How to Use Sketch Driven Pattern in SOLIDWORKS

Contents

Sketch Driven Pattern places repeated features or bodies at points from a sketch. It is useful when pattern locations are irregular or when you want hole, boss, cut, or component positions controlled by a sketch layout.

Unlike a linear or circular pattern, the spacing does not need to be equal. Each sketch point becomes a pattern location.

Sketch Driven Pattern in SOLIDWORKS — Sketch Driven Pattern uses sketch points to define pattern locations.

Create the point sketch

Create or edit a sketch on the face or plane where the pattern should be controlled.
Add sketch points at each desired location.
Dimension and constrain the points.
Exit the sketch.

Sketch points for a SOLIDWORKS sketch driven pattern — The pattern locations come from the sketch points.

Create the pattern

Start Sketch Driven Pattern.
Select the feature, face, body, or component to pattern.
Select the sketch that contains the points.
Choose the reference point or seed position.
Preview and accept the pattern.

SOLIDWORKS Sketch Driven Pattern settings — Select the seed feature and the sketch that controls the pattern.

When to use Sketch Driven Pattern

Use it for irregular hole locations.
Use it when points need to follow a layout sketch.
Use linear or circular patterns when spacing is regular.
Use table-driven patterns when locations come from coordinate data.

Sketch Driven Pattern is especially helpful when the location layout matters more than equal spacing. For example, you may have mounting holes that follow a product outline, bosses positioned around internal ribs, or cutouts that need to match imported reference points.

Finished sketch driven pattern in SOLIDWORKS — A well-defined point sketch makes the pattern easier to edit later.

Troubleshooting

Instances appear in the wrong place: check the seed reference point and sketch point positions.
The pattern fails: verify the seed feature can rebuild at every point.
The sketch is underdefined: fully define the point layout before releasing the model.
The layout should be regular: use a linear or circular pattern instead.

For related sketch tools, see construction lines in SOLIDWORKS and Offset Entities in SOLIDWORKS.

Keep the point sketch simple and named clearly in the FeatureManager tree. Future edits are much easier when another user can immediately tell which sketch controls the pattern locations.

Reference: SOLIDWORKS Help documents sketch driven patterns as feature patterns controlled by sketch points.