Sketch plane selection in Solidworks - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Sketch plane selection

Goal

Understand how to select the correct sketch plane in SolidWorks to start creating 2D sketches for 3D modeling.

Sample Data: Sketch Planes and Features

Plane Name	Orientation	Common Use	Example Feature
Front Plane	Vertical, facing front	Main front view sketches	Front profile of a part
Top Plane	Horizontal, facing up	Top view sketches	Base of a part
Right Plane	Vertical, facing right	Side view sketches	Side profile of a part
Custom Plane 1	Angled 45° to Front	Sketch angled features	Chamfer or angled cut
Face of Part	Varies	Sketch directly on part face	Adding holes or bosses

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Selected Sketch Plane - shows the name of the currently selected plane (e.g., "Front Plane")
• Bar Chart: Number of sketches created per plane - counts sketches on each plane from sample data
• Table: List of planes with orientation and common uses - from sample data
• Pie Chart: Percentage of sketches by plane - visualizes distribution of sketches across planes

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+----------------------+
| Selected Sketch Plane | Number of Sketches    |
|       (KPI)           |       (Bar Chart)     |
+----------------------+----------------------+
| List of Planes        | Percentage of Sketches|
|       (Table)         |       (Pie Chart)     |
+----------------------+----------------------+

Interactivity

When you select a plane from the List of Planes table, the Selected Sketch Plane KPI updates to show that plane's name. The Bar Chart and Pie Chart filter to show sketches only on the selected plane. Clearing the selection resets all visuals to show data for all planes.

Self Check

If you filter the dashboard to show only the "Top Plane", which components update and what do they show?

• Selected Sketch Plane KPI: Shows "Top Plane"
• Bar Chart: Shows count of sketches only on "Top Plane"
• Pie Chart: Shows 100% for "Top Plane"
• List of Planes Table: Highlights or filters to "Top Plane" row

Key Result

Dashboard showing sketch plane selection and usage statistics in SolidWorks.