Offsetting a sketch 

Offsetting a sketch makes it easier for us to duplicate existing sketch entities at an offset from the original sketch entity. The following diagram shows an example of a sketch and its Offset Distance from the Original Sketch. Note that the original image is the one we sketch first; after that, the Offset sketch is created by applying the Offset Entities sketch command. The Offset sketch is defined by inputting an Offset Distance:

To illustrate how we can create an Offset Distance, we will create the sketch shown in the following diagram:

We will use the MMGS measurement system for this exercise. To sketch the given shape, we will create and fully define the original sketch. After that, we will create the offset sketch using the Offset Entities command. Here are the steps to do this:

1. Sketch and define the original sketch using the sketching commands we covered in the previous chapter (Chapter 3, SOLIDWORKS 2D Sketching Basics). The result is shown in the following sketch:

1. Select the Offset Entities sketching command, as highlighted in the following screenshot:

1. An options panel for the command will appear on the left-hand side of the screen. From here, we can customize our way of defining our sketch. Set the options that are shown in the following screenshot. These will give us our desired result:
2. Select any of the lines in the original sketch we created. A preview will then be shown in the sketch canvas, illustrating the result of the offset. The preview will be shown in yellow, as highlighted in the following diagram. Any changes that are made to the options will be reflected in the preview as well:

1. Click on the green checkmark in the options panel to apply the offset. This will result in the following sketch, which matches the final required sketch. Note that the Offset Sketch is already fully defined since our Original Sketch was fully defined as well:

This concludes how we can use the Offset Entities sketching command. However, in addition to using the Offset Entities command, we need to learn how to delete an offset and learn about the customization options associated with offsets.