Automatically Refresh Drawing Sheet Formats in SOLIDWORKS with VBA

Authored by Amen Jlili
Updated May 14, 2025
Published May 14, 2025
Topics covered: sheet format, solidworks api, vba macro

Managing large drawing sets in SOLIDWORKS often means working with inconsistent or outdated sheet formats. Whether due to legacy templates, changes in company standards, or imported files, it’s not uncommon to find drawing sheets that don’t match the expected formatting. This macro solves that.

What This Macro Does

Loops through all sheets in an open drawing.
Detects each sheet’s paper size.
Clears any elements from the sheet format.
Replaces the current sheet format with a new one (in this case, a C-size format).
Saves the drawing once all sheets are processed.

When Should You Use It?

You’re transitioning to a new title block or format standard.
You need to batch-convert drawings with inconsistent sheet sizes.
You want a consistent template across multiple sheets.
You’re preparing legacy drawings for release or PDF batch export.

Refresh sheet format of active drawing

Visual Basic

Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks
Dim swModel As ModelDoc2


Sub Main()

 Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
 
 Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc

 swModel.Visible = True
        
    
 RefreshSheetFormats swModel
      
 swModel.Save

End Sub


Sub RefreshSheetFormats(ByRef swModel As ModelDoc2)


 Dim swDrawingDoc As DrawingDoc
 
 Set swDrawingDoc = swModel
 
 Dim vSheetNames As Variant
 
 vSheetNames = swDrawingDoc.GetSheetNames
 
 For Each SheetName In vSheetNames
 
  Dim swSheet As Sheet
  
  Set swSheet = swDrawingDoc.Sheet(SheetName)
  
  swDrawingDoc.ActivateSheet SheetName
  
  Dim width As Double
  Dim height As Double
  Dim paperSize As swDwgPaperSizes_e
  
  paperSize = swSheet.GetSize(width, height)
  
  Select Case Size
  
  Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperAsize
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate
  
  swModel.Extension.SelectAll
  
  swModel.DeleteSelection False
  
  'change the sheet format
  
  swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperAsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateAsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditSheet
  
  Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperBsize
  
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate
  
  swModel.Extension.SelectAll
  
  swModel.DeleteSelection False
  
  'change the sheet format
  
  swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperBsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateBsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditSheet
  Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperCsize
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate
  
  swModel.Extension.SelectAll
  
  swModel.DeleteSelection False
  
  'change the sheet format
  
  swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperCsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateCsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditSheet
  
  
  Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperDsize
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate
  
  swModel.Extension.SelectAll
  
  swModel.DeleteSelection False
  
  'change the sheet format
  
  swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperDsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateDsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditSheet
  
  Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperEsize
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate
  
  swModel.Extension.SelectAll
  
  swModel.DeleteSelection False
  
  'change the sheet format
  
  swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperEsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateEsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditSheet
  Case Else
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate
  
  swModel.Extension.SelectAll
  
  swModel.DeleteSelection False
  
  'change the sheet format
  
  swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperAsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateAsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False
  
  swDrawingDoc.EditSheet
  End Select
  
  
  
 
 
 Next SheetName
 


End Sub

Public Function EndsWith(str As String, ending As String) As Boolean
     Dim endingLen As Integer
     endingLen = Len(ending)
     EndsWith = (Right(Trim(UCase(str)), endingLen) = UCase(ending))
End Function

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks

Dim swModel As ModelDoc2

Sub Main()

Set swApp = Application.SldWorks

Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc

swModel.Visible = True

RefreshSheetFormats swModel

swModel.Save

End Sub

Sub RefreshSheetFormats(ByRef swModel As ModelDoc2)

Dim swDrawingDoc As DrawingDoc

Set swDrawingDoc = swModel

Dim vSheetNames As Variant

vSheetNames = swDrawingDoc.GetSheetNames

For Each SheetName In vSheetNames

Dim swSheet As Sheet

Set swSheet = swDrawingDoc.Sheet(SheetName)

swDrawingDoc.ActivateSheet SheetName

Dim width As Double

Dim height As Double

Dim paperSize As swDwgPaperSizes_e

paperSize = swSheet.GetSize(width, height)

Select Case Size

Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperAsize

swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate

swModel.Extension.SelectAll

swModel.DeleteSelection False

'change the sheet format

swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperAsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateAsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False

swDrawingDoc.EditSheet

Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperBsize

swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate

swModel.Extension.SelectAll

swModel.DeleteSelection False

'change the sheet format

swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperBsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateBsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False

swDrawingDoc.EditSheet

Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperCsize

swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate

swModel.Extension.SelectAll

swModel.DeleteSelection False

'change the sheet format

swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperCsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateCsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False

swDrawingDoc.EditSheet

Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperDsize

swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate

swModel.Extension.SelectAll

swModel.DeleteSelection False

'change the sheet format

swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperDsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateDsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False

swDrawingDoc.EditSheet

Case swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperEsize

swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate

swModel.Extension.SelectAll

swModel.DeleteSelection False

'change the sheet format

swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperEsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateEsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False

swDrawingDoc.EditSheet

Case Else

swDrawingDoc.EditTemplate

swModel.Extension.SelectAll

swModel.DeleteSelection False

'change the sheet format

swDrawingDoc.SetupSheet5 SheetName, swDwgPaperSizes_e.swDwgPaperAsize, swDwgTemplates_e.swDwgTemplateAsize, 1, 1, False, Empty, 0, 0, "Default", False

swDrawingDoc.EditSheet

End Select

Next SheetName

End Sub

Public Function EndsWith(str As String, ending As String) As Boolean

Dim endingLen As Integer

endingLen = Len(ending)

EndsWith = (Right(Trim(UCase(str)), endingLen) = UCase(ending))

End Function

Author

Amen Jlili

Amen Jlili is the founder and technical director of Blue Byte Systems Inc., a software company in Vancouver, Canada, specializing in automating SOLIDWORKS and PDM. With over a decade of experience, he has authored several courses and open-source frameworks related to the SOLIDWORKS API. His leadership ensures that Blue Byte Systems prioritizes customer satisfaction and delivers high-quality software and CAD design solutions.