Sketch picture in an assembly?

[alexisonfire]

I am modelling some parts of an assembly in SolidWorks and importing
them in to MAYA to finish off the modelling and animate the piece. The
problem is that not all the parts in the assembly are in contact with
each other and need to be in certain positions before i import the
scene in to MAYA. I have been using the Sketch Picture utility as
reference for creating the other parts but need it as reference for the
assembly too. The button is always greyed out when an assembly is open
so am assuming it cannot be used for this.

Is there any other way i can import a picture in to an assembly as a visual reference?

Please Help!

 

[rakish]

Before importing assembly, consider using mates to user-defined
reference planes or distance mates between non-contiguous parts. Or,
you could use Insert>Picture to open a TIFF as a background object.

 

[alexisonfire]

The insert>Picture is probably the closest ive come to what i want but the picture distorts to fit the background and so the distances are wrong. Is it possible to insert a picture on to one of the planes so that it can be resized and followed a bit easier? I know that its possible when creating a part (Sketch Picture) but cant do it with an assembly.

Thanks for your help


Edited by: alexisonfire