Notes can be made parametric by linking them to parameters of the model. This can include, instance counts for patterns, dimensions and other annotations such as balloons or revision symbols. The benefit of taking advantage of using these is, you are ensuring that if the model information changes, that note will update appropriately.

To link an annotation to a note, simply click the annotation when editing inside your note text. Notes are found under the annotation tab in a drawing document. The note formatting pop-up toolbar will appear at the top of your note. From here you can change the format of your note such as, text justification, angle, height, etc. This toolbar is quite helpful, for example, if you chose the bullets and lists icon, this will make subsequent parametric notes follow a number schema.

Looking at a quick example, we selected the 2.00 dimension from the view into our note and then just type “X” and then click the 0.50 dimension to add it into the note. The instance count “4” was created by using model items and toggling on “instant counts.” Hopefully you can see the benefit of structuring a note like this, even if one of these dimensions or instance count changes, we will see the update change accordingly after a rebuild.

To conclude, sometimes you may want to link a parameter that isn’t necessarily represented on the drawing sheet. These can include SOLIDWORKS parameters such as, material, weight, even things like; save date, file name, and several more. To create a note that is linked to one of these parameters, first place a note down, then click on “link to property” under text format. From the link to property pop up window, select either current document or model found here. You will find a list of available properties you can link to under the drop down for property name. It is also here which we can see custom properties, if you have any created for the model.