Others say...

"The SW Reference book to have!"
This is a great SolidWorks Reference book. The text is clear and very easy to follow. Illustrations are provided for key PropertyManagers with standard and advance options addressed. Over 200 embedded tutorials are supplied on an enclosed CD which provides sample problems in each section and category. The CD provides the before and after models. The tutorials are great if you just want to address and explore the options in a quick and efficient manner. If you are just learning SolidWorks, I would recommend the Planchard's Engineering Design with SolidWorks book first. The Commands Guide is a must reference book to have at your desk when using SolidWorks.

"A to Z: A Great Command Tutorial"
New to Solidworks, I purchased the latest release of the "Professional" package in October 2006. I took a 12 Sat. course at a local community college to get a feel for the features and learn how to use this very powerful 3-D CAD software. The Planchard's have compiled an extremely detailed list of SW commands. The manual includes a CD disc containing many practical exercises that thoroughly illustrate the command application and its menu picks. The text is very clear and easy to understand - even for the novice, but the content is even useful for the experienced user. A "must-have" for any serious SW user's library.

"A SolidWorks reference book for all"
I have purchased many books from these authors over the past three years, and I personally have nothing but praise for their publications. They normal write an in-depth step-by-step project base book for the new SolidWorks user. This is their first Reference book for the user who is looking to do something that they have not done before. The book incorporates a parts CD which contains over 200 simple and complex models and tutorials with their solutions.

The first chapter is a getting started chapter for the beginner, but I would strongly recommend that a new user purchase either their SW Engineering Design Book or their SW Tutorial book and use their Multi-media CD.

The Commands Guide book is well organized with a series of chapters in a logical manner with headings that actually make sense. WOW! Under each chapter heading there are additional sub headings that further identify common functions and tasks.

The book is designed to use "at-a-glance" for solving specific problems. From addressing 2D and 3D Sketching, Standard and Advance Mates, Sheet Metal manufacturing, External References in assembly modeling, complex drawing views, annotations, PhotoWorks, and more, SolidWorks powerful features and tools are all detailed in depth with one exception. There is nothing on surface modeling. I hope they will add this in their next rev.

The book is comprehensive, "except for surface modeling" and most important to me, it is easy to find items, use, and to understand.



"The best reference book out there."
I'm a Mechanical Engineer with over 17 years of design and layout experience using various CAD systems; AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and SolidWorks. By far, SolidWorks has been the easiest 3D modeling software to learn and apply. I've been on a quest to locate a good reference book. I use the SolidWorks Help, and Tutorials, but having a hard copy on hand to quickly reference various commands, options, and features is great. The index is great to locate items and cross reference various tools from the sketch and feature toolbars.

I purchased the Commands Guide Tutorial for SolidWorks 2007 by Planchard and Planchard. They are known for their project based, step-by-step approach books and have written SolidWorks books since 1999. This is their first Commands Guide Reference book. It's a winner. All key PropertyManagers are addressed in detail with associated model files to quickly apply and address 2D and 3D sketch tools, sketch entities, features, standard and advance mates, drawings, sheetmetal, design library, COSMOSXpress, and more. The Sheetmetal section is well detailed.

The downside of most reference books is that they have very few examples to apply what you referenced. Not this book. There are over 200 individual model files, "initial without the solution and final, with the solution" incorporated into the book's CD to work with and best of all, to experiment with. For me, this is how you learn about the features and options of a software package. The only downside of this book, is that it does not address advance surfacing and Macros. If you are looking for a great SW reference book to use and to learn about the various options, this is the book for you.