View simplification
• Sheet
• View name
• Scale label
• BOM table reference (assemblies)

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Inserting Views
When inserting views, you can choose any part, Part Studio, Assembly, sketch, or surface from
the current document or from another document. You can also decide to reference a
Workspace, Version, or Revision when inserting views. Reference a Version or revision when
needed to be sure to detail the correct iteration of the design. You should decide on referencing
either always workspaces or always versions/revisions, and define a company standard. It is not
recommended to mix referencing workspaces and versions/revisions within a drawing.
Companies should set a standard and have all drafters follow the standard for all drawings.

Note: It is not recommended to add views of Part Studios, as they have different properties than
parts. Be careful when inserting views of single-part Part Studios, that you choose the part and
not the Part Studio.

To insert a view:
1. Click Insert view .
2. Browse for parts, assemblies, and other data. Click the Insert icon and select the
part(s), assemblies, surfaces, or sketches to insert.

3. Choose the needed view (Front, Top, Right, etc.).

4. Click on the sheet to place the view.
5. Once a view is placed, the projected view tool activates to place a second view. Click to
place a second view or toggle off the tool in the toolbar (or press ESC) to stop placing
views.

Note: Previously-defined Named views from Part Studios and assemblies are available to
insert.

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Onshape view tools include:

● Projected views

● Auxiliary views

● Broken-out section views

● Section views

● Detail views

● Break views

● Crop views

Projected View
Projected view projects a new view from an existing view. To create a projected view:
1. Select the tool from the toolbar.
2. Select an existing view.
3. Click on the sheet to place the view.

Auxiliary View
Auxiliary view creates the true size and shape of an angled face. To create an auxiliary view:
1. Select the tool from the toolbar.
2. Click an angled edge of an existing view.
3. Click to place the view on the sheet.

Section View
A section view cutting line can be vertical, horizontal, or on a line defined by two points (angular
section). To create a section view:
1. Select the tool from the toolbar.
2. Define the section cutting line orientation.
○ Optionally, check Show cut geometry only to only show the cut face of the
section view
○ Optionally, check Section depth to control the depth of the section view with a
blind value or entity selection.
3. Click on a view to place the cutting line:
○ Select another point on the view to create a jog in the cutting line, or right-click
after the section view creation.
4. Click on the drawing sheet to place the section view.

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Note: Complex sections may take some time to generate.

Broken-out section views

Create a broken-out section view to cut away a portion of the model in a drawing view by
defining a closed profile with the Spline tool.

1. Select the Broken-out section view tool in the Drawing toolbar.

2. Sketch a closed spline profile.

3. Define a depth with an entity selection or blind value.
4. To edit or remove the section, right-click on the view and choose Edit section… or
Remove section. The spline remains after deleting the section, you may delete the spline
separately.

Detail Views
Details views zoom in on an area of an existing view. To create a detail view:
1. Select the tool from the toolbar
2. Click to select the center of the view and sketch a circle around the area to make a detail
from.
3. Click to place the detail view on the sheet.

Note: Edit the scale, scale label, and view label within the view properties.

Break Views
The break view tool can alter existing views by “breaking” longer parts to fit on a drawing sheet.
To create a broken view:
1. Select the tool from the toolbar
2. Chose the style and input a gap distance on the sheet
3. Place two lines (horizontally or vertically aligned) on your view
4. The cut lines on the view define a section of the view that is removed. This action can be
undone at any time by deleting one of the break lines.

Crop views
To crop a view, sketch a spline around the area you wish to keep.

1. Select the Crop view tool in the Drawing toolbar.

2. Sketch a closed spline around the area of the view that should be displayed after

the cropping is complete. Use the Spline point tool to add points to edit the profile.

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 3. Accept the Crop view.
4. To edit or remove the crop, right-click on the view and choose Edit crop… or Remove
crop. The spline remains after deleting the section, you may delete the spline separately.

Dimensioning
Once views are places on the drawing, add dimensions using the dimension tools. Select the
Dimension tool from the drawing toolbar or press the D key on a keyboard.

Other dimension tools include:

● Chamfer dimension
● Maximum or minimum dimension
● 2-point linear dimension
● Point to line dimension
● Line to line dimension
● Line to line angular dimension
● 3 point angular dimension
● Radial dimension
● Diameter dimension
● Ordinate dimension

To annotate a specific dimension, open the dimension panel .

Hole Callout
To call out holes that were created with the hole feature, use the Hole callout tool . Right-
click on a hole callout to insert a prefix.

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Annotating
Some drawings require geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and other symbols for
manufacturing, assembly, and quality checks.

Annotation tools:
● Datums
● Geometric tolerance
● Surface finish
● Weld symbols
● Centerlines
● Centerline circles
● Centermarks
● Virtual sharps

Notes
Use notes to insert text onto a drawing sheet. Add leaders, symbols, and properties to a note.

Properties
● Drawing property - Insert a drawing property into the note.
● Sheet reference property - Insert a property, part, or assembly (what the sheet
references) into the note.

Tables

To create a generic table use the Table tool.

1. Select the Table tool in the Drawings toolbar.

2. Input the number of rows and columns.
3. Check if a title row is needed.
4. Check if a header row is needed.
5. Choose the fixed corner. The fixed corner defines the direction the table expands or
shrinks from when resizing it.

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 6. Click the table on the sheet and accept the Table dialog.
7. Use the Note toolbar to input and format text in each cell.

Double-click in a cell to input text or format with the Note toolbar.

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 Select a cell to display the Cell toolbar to merge cells, add or remove rows and columns.

Hole Tables

To create a hole table, select the Hole table tool in the Drawings toolbar.

1. Select the views on the drawing that display the holes.

2. Define the origin by selecting a point and/or the X and Y directions.
3. Select any holes to exclude.
4. Flip the X and Y directions if needed.
5. Choose the order and fixed corner of the table.

6. Accept the dialog and place the table.

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Clearing the checkbox to Show location data removes the X and Y location columns from the
table.

Clearing the Show location data displays a new checkbox to collapse tags. Checking Collapse
tags assigns the same tag to all the same holes.

Hovering over a row in the table cross-highlights the hole in the view.

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To edit the Hole table, right-click on the table and select Hole table properties…

To split the table, right-click on the row after which to split the table and select Split Hole table
below. To merge the tables back together, right-click on the split table and select Unsplit Hole
table.

Assembly Drawings
A typical workflow to create an assembly drawing includes inserting the Bill of Materials and
balloon callouts.

Bill of Materials
Create a Bill of Materials in the assembly before inserting it into the drawing sheet. The table
displays in the drawing exactly as the BOM does in the assembly, with the same columns and
column order. To insert the table onto a drawing sheet:

1. Select Insert BOM icon.

2. Select the assembly to reference the BOM.
3. Select the BOM type, Order, and fixed corner.
4. Click to place the BOM on the drawing.

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To move the table, click and drag the table with the corner grips. To resize the table, click and
drag the midpoint grips.

To format the cells including changing the font, text size, and text alignment, select the cells and
use the Cell toolbar.

To edit the BOM properties or sheet placement, right-click on the table and select BOM table
properties…

To split the table, right-click on the row that should be split and select Split BOM table below. To
merge the tables back together, right-click on the split table and select Unsplit BOM table.

Callouts
Insert balloon callouts in the assembly view to identify the components.
1. Select the callout icon.

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 2. Add properties to the callouts through the Part property and table property
dropdowns.
3. Choose the style and size of the balloon.
4. Place the callouts on edges of parts.

Note: Callouts must be placed on edges of parts.

Updating Drawing Sheets

Views can reference workspaces, Versions or revisions. When inserting a view use the Version
graph to choose a Version or Revision.

Drawings of Workspaces
When a drawing of a workspace object is out of date, the update workspace icon displays a
gold notification. Click the icon to update the out of date views and metadata in the drawing.

Drawings of Versions and revisions

To update a view referencing a Version or revision, you must update it to a new Version or
revision. You are only notified to update when there is a newer Version available.

When a new Version or revision is available, the blue version icon displays on the drawing
tab. To update:

1. Right click on the tab.

2. Select Update the linked document...

Note: The mechanism for updating views of versions or revisions is the same.

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Lesson 10: Onshape as a Platform

The Onshape App Store

Onshape has an App Store from which you can select partner applications to work with your
designs in Onshape, or out of Onshape, as the app requires. Apps provide a toolset to create
rendered images, analysis models with FEA or CFD simulation tools, write G-code for CAM
applications, and much more.

Access the Onshape App store via https://appstore.onshape.com. You can also access the App
store from within Onshape by clicking the App Store button on the Documents page, or within
any document. All partners are required to provide a free version of their app, and some may
also charge for other versions. The free aspect is different per app: some apps allow a free trial,
while others allow some capabilities for free while others are paid options.

Integrated, Connected, and Desktop Apps

Onshape partners with companies who create systems that can work with Onshape data and
provide another level of tools for your design needs. These apps are delivered in three ways:
● Integrated - These are integrated within Onshape and appear in a tab within a
Document. Integrated cloud apps allow you to work within an Onshape document in the
app. These apps can be accessed from the plus sign within a document, after you
subscribe.
● Connected - These are connected to your Onshape account and use Onshape data but
within their own UI and tool environment. Connected apps are cloud-based solutions;
you access the app in a web browser connected to Onshape.
● Desktop - You install these tools in your own environment and export Onshape data to
import into the tool. You usually have a license key and the plug-in app allows you to
access your Onshape models.

Customer Reviews and Ratings

Access each individual app’s page in the Onshape App Store for more information about the
functionality, reviews and ratings, and for a link to contact their support. Onshape does not
provide support for third party applications.

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Subscribing to Integrated Apps
To subscribe to an integrated app:
1. Select Subscribe next to the plan needed.

2. Select Get and input your Onshape password.

3. Once subscribed, you can access the app from the plus sign menu in a document.

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Onshape Custom Features and FeatureScript
Onshape is written in a new programming language, designed by Onshape, called
FeatureScript. All of Onshape feature tools are written using FeatureScript and Onshape
makes this programming language available to you, for use in your Onshape Documents
through creating Custom Features, written in FeatureScript. You can learn from Onshape’s
published source code, under an open source license and customize Onshape features or
create your own.

It is important to understand features written in FeatureScript are “first-class citizens,” even if

they are written by a member of the Onshape community and not an Onshape developer. These
custom features are not macros, but native to Onshape!

What are custom features?

Custom features are features that Onshape customers create using FeatureScript. Note that
you do not have to write code to use custom features in your Onshape Documents. Members of
the Onshape community have written features and made them public and available to anyone.

A note about security, when you are using custom features in your Documents, please know
that they cannot:
● Modify anything other than the Part Studio in which they are used
● “Infect” your Onshape account in any way
● Communicate back to its author in any way
● Affect Part Studio regeneration after its removed from the Part Studio toolbar
● Modify other features in the Feature list

Add a Custom Feature

You can add shared and public custom features to your toolbar:
1. Open your Onshape Document.
2. In a Part Studio, in the Feature toolbar, click the Custom Feature icon.
3. Documents that contain custom features (that you have access to) are listed. Also listed
are custom features in Other documents.
4. For this example, select Other documents.
5. Select FeatureScript samples.
6. Select a document. All custom features are then listed.
7. Select the custom feature to add to your Feature toolbar.
8. Click Close.
The custom feature is now on your toolbar, in the dropdown menu that has the custom feature
tool.

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How to I learn how to make custom features
Navigate to https://www.onshape.com/featurescript for instructions on creating custom features
using Onshape’s FeatureScript. Custom features are created in an Onshape document, like
anything else, using a Feature Studio.

Onshape on a mobile device

Onshape runs on mobile platforms, both iOS and Android devices. You just download the app
and sign in with your Onshape account. There are some differences between mobile and
browser Onshape experiences, outlined below.

Different “clicks” on a touchscreen device

Onshape allows the same functionality on a mobile device as it does on a web browser.
However, because of the unique, touch-based interfaces of smart phones and tablets, there are
some basic and important gestures to become familiar with:
● To select - Tap to select an entity or tool, tap again to deselect. Double-tap to deselect
all selections.
● To zoom - Pinch to zoom in or out.
● To scroll through a Feature list or dialog - Swipe

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● To open a context menu - Two-finger tap

● 3D rotate - Drag a single finger in the graphics area to rotate in 3D

● 2D rotate - Use a two-finger twist in the graphics area
● To pan - Use a two-finger drag to pan the graphics area
● To select something small or tough to touch - Touch and hold in the empty graphics area
to enable the Precision selector (it looks like a crosshair). Use the crosshairs to pinpoint
a selection. To select: Release finger when crosshairs are lined up with the entity to be
selected (the entity will be highlighted).

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 ● Touch and hold two fingers in the empty graphics area to enable the box selector.

● Using a Stylus: Onshape Mobile supports the use of a stylus such as the Apple Pencil.
Use the stylus for any one-finger gesture such as select, deselect, scroll, 3D rotate, and
precision select (all mentioned above). The actions to complete the gestures with a
stylus are exactly the same as those with a finger except for Precision selector.
● To use a stylus for Precision selection, while using the stylus to precision select, press
harder to temporarily zoom. Once you release to make a selection, the zoom returns to
normal

No syncing
There is no syncing of information necessary at any time. You work in Onshape, in real time,
regardless of the device you use (browser, iOS, or Android). Any work done on one platform is
immediately visible on all platforms.

Download App, sign in with same account

Just download the Onshape app from Google Play or the Apple App Store and sign in to
Onshape with your existing Onshape credentials.

You cannot create an account through a mobile platform, you must first create your Onshape
account through a browser. Then, use those credentials to sign in to your Onshape account on
any mobile device, using the Onshape app.

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