About the Flat Pattern Preview Window
Use the Flat Pattern Preview tool to open a window with a preview of the sheet metal model in an unbent state. The preview is suppressed when you add or redefine features in a design. It is automatically resumed after the features have been added. The Preview window is not available when a Flat Pattern feature is in the model, but is available in Verify mode when creating or redefining most features.
To access the Flat Pattern Preview tool, click
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on the Graphics toolbar.
These additional commands appear on the Graphics toolbar of the Flat Pattern Preview window:
•
Flatten Forms—Toggles the flattening and unbending of form features.
•
Overlapping Geometry—Toggles the display of overlapping geometry. (default)
•
Bounding Box Dimensions—Toggles the display of the length and width dimensions of the unbent sheet metal part. The dimensions are associated with the
SMT_FLAT_PATTERN_LENGTH and
SMT_FLAT_PATTERN_WIDTH parameters.
•
Create Instance—Opens the
New Instance dialog box to automatically create a Family Table instance of the flat pattern.
Keep in mind the following points when using the Flat Pattern Preview tool:
• Corner relief appears as defined in the Relief area of the Sheetmetal Preferences dialog box, unless the Corner Relief, Flange, or Conversion tools are used to define feature-specific relief.
• You must set a fixed geometry reference for the preview, unless one is already defined for the part.
• Set the accessory_window_display configuration option to yes to open the preview in a docked window, or set it to no to open the preview separately.
• A preview does not appear for parts with the following geometry:
◦ Two or more distinct pieces
◦ Unmerged quilts
◦ One or more deformation areas that cannot be unbent
◦ Relief geometry that is not valid
◦ Hem geometry that is not valid
◦ Deformation areas that cannot be regenerated
◦ Sharp edges that cannot be unbent
◦ Surfaces that cannot be unbent
• Geometry that cannot be unbent is highlighted in a different color. To change the default color, click > > . Expand the Graphics branch and specify the required color for Secondary previewed geometry.