Let’s get this legalese out of the way first: I was provided with a copy of Template Wizard to review. At no point in time was it implied that acceptance of said software would result in a favorable review. Let’s be real here, anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a sell out. I like it or I don’t, and have no problems stating my opinion.
Kevin Van Liere is the creator of the Template Wizard found at SolidWorks Templates.com. It was through his consulting business, 3Dawn Consulting, that he found that many people had difficulties creating effective templates. It was out of this realization that the Template Wizard was born.
I’m going to admit here that I was a bit skeptical about it when Kevin presented me with the opportunity to try it out. I mean, c’mon, templates aren’t that hard to create, they’re just time consuming. Sure, if you don’t plan things out correctly you end up redoing a template a couple of times to get is just right. Not a big deal, right?
Template Wizard takes away all the guess work. By simply answering some questions, and filling in some blanks, you’ll end up with the template you want in just a short amount of time. It’s recommended that you create your drawing template first. By doing so, the template wizard can easily create the needed part and assembly templates, complete with their needed custom properties.
The steps you follow are easy and pretty self-explanatory. I was a bit confused by the preset template names, but the help section cleared it up quickly. Kevin has, obviously, spent quite a bit of time thinking things through on these templates. I’m glad he did, because it certainly made things a lot easier for the new templates I set up. Font sizes, title block, borders, links, everything set up and ready to go. I think what I appreciate the most is the fact that I didn’t have to remember anything. I can’t tell you how many templates I’ve created in the past, only to have to go back and insert something I forgot. The Template Wizard takes your hand and gets you through the process quickly and painlessly. I’m no longer skeptical.
