PDM Preview Tab Display Options

The preview tab in the SOLIDWORKS PDM local vault view is primarily used to preview a selected file. By default, the preview tab is split into a graphical file preview on the left and a card preview with PDM variable values on the right. There are a few options to change the appearance of the preview tab. 

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Turn Off Card Preview

For users who rely on the data card to display the PDM variables/metadata about the files, then the card preview can be turned off to expand the graphical preview to fill the entire preview tab region by selecting Display > Card Preview to activate or deactivate the checkmark. 

Option to enable the card preview
edrawings-full-graphic-preview

Alternatively, the File Preview can be turned off all together to only display the card preview with PDM variables by selecting Display > File Preview. 

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Activating Controls for eDrawings Preview

By default, the preview for CAD files uses eDrawings. The default option, however, only shows the graphics with no eDrawings controls for measure, move, section view, properties, etc. A toolbar with common eDrawings tools can be activated by selecting Display > Options > Show full UI in SOLIDWORKS preview. 

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Displaying a Bitmap Preview - Performance Enhancement

By default, when the preview tab is selected, PDM must cache the file locally before the preview is displayed. For large files, updating the local cache can be time consuming, especially when all you want is a preview of the file. To improve preview time, PDM can be configured to display a static Bitmap image of the file as the initial preview, which displays much faster than waiting for the file to be cached. 

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You can still activate the eDrawings preview for full preview functionality by clicking Show Preview eDrawings button in the upper section of the preview window, though now you must wait for the file to be cached locally. 

Note, prior to PDM 2022, you had to click the thumbnail preview image to access the eDrawings preview. 

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Additional PDM Resources

Share these quick tips with your team to help them get the most out of the PDM preview tab to fit their needs. 

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