There are various methods for manipulating sketches in SolidWorks. This tutorial will cover the use of Copy/Paste and “Copy Entities” command. Follow the instructions using the example from the end of the article “How to fully define a sketch in SolidWorks”.

Copy/Paste

In an active sketch, select all entities to be copied.  Then copy the sketch to the clipboard, using Ctrl+C.  In the graphics area, click the approximate location that the sketch is to be positioned, and press Ctrl+V to paste a copy.

Complete the process by adding dimensions to fully define the sketch.  To paste multiple copies of the same sketch, click in another location of the graphics and press Ctrl+V, repeat as required.

Copy Entities

Copy entities is another method to copy a sketch.  Select copy entities from the SolidWorks CommandManager when in an active sketch. The first step is to select the entities to copy. In the parameters list there are two options: From/To and X/Y. Use From/To and drag the base point to the desired location. Alternatively use X/Y to input values to move the sketch entities.  For this tutorial use X/Y and set the values to 150mm and 200mm respectively. Complete the command by pressing the green check mark.

Press the repeat button add new X/Y vlues and click the green check mark, to place multiple instances.

Dimension the newly copied entities to fully define the sketch.