The Sketch Up Interface

The interface consists of a Menu bar, modeling window, three axes, Scale figure,
Instructor box, Measurements box, and four circled symbols

Menu
Bar

This is a horizontal bar at the top of the screen that houses tools and functions. It
has eight categories: File, Edit, View, Camera, Draw, Tools, Window, and Help. An
entry called Extensions will also appear after we add our first one.

■ File. This contains the standard open, save, print, import, and export
functions plus some SketchUp-specific ones such as accessing the 3D
Warehouse and Google Earth data.

■ Edit. This contains the standard cut, copy, and paste functions plus SketchUp-
specific ones such as paste-in-place, groups, and components.

■ View. This contains functions that alter how the model looks, such as making
it monochrome or wireframe and hiding or displaying features.

■ Camera. This contains tools that change your position relative to the model
and let you view it two- or three-dimensionally.

■ Draw. This contains tools that make lines, arcs, and shapes, the basis of
modeling.

■ Tools. This contains tools that edit the model, such as erase, move, and scale.
■ Window. This contains functions that alter the model’s properties and dialog
boxes that add components and materials and give information about the
model.

■ Help. This contains links to the knowledge center and software updates. Click
“Welcome to SketchUp” to access the splash screen, where you can add or
change the license number.

The Menu bar on the Mac has one additional entry: a SketchUp menu at the
beginning. Some of the submenus in the PC’s Windows menu are housed here,
notably the Preferences submenu.

■ The Getting Started toolbar. This horizontal bar under the Menu bar
contains icons that activate tools. It is one of many toolbars, and we’ll activate
some more later. Note the drop-down arrows to the right of some tools. They
access more tools.

■ The modeling window. This is the large green and blue (ground and sky)
area where you create the model.

■ Three axes. These are the height, length, and depth lines along which
SketchUp draws. Their intersection is called the origin. The height (y) line is
blue, and the ground lines (x and y) are red and green, respectively. The axes
lines are solid in the positive directions and dotted in the negative directions.
Every point has a coordinate (group of numbers) that describes its location.
(3,4,5) means 3 units along the x/red axis, 4 units along the y/green axis, and 5
units along the z/blue axis. It’s best practice to model in the upper-right
quadrant and near or on the origin. Number coordinates are positive there,
making inputted numbers and calculations easier, plus SketchUp becomes
glitchy when you model far from the origin.
Every point has a coordinate that describes its location along the three axes. Note
the
model’s location at the origin.

■ Human-scale figure. This helps you to gauge sizes, which is helpful when
you’re loosely sketching instead of inputting dimensions.

■ Instructor box. This window contains a brief tutorial of the activated tool and
links to online resources. Click on a different tool to change the information. If
the Instructor box distracts you, go to Windows > Instructor, and uncheck it.
When you want it back, recheck it.

■ Measurements box. This is a field in the lower-right corner of the screen in

which all inputted numbers appear. If you don’t see it, it’s probably hidden
behind your Windows taskbar. Maximize the SketchUp screen, or drag it higher
on the desktop.

■ Bottom of form. Four circled symbols. Click these to make the following pop-
up screens appear; reclick to make them disappear:

• Map pin. This gives the model’s geographic location (if one has been
specified).

• Human figure. This gives information on the model, such as its properties.

• Profile figure. This logs you in and out of your Google account.

• ?. This turns the Instructor box on and off.

The Measurements Box

Typing numbers is how to make SketchUp models accurate. You can type
anywhere on the screen, but the numbers will appear in the Measurements
box. Such numbers include line lengths; circle diameters; rectangle sizes;
number of polygon sides; number of copies; distance to move, offset, or
push/pull something; and rotation angles.

The nature of the number that appears in the Measurements box depends on
which tool is activated. The number could mean inches, degrees, or number of
sides. Line lengths are entered like this:
■ 2' means “2 feet.”
■ 2'8 means “2 feet, 8 inches.” There is no space between the numbers and
symbols.
■ 2'8 1/2 means “2 feet, 8 and ½ inches. There is a space between the 8 and the
1. Alternatively, you could type 2'8.5.
■ 2 1/2 means “2 and ½ inches.” There’s a space between the 2 and the 1.
Alternatively, you could type 2.5.

Rectangles require two numbers; typing 48,18 (no space between the characters)
makes a rectangle 48 inches long and 18 inches wide. You could also type it 4'18.
The
first number goes along the red axis, and the second number goes along the
green
axis.

Run Multiple SketchUp Files at the Same Time

On a PC, clicking File > New prompts you to save the current file. On saving, the
file
closes, and a new instance (open copy) of SketchUp opens. Clicking File > Open
also
prompts you to save the current file and then navigates to another file. To run
multiple
instances, right-click on the Desktop icon and select Open or click on the icon of
the
file you want to open. Know that while you can run multiple instances, you can’t
run
multiple files under one instance.

On a Mac, you can have multiple files open in one instance. Clicking File > Open
or
File > New opens a new file without closing the current one, which mimics how
most
other software operates.

Save Options
Under File, there are four save options. Save does just that: it saves the open file.
Save As replaces the open file with a new one. Save A Copy As leaves the current
file open and makes a closed copy at a location you choose. Save As Template
makes a template out of your file. The file is saved with a .skp extension. Files
made in earlier versions of SketchUp can be opened in later ones, but files made
with later versions cannot be opened in earlier ones. They must be saved as an
earlier-version first; do this by scrolling through the Save As Type field at the
bottom of the Save dialog box.

S ke
tc hU
p
files can be saved in their current version or an older version using the Save As
option.
SketchUp occasionally crashes, so save often. You can program it to automatically
save at a time increment of your choice at Window > Preferences > General >
Autosave.
PC users exit the software at File > Exit or by clicking the X in the upper-right
corner. Mac users go to SketchUp > Quit SketchUp to exit the software; clicking
the red button in the upper-left corner just closes the active file, not the software
(recall that you can have multiple files open in one instance).

We haven’t saved this file yet, so do it now. Call it Practice, and choose where on
your computer to save it. Perhaps make a folder called SketchUp Stuff, and keep
all work from this book in it.

Backup Files
Backup files are automatically made in the same location as the .skp file (ensure
that the Create Backup box is checked at Preferences > General). They have
an .skb extension. Don’t delete backups until done with a project because they’re
useful if the .skp file gets corrupted or overwritten. SketchUp’s backup files are
unique in that they’re the next-to-last saved version of the model, not the last
saved version. This is handy if you mess up a model after a save and need to
backtrack a bit. Convert the .skb file into an .skp file by overtyping the b into a p.

SketchUp also creates autosave files at specific time increments after the last
save (again, you can set these). That file deletes once you save again or exit. If
SketchUp crashes, the autosave file remains, giving you almost up-to-date work.

Add the Large Tool Set

The Getting Started toolbar doesn’t contain every tool. On a PC, click View >
Toolbars; on a Mac, click View > Tool Palettes > Large Tool Set. This opens the
Tools window, from which you can activate more toolbars (Figure 2-5). I typically
open the Large Toolset, Standard Toolset (it has operating system functions such
as undo/redo), Warehouse (it offers quick access to a Web database of models),
Views (it lets you see the model in 2D), and Sections (it lets you cut slices through
the model). Run the mouse over a tool’s icon to make a tooltip appear that
describes what it is
At View > Toolbars, check the toolbars you want to add to the workspace.

The Large Tool Set and the Polygon tooltip.

The Large Tool Set duplicates most of Getting Started’s tools and has a few
others. We’ll work with both toolbars open and will access tools through them
throughout this book. But they also can be accessed through the Camera, Draw,
and Tools menus at the top of the screen if you so choose. Hotkey fans can find a
list at Window > Preferences > Shortcuts

Tools can be activated via hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts).

Explore! Click on the Menu items, and read the submenus. Run the mouse over
each tool icon to read the tooltip. Now let’s play with some of those tools.

The Select Tool

The Select tool looks like an arrow. It highlights objects for editing. Click on it to
activate.

The Select tool highlights

objects for editing.
With the Select tool activated, click on the Human-scale figure. A blue box
appears, meaning that the figure is highlighted and ready for editing. Right-click
inside that box and choose Erase from the Context menu that appears . He’s
gone! No worries; go to Edit > Undo Erase and bring him back. Undo reverses the
last action, and you can undo all actions one at a time. Then erase him again. You
can always reimport a scale figure when needed.

Right-click on a selected item to bring up a Context menu.

Rectangle and Rotated Rectangle Tools

The Rectangle tool is inside the Shapes menu on the Getting Started toolbar and
near the top of the Large Tool Set. It makes squares and rectangles that are
parallel to the axes. Click it. Then click the cursor anywhere on the Modeling
window, drag and release. You’ve just drawn a rectangle.

The Rectangle
tool.

A rectangle drawn with the Rectangle tool.

The Rotated Rectangle tool is below the Rectangle tool in the Shapes menu and
next to the Rectangle tool on the
Large Tool Set . It makes squares and rectangles at any angle on the workspace;
they can be parallel to the axes but don’t have to be. It takes three clicks. Click
once to place the first corner (a protractor will appear), click a second time to set
the angle of the second corner, and click a third time to click the third corner .
Click the lines on the protractor to set the rectangle sides at 15° increments.
Alternatively, type the length and degrees wanted.

The Rotated Rectangle tool.

Drawing a rotated rectangle.

Faces, Edges, and Geometry

A rectangle is an example of a face. A face is a flat plane made of at least three

edges (lines). All its edges must be in the same plane (“coplanar”) like a piece of
paper. A face has two sides: the front, also called the normal, and back. The front
is white, and the back is a grayish-blue. Recognizing which is front and back is
important with 3D printing because the front must face out. Collectively, faces and
edges are called geometry.

The Inference Engine

While dragging the rectangle, you may have noticed that a diagonal dotted line
appeared and disappeared . This is SketchUp’s inference engine at work. The
diagonal line appeared when the rectangle’s proportions were dragged into a
square shape.
A diagonal inference line indicates that the rectangle is currently a square.

The inference engine is a geometric analysis feature that enables you to draw
accurately. Based on how and where you move the cursor, it assumes, or infers,
the specific points, planes, and directions you want. You hover over the
approximate location of the midpoint, endpoint, edge or center, and other
locations, and then the actual midpoint, endpoint, edge, or center appear as a
colored dot or line.

Tip: Sometimes the inference you want won’t pop up immediately. In that case,
encourage it by moving the cursor a few seconds over that area.

The inference engine enables you to make accurate models without having to
constantly input dimensions. There are three kinds of inferences: point (e.g., to an
endpoint or midpoint), linear (e.g., along the three axes), and planar (e.g., on the
model’s faces). To clarify planar inferencing, SketchUp “snaps” to a plane when it
cannot snap to anything else you’ve drawn.

As an example of linear dimensioning. In the first graphic, the sides are red and
green. This is the inference engine telling you that the sides are parallel to the red
and green axes. Modeling parallel to the axes is critical in SketchUp, so watch for
these inferences. If a line is black while under construction, it means that it isn’t
parallel to any axis. While at times this may be your intent, such as when you
draw a rotated rectangle, usually you want your lines parallel to the axes because
it’s the easiest way to create faces. The biggest problems in SketchUp come from
not modeling parallel to the axes. Fixing the resulting defects is tedious, time-
consuming, and sometimes impossible. Making a new model is often faster than
fixing a defective one.

The red and green lines indicate that the sides are parallel to the red and green
axes.
We’ll discuss inferencing more as we use it. For now, just go to Edit > Undo
Rectangle , and then redraw the rectangle as a square by watching for the
diagonal inference line and clicking when it appears.

Every action can be immediately reversed with the Undo function in the Edit
menu.

The Push/Pull Tool

The Push/Pull too adds volume to or subtracts volume from faces by extruding
(stretching) them. It’s also an autoselect tool, meaning that when you move it
onto a face, the face highlights. Not all tools cause faces to highlight; generally,
you have to highlight them in a separate action with the Select tool. Click the
Push/Pull icon, and then move the mouse onto the square you just drew. See how
the face becomes dotted? This means that it’s selected and ready to edit. Click,
hold, drag the cursor up, and let go. The square is now a cube.

The Push/Pull tool.

In this research, we toured and navigated the interface and used a few drawing
and editing tools. We selected geometry, entered measurements, discussed the
inference engine, generated 2D views, and saved the file. We also saw how to
personalize the workspace with modified toolbars and custom templates.

REFERENCES
■ Reference card of SketchUp icons and shortcuts:
http://help.sketchup.com/en/article/116693

■ SketchUCation, a forum for newbies and experienced users:

http://sketchucation.com/

■ https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/3d-printing-and/9780071843102/ch02