FAQ

Solid Edge 2D Drafting

Frequently asked questions

Siemens PLM Software

www.siemens.com/solidedge

Download and licensing questions I am having trouble downloading Solid Edge 2D Drafting from the web site.
The download is 230MB.You should not attempt the download without a broadband internet connection. It is unlikely that the download will be successful on a dial up internet connection. If you have a broadband connection, but the download is still failing, using a download manager may help.There are many available for free just Google free download manager and choose the one that looks best to you.Then, retry your download.

I finished the download of the Solid Edge 2D Drafting software, but SE2DDraft.exe either does not run at all or I get an error.
Most likely the download did not finish or did not download properly.This can sometimes happen with large files. Usually, using a download manager will fix this problem.There are many available for free just Google free download manager and choose the one that looks best to you.Then, retry your download.

When I run Solid Edge 2D Drafting, I get a screen stating; You Need a License File.
Solid Edge 2D Drafting software is a free product, but you must have a license to use it. If you get a window stating that you need a license, then the software is properly installed. However, you need a license that will allow the software to run. One of the following solutions should help you install the license properly and allow the software to run. 1. If you registered for the software but you did NOT receive an email with an attachment SELicense.txt: You may have failed to provide a valid email address when you registered. In this case, you will not receive the email with the license and you will be unable to run the software.To resolve this, you can register again and provide a valid email address. If you did provide a valid email address but did not receive the email or the attachment in the email, you can request a license by contacting Siemens PLM Software, as explained at the end of this document. 2. If you registered for the software and you did receive an email with instructions and the SELicense.txt attachment, please read the following carefully. Do not open the SELicense.txt file attached to the email. Unintentional changes will prevent Solid Edge from running properly. Make sure that you renamed the file to SELicense.dat. If you did not rename it, the software will not be able to find it, and the product will not run.

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Ensure that you put the SELicense.dat file in the proper folder.The file needs to be put in the C:\Program Files\Solid Edge 2D Drafting\Program folder. (Notice that there is a folder named Program under the Solid Edge 2D Drafting folder.This is where the license must go for Solid Edge 2D Drafting to run properly.) The proper location is shown in the image below: If you navigate to C:\Program Files\Solid Edge 2D Drafting (did not go all the way to the Program folder) and you see a file in this folder named SELicense.dat, you have put the license in the incorrect folder. If you have put it in the wrong place, drag and drop the SELicense.dat file into the Program folder under the Solid Edge 2D Drafting folder. See the following image. You should get a message asking if you want to overwrite the existing file. Click on Yes to overwrite the existing file.This should correct your license problem and the software should now run properly.

I get the following Solid Edge License Check error when I try to run Solid Edge 2D Drafting.
When you see this error, you most likely have a problem with the license filename.You received instructions instructing you to save the SELicense.txt file and rename the file to SELicense.dat.This is shown in the following image. Notice that in the Type column it shows the file type as DAT file.

The problem you may have is that after you rename the file, the display of the filename may have the .dat extension stripped.Windows Explorer is doing this in the list display.The filename may actually be SELicense.dat.dat.That is two .dats after SELicense.

To correct the problem, Rename the file to SELicense.You will notice that the file type in the TYPE column is still DAT file as shown in the following image.This is because the filename is now SELicense.dat.That is one .dat after SELicense.

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General questions What is Solid Edge 2D Drafting?

Solid Edge 2D Drafting is a full functioning and fully associative 2D Drafting software package created by Siemens PLM Software Solid Edge.

How long does it take to download Solid Edge 2D Drafting from the download web page?
The download time is dependant on your internet connection speed. Solid Edge 2D Drafting is downloaded as a self extracting executable and is about 250MB in size. It is suggested that you have a fast internet connection to download the product.

How much disk space do I need to download and install Solid Edge 2D Drafting?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting is a self extracting executable that you download.The size of the downloaded executable is about 250MB.When the executable is run you will need an additional 250MB of temporary space for installation and the installed product size is about 600MB.

Does Solid Edge 2D Drafting use associative geometry and dimensions?

Solid Edge 2D Drafting is fully associative.The associativity can be turned on and off.With the associativity turned on, making changes to geometry and dimensions will modify connected dimensions and geometry accordingly.The drawing does not fall apart when modifying the geometry.To turn on the associativity, click on Maintain Relationships from the Tools menu. Ensure that there is a check mark beside Maintain Relationships. See the following image.

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I create schematic drawings. Does Solid Edge 2D Drafting provide a library of schematic symbols I can use to produce these drawings?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting comes equipped with hundreds of standard symbols for creating schematic drawings for electrical, mechanical (fluid power) and piping purposes.These symbols are delivered as blocks in the Sample block folder under the Solid Edge 2D Drafting program folder.This sample block library is one of the most comprehensive set of schematic blocks you will find.These blocks adhere to common standards such as IEEE 315-1975 (R1993), IEEE 91/91a-1991, IEC 617, IEC 117,ANSI Y32.10-1967 (R1994),Y32.9-1972,ANSI Y32.2.4-1949 (R1998) and Y32.2.3-1949 (R1999). Solid Edge 2D Drafting also provides a smart connector object that allows you to easily draw the paths between the blocks you place on the drawing.

Someone has asked me to download Solid Edge 2D Drafting so they can send drawings they create with the Solid Edge Drafting software. Can I open the files they send to me and can I see all the geometry?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting has been designed with collaboration in mind.You may receive information from a company that uses Solid Edge for 3D design and drawing creation.You can open the drawings they produce from 3D models with the Solid Edge drafting software. Solid Edge and Solid Edge 2D Drafting use the same file format for the draft (.dft) files.You can open the files and perform the same 2D geometry creation as you do with the files you create initially in Solid Edge 2D Drafting. Once you have made modifications to the files, you can send the files back to the provider where they can open the same file to see your changes. This is far superior to receiving translated files.When there no translation is required, there is no risk of loss of data because of translating the files from one file format to another file format.You can also open the draft files and print the drawings easily.The image shows a simple drawing created from a 3D model in Solid Edge Draft and opened in Solid Edge 2D Drafting.

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Are there any exercises I can work through to help me get started using Solid Edge 2D Drafting?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting has simple tutorials that help a new user quickly get started using the product.With Solid Edge 2D Drafting running, click on View all Solid Edge tutorials. See the following image.The topic is circled in the image.

This displays the Solid Edge tutorials dialog. Click on Creating 2D Drawings with Solid Edge under the Draft Tutorials.This will run the tutorial. Follow through the steps in the tutorial.You can then return to this dialog and run another tutorial.

Questions from AutoCAD users I am an AutoCAD user. How difficult is Solid Edge 2D Drafting to learn?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting is very easy to learn. Icons on buttons and commands are similar to AutoCAD.Also, as an AutoCAD user you will find terms and functionality that is familiar to you. One example is the use of the 2D Model environment.This is much the same as the Model environment in AutoCAD.To get to the 2D Model environment in Solid Edge 2D Drafting, click on 2D Model Sheet in the View menu. See the following image.This adds 2D Model into the sheet tab tray at the bottom of the application. Select 2D Model. Where AutoCAD uses Layouts, Solid Edge 2D Drafting uses Sheets for the drawings.There are many other terms you will already be familiar with such as blocks, layers and styles.

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I currently use AutoCAD. Where can I get more information about using Solid Edge 2D Drafting in terms I can understand?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting has excellent help topics specifically designed for you the AutoCAD user.With Solid Edge 2D Drafting running, click on Solid Edge 2D Drafting Help from the Help menu. See the following image. Read through the help topics for valuable information about getting started using Solid Edge 2D Drafting.
Solid Edge 2D Drafting help

Can I open my existing AutoCAD files in Solid Edge 2D Drafting?

Solid Edge 2d Drafting has a built in AutoCAD translator. AutoCAD FILES (.DWG and .DXF) can be opened by selecting the file in the Open File dialog. Options can be set with the AutoCAD to Solid Edge Translation Wizard which control how the AutoCAD file is opened in Solid Edge 2D Drafting.
Open file dialog

AutoCAD to Solid Edge translation Wizard

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I have many libraries of blocks I have created in AutoCAD. Can I use my existing block libraries in Solid Edge 2D Drafting?
AutoCAD blocks and block libraries can be used directly in Solid Edge. All you have to do is select the block library (.DWG or .DXF) file in the Solid Edge 2D Drafting Edge Bar.Then drag and drop the AutoCAD block into the Draft file. In this image, the AutoCAD file Drawing1.dwg has been selected.There are four blocks in this file.When you click on the block names, the image below the name will change to display the AutoCAD block selected. Once you have selected the correct block, drag and drop the AutoCAD block into the draft file.The AutoCAD block will be placed in the draft file at the drop location.
Use AutoCAD blocks directly in Solid Edge 2D Drafting

How can I set up Solid Edge 2D Drafting to display more like AutoCAD?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting can be easily configured to display more like AutoCAD.AutoCAD uses a black background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting uses a white background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting has options built in so that the display very closely resembles AutoCAD. If you want to operate in this mode, there are a couple of simple things you need to do. First, click on Options from the Tools menu and click on the Color tab on the Options dialog. On this tab change the Color Scheme to AutoCAD Model. Notice that the colors change in the preview. See the following images. This should be done on both the working sheet (Sheet1) ad the 2D Model sheet. Now the colors are set to the AutoCAD type colors.This sets up the environment display. If you want to change back to the standard Solid Edge 2D Drafting display, change the Color Scheme back to Solid Edge Default.

Tools-optionscolor tab

Second, you need to set up the object display for AutoCAD looking objects. When you changed the background display, most of the objects disappeared. Most likely the draft template you used to create the current draft file has standard Solid Edge object colors. Close the current file and create a new draft file using by clicking on New from the File menu.

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Click on the More tab in the New file dialog.There will be draft templates you can use to create draft files that display properly on black backgrounds.These template files have black_background in their names. Click on Normeng_black_background.dft and click the OK button.
New file dialog

Now when you place geometry, it will look more like the AutoCAD display. See the following image.

Solid Edge 2D Drafting configured for AutoCAD like display

When I open an AutoCAD file (.DWG or .DXF) in Solid Edge 2D Drafting I cannot easily see all the geometry. What can I do to see all the geometry?
Solid Edge 2D Drafting can be easily configured to display more like AutoCAD.AutoCAD uses a black background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting uses a white background by default. Solid Edge 2D Drafting has options built in so that the display very closely resembles AutoCAD. If you want to operate in this mode, there are a couple of simple things you need to do. The following is an image of an AutoCAD file opened in Solid Edge 2D Drafting. It uses all the default Solid Edge 2D Drafting display settings. Notice that the original AutoCAD colors are not easily seen on the default Solid Edge 2D Drafting white background.

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To configure Solid Edge 2D Drafting, first see the Q&A topic How can I set up Solid Edge 2D Drafting to look more like AutoCAD?.This topic will help you configure the display of Solid Edge 2D Drafting for an AutoCAD appearance. Next, you need to use a draft template that is specifically created for the translation of the AutoCAD (.DWG or .DXF) files.These templates are provided with Solid Edge 2D Drafting.To use one of these templates when opening an AutoCAD file, click the AutoCAD file you wish to open in the Open File dialog. Click on the Options button at the bottom of the Open File dialog. This will open the AutoCAD to Solid Edge Translation Wizard. Click on the Next button at the bottom of the dialog.This will present the dialog shown in the following image. Notice that normal.DFT is the Solid Edge template currently used to translate the AutoCAD file. Change the template by clicking on the Browse button.This will present an Open dialog. Double click on the More folder in the file list. Click on Normeng_black_ background.dft as the template file as shown in the following image. Click on the Open button at the bottom right hand side of the dialog. Notice that the Solid Edge template has changed to the file you selected. Click on the Finish button at the bottom right hand of the dialog.You may get a warning stating that you cannot overwrite the default Configuration file. Click on OK. Click on the Create a new configuration file radio button and then click on the Copy To button. Change the File Name from seacad.ini to seacad2.ini and click on the Save button. Click on the Finish button.You have just created your own custom configuration for translating your AutoCAD files.With the AutoCAD file still selected, click on the Open button on the Open File dialog.

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Now when you open your AutoCAD files in Solid Edge 2D Drafting, they will display more like they did in AutoCAD. See the following image.

Contacting Siemens about Solid Edge 2D Drafting

Solid Edge 2D Drafting is a free product that anyone can download. Front line phone support is not provided for the product. However, if you are having problems with installation, someone at the following phone numbers will be able to help you with your installation issues. If you need technical assistance with the software, a news group is provided for your use to ask questions and/or communicate with other users with respect to the software. Siemens employees will be monitoring the news group to help answer your questions. Once again, the numbers provided below are not technical support phone numbers. Contacting Siemens Telemarketing USA and Canada 800 807 2200 Option 1 Europe 44 (0) 1202 243455 Australia 1 800 765 433 India 000800 810 1108 Malaysia 1 800 812843 New Zealand 0508 765 433 Singapore 800 120 4620 China 10800 1400 630 Japan 0066 3386 1032 Taiwan 00801 232363 Korea 82 2 3016 2000 Other countries in Asia Pacific 852 2230 3333

solidedge.plm@siemens.com solidedge@webresponse.net velocity.anz.aud@siemens.com velocity.india.aud@siemens.com solidedge.asean@ugs.com velocity.anz.aud@siemens.com solidedge.asean@ugs.com velocity.prc.aud@siemens.com velocity.japan.aud@siemens.com velocity.taiwan.aud@siemens.com velocity.korea.aud@siemens.com solidedge.asean@ugs.com

Contact
Siemens PLM Software Americas 800 807 2200 Europe 44 (0) 1202 243455 Asia-Pacific 852 2230 3308 www.siemens.com/plm
2008 Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All rights reserved. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks of Siemens AG. Teamcenter, NX, Solid Edge,Tecnomatix, Parasolid, Femap, I-deas, Velocity Series and Geolus are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other logos, trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective holders. 6/08