Parts The 3D part is the basic building block of the SOLIDWORKS mechanical design software. This section describes parts and some ways to work with them, including: Contents Editing Features In a parts document, you can perform several types of feature editing operations. Rebuild Rebuilds the model with changes. Feature Previews You can display detailed previews and control what displays with the Detailed Preview PropertyManager. Feature Properties Properties of Features and Faces Feature properties include the feature's name and the capability to suppress (and then unsuppress) the feature if it is used in multiple configurations. Suppressing temporarily removes the feature from the model, without deleting it. This can be used to simplify the model, or to create part configurations. Defeature for Parts With the Defeature tool, you can remove details from a part or assembly and save the results to a new file in which the details are replaced by dumb solids (that is, solids without feature definition or history). You can then share the new file without revealing all the design details of the model. Dragging Features SOLIDWORKS supports several drag operations for features: reordering, moving, and copying. Dynamic Feature Editing You can edit features dynamically by dragging the entities of a sketch, either with or without opening the sketch itself. Copying Features With Instant3D, you can copy features from one face to another on the same model. You can also copy features from model to model. Interrupt Regeneration of Parts Press Esc to interrupt the regeneration of parts. This also works with opening parts, rollbacks, and so on. Using Part Reviewer You can use Part Reviewer to review how parts are created feature-by-feature. Part Reviewer can help you learn best practices for creating various types of parts. Color and Appearance of Parts You can apply color and optical properties to the entire part, or selected faces, features (including surfaces or curves), or bodies. You can also modify the color by manipulating the shaded appearance of the model. Appearances PropertyManager Use the Appearances PropertyManager to apply colors, material appearances, and transparency to parts and assembly components. For sketches or curves only, use the Sketch/Curve Color PropertyManager to apply colors. Title Block Tables You can create title block tables in parts and assemblies and link the table information to the configuration-specific properties of the document. Parent topicParts and Features Part Modeling Properties - Custom and Configuration Properties Material Dialog Box Equations Suppress and Unsuppress Features Derived Parts External References Split and Save Bodies PropertyManagers Section Views in Models Displaying Annotations in Parts and Assemblies Lighting Mass Properties and Section Properties