To aid in the process of assembling instances, Onshape provides some convenient tools in the context menu:

  • Hide/Show
  • Isolate
  • Make transparent

Use these commands to access the instances and mates required for your tasks, instead of painstakingly finding and moving instances and subassemblies out of the way to access the relevant entities.

Shortcut: Hide - y / Show - Shift+y

Hide/Show selected Part Studio or Assembly entities. These can be sketches, parts/instances, surfaces, mates, folders, or groups. Hide/Show are a set of toggle commands available from the context menu of a Parts list in a Part Studio, the Instances list in an Assembly, or the graphics area when hovering over a model.

Hide/Show is used:

  • To better access entities that may be hidden by other entities (for example, parts hidden by other parts)

  • To show all entities of a specified type (for example, showing all mates in an assembly)

  • When modeling parts that are geometrically reliant on one another

  • When editing in-context.

Available commands are:

  • Hide/Show - Disables or enables the display of a model entity in the graphics area.

  • Hide/Show all - Hides or shows all entities of the same type in the current tab. For example, right-clicking on an instance in an assembly Instances list and selecting Hide all instances hides all instances in the assembly.

  • Hide/Show other - Hides or shows all entities of the same type other than what is currently selected in the current tab. For example, right-clicking on a mate in an assembly Mate features list, and selecting Hide other mates hides all mates in the assembly other than the one currently selected (or right-clicked on).

Hide example

Select the parts to hide and click Hide in the context menu. The selected parts before Hide:

Model example before hide

The model after Hide:

Model example after hide

Hide other parts example

Select the parts you want to visualize and click Hide other parts in the context menu:

Hide other parts example

All other parts are hidden except those selected.

  • Use the shortcut key y to hide an entity under the cursor (entity shows highlighting on hover). Use Shift+y to show the entity.

  • Additional tools are available to isolate and make entities transparent. See Isolate and Make Transparent.

  • Box select also works for selecting entities in the graphics area.

Shortcut: Shift+i

Isolate keeps all selected Part Studio or Assembly entities opaque, while making other entities transparent. Options include visualizing the transparent internal geometry so it can be selected, measured, analyzed, and edited, and expanding the isolated selection based on connectivity or physical proximity.

Isolate is used:

  • To enhance entity visibility in large Part Studios and Assemblies.

  • To visualize and perform tasks on geometry (for example, points, edges, faces, mate connectors) that are occluded by other geometry.

  • As an alternative to the Hide/Show commands, where finding and hiding/showing entities to access relevant model geometry proves difficult or tedious.

The Isolate command is the reverse of the Make transparent command.

Hide or Isolate parts in a Part Studio or instances in an Assembly to improve the visibility of components of interest.

Hide using the eye icon next to parts in a Part Studio or instances in an assembly. Hide multiple parts by selecting them and clicking Hide in the context menu, or Hide other instances if in an assembly and Hide other parts if in a Part Studio. Show all quickly by right-clicking an empty spot in the graphics area and clicking Show all instances if in an assembly and Show all parts if in a Part Studio.

To isolate individual parts or multiple parts at once, select the parts and click Isolate from the context menu. All parts outside of the selection and their corresponding Mate connectors become transparent and are unavailable for selection. Whether in a Part Studio or assembly, isolated parts can Expand by connectivity or by distance. Use the slider to isolate each successive part.

Check Hide transparent parts to hide the non-isolated faded parts completely. Click the X on the dialog to exit and return all parts to their non-isolated state.

Additionally, in assemblies only, right-click on a folder in the instance list and select Hide or Isolate to control the visibility of all instances in the folder.

Isolate is available as a context menu command from the Parts list (in a Part Studio), Instances list (in an Assembly), or from the Part Studio or Assembly graphics area when right-clicking over a model selection.

From a Part Studio or Assembly:

  1. Select the entities you wish to isolate from the Parts or Instances list, or the graphics area. These can be parts/instances, points, edges, faces, mate connectors, folders, or groups.

  2. Right-click over the list or model selection and select Isolate from the context menu. The Isolate dialog opens:

    Isolate dialog in its initial state when opened

  3. Set the Transparency slider (under the Transparency controls):

    • Set to the far left, only the outer edges of the transparent geometry is displayed. Internal geometry of the selection is not displayed (shown above).

    • Set to the far right, the transparent geometry is completely transparent.

    • Set anywhere between the two sides, the internal geometry of the transparent geometry is displayed (shown below). Moving the slider to the right increases transparency, making the transparent geometry less opaque. Moving the slider left decreases transparency, making the transparent geometry more opaque.

    Isolate dialog after translucency adjusted

  4. With Select transparent geometry checked, you can select, measure, analyze, and edit transparent geometry such as parts/instances, points, edges, faces, and mate connectors in the graphics area (shown below). When unchecked, only non-transparent geometry can be selected, measured, analyzed, and edited.

    Isolate - Select transparent geometry

    With Select transparent geometry checked, transparent parts/instances, folders, mate connectors, and groups can also be selected from the Parts or Instances list.

  5. Use the Component controls to select either:

    • Expand: distance - Use the slider to isolate each successive part or instance based on its physical proximity to the selected part(s) or instance(s). Moving the slider right makes more parts/instances non-transparent (opaque).

    • Expand: connectivity (Assembly only) - Use the slider to isolate each successive instance based on its mate connectivity. Moving the slider right makes more instances non-transparent (opaque).

  6. Click the x icon in the dialog to close it and return all the parts to their visible state. After exiting, any selections made while in the Isolate dialog are retained.

In the example below, the top cover instance of a gear and valve assembly is selected, and Isolate is selected from the context menu:

Isolate example

The Expand: distance slider is used to isolate instances successively based on their proximity to the selected cover instance:

Isolate - Expand: distance example

The Expand: connectivity slider is used to isolate instances based on successive mate connections from the cover instance:

Isolate - Expand: connectivity example

  • Use the shortcut key Shift+i to isolate parts or instances under the cursor. This command is cumulative; you can use it on part after part or instance after instance to isolate them all until you exit the Isolate dialog. You can also multi-select parts or instances and then select the Shift+i command.

  • The Select other (`) key (grave accent key, to the left of the “1” key) can also be used to select additional entities cumulatively.

  • To isolate an entire folder or group of parts or instances, right-click on the folder or group in the Parts or Instances list and select Isolate.

  • Isolate is also available when modeling in context and using Section view.

  • The Select transparent geometry and Transparency slider settings are remembered if you exit the dialog and re-enter. These settings are not remembered between sessions (if you refresh the browser or exit the document tab).

  • If Select transparent geometry is checked, moving the Transparency slider fully left or right automatically disables it (unchecked). Subsequently, moving the slider will automatically enable it again (checked).

  • As an alternative to exiting the Isolate dialog via its x icon, either:

    • Right-click on the model in the graphics area or right-click on the Parts/Instances list and select Exit isolate from the context menu

    • Click the Esc (escape) key

  • On iOS platforms, only Expand: distance is available. Select the part, then use a two-finger tap to open the Context menu. Then select Isolate.

Shortcut: Shift+t

Make selected Part Studio or Assembly entities transparent. Other entities remain opaque. Options include visualizing the transparent internal geometry so it can be selected, measured, analyzed, and edited, and expanding the transparent selection based on connectivity or physical proximity.

Make transparent is used:

  • To enhance entity visibility in large Part Studios and Assemblies.

  • To visualize and perform tasks on geometry (for example, points, edges, faces, mate connectors) that are occluded by other geometry.

  • As an alternative to the Hide/Show commands, where finding and hiding/showing entities to access relevant model geometry proves difficult or tedious.

The Make transparent command is the reverse of the Isolate command.

Make transparent makes a part or folder of parts transparent, enhancing components visibility in large Part Studios and assemblies.

To make an individual part transparent, right-click and select Make transparent, or hover the cursor over the part and press Shift+t. This command is cumulative. Hover the cursor over additional parts and press Shift+t to make them transparent.

Pressing X on the dialog removes the transparency of the part.

To make multiple parts transparent at once, select them and then press Shift+t. Whether in a Part Studio or assembly, Expand by connectivity or by distance.

Use the slider to make each successive part transparent.

Check Hide transparent parts to completely hide the part or parts being made transparent.

Make transparent is available as a context menu command from the Parts list (in a Part Studio), Instances list (in an Assembly), or from the Part Studio or Assembly graphics area when right-clicking over a model selection.

From a Part Studio or Assembly:

  1. Select the entities you wish to make transparent from the Parts or Instances list, or the graphics area. These can be parts/instances, points, edges, faces, mate connectors, folders, or groups.

  2. Right-click over the list or model selection and select Make transparent from the context menu. The Make transparent dialog opens:

    Make transparent initial dialog

  3. Set the Transparency slider (under the Transparency controls):

    • Set to the far left, only the outer edges of the transparent geometry is displayed. Internal geometry of the selection is not displayed (shown above).

    • Set to the far right, the transparent geometry is completely transparent.

    • Set anywhere between the two sides, the internal geometry of the transparent geometry is displayed (shown below). Moving the slider to the right increases transparency, making the transparent geometry less opaque. Moving the slider left decreases transparency, making the transparent geometry more opaque.

    Adjusting transparency

  4. With Select transparent geometry checked, you can select, measure, analyze, and edit transparent geometry such as parts/instances, points, edges, faces, and mate connectors in the graphics area (shown below). When unchecked, only non-transparent geometry can be selected, measured, analyzed, and edited.

    Make transparent - Select transparent geometry

    With Select transparent geometry checked, transparent parts/instances, folders, mate connectors, and groups can also be selected from the Parts or Instances list.

  5. Use the Component controls to select either:

    • Expand: distance - Use the slider to make each successive part or instance transparent based on its physical proximity to the selected part(s) or instance(s). Moving the slider right makes more parts/instances transparent.

    • Expand: connectivity (Assembly tab only) - Use the slider to make each successive instance transparent based on its mate connectivity. Moving the slider right makes more instances transparent.

  6. Click the x icon in the dialog to remove the transparency of all parts or instances. After exiting, any selections made while in the Make transparent dialog are retained.

In the example below, the shaft instance of a gear and valve assembly is selected, and Make transparent is selected from the context menu:

Selecting a part to Make transparent

The Expand: distance slider is used to make instances transparent based on their proximity to the selected shaft instance:

Make transparent - Expand: distance

The Expand: connectivity slider is used to make instances transparent based on successive mate connections from the shaft instance:

Make transparent - Expand: connectivity

  • Use the shortcut key Shift+t to make a part or instance under the cursor transparent. This command is cumulative; you can use it on part after part or instance after instance to keep them all transparent until you exit the Make transparent dialog. You can also multi-select parts or instances and then select the Shift+t command.

  • The Select other (`) key (grave accent key, to the left of the “1” key) can also be used to select additional entities cumulatively.

  • To make an entire folder of parts or instances transparent, right-click on the folder in the Parts or Instances list and select Make transparent.

  • Make transparent is also available when modeling in context and using Section view.
  • The Select transparent geometry and Transparency slider settings are remembered if you exit the dialog and re-enter. These settings are not remembered between sessions (if you refresh the browser or exit the document tab).

  • If Select transparent geometry is checked, moving the Transparency slider fully left or right automatically disables it (unchecked). Subsequently, moving the slider automatically enables it again (checked).

  • As an alternative to exiting the Make transparent dialog via its x icon, either:

    • Right-click on the model in the graphics area or right-click on the Parts/Instances list and select Exit make transparent from the context menu

    • Click the Esc (escape) key