Below is a snippet from the SolidWorks blog:
SolidWorks Skills
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There are three documents in SolidWorks: part, assembly, drawing . SolidWorks begins with a part. A part is a single entity made up of features. When you combine multiple parts together, you make an assembly. A 2D representation of a part or an assembly is called a drawing.
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The first feature in a part usually begins with a 2D sketch . Always locate a centerpoint or endpoint of a sketch at the Origin. Add dimensions and geometric relations (such as equal, concentric) to fully define a sketch. Fully defined sketches are displayed in black.
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Locate the first component of an assembly at the Origin . Select Insert Component, Browse to select the part or assembly. Click OK (green check mark). The part or assembly will be positioned at the Origin.
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The SolidWorks tutorials are located at Help>SolidWorks Tutorials. I like Lesson One: Parts, Lesson Two Assembly and Lesson Three: Drawings. There are video tutorials that correspond to these lessons at www.solidworks.com/tutorials in the Getting Started section…