SOLIDWORKS Drawings: Flat Pattern Drawing View is Not Flat

Problem

This article provides troubleshooting steps to diagnose why a flat pattern drawing view is not showing the flattened state in a SOLIDWORKS drawing. In most cases, this happens because the sheet metal part file’s flat pattern configuration is not correctly flattened.

Whenever you insert a sheet metal part into a drawing, SOLIDWORKS automatically creates a derived configuration in the part file for the flat pattern. When functioning normally, this derived configuration SHOULD have the flat pattern feature unsuppressed in the part’s feature tree; it is easy to accidentally suppress/unflatten it.

Solution: Flattening Flat Pattern Drawing View

1. Open the part file in question and click the configurations tab.

2. Click the dropdown next to the active configuration and double click to activate the "SM-FLAT-PATTERN" derived configuration.

3. Ensure that the configuration is properly flattened. You can do this by either clicking the “Flatten” button, OR manually un-suppressing the Flat-Pattern feature in the feature tree. 

4. Open the drawing and refresh the view palette to update the drawing views. 

The flat pattern drawing view should now show the correctly flattened part. 

For further technical support, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at 877.266.4469 for the U.S. or 866.587.6803 for Canada and support@hawkridgesys.com.