@anssi said: Office2007 has PDF export built-in... Thanks Anssi, I did not know that (now back with my ranting). @anssi said: Otherwise the best feature of Office2007 is that the horrible tabs can be collapsed. CAN they? I used to have it for a couple of weeks when it was still downloadable as beta or something. The whole navigation system and stubborn pre-made menu-frustration was that made me uninstall it and never look back.

A free Autotrace "online" So you can use any Tif, JPG, PNP etc images and export as DXF for example (if you have always free Google Sketchup 6

TIG just wanted to say thanks so much for the great info. Fixed the problem.

@thomthom said: What threes is that in the background? From Google Warehouse? Yes . By Darrell Smith, I believe, 2.5D as you can probably tell. I think it was called big oak tree. Will check when I get back to the computer next week and let you know if wrong .

Thanks guys. I'll try some of these out.

You just have to go to the link I sent you, and go through each page to pick out what you want. That's all I did. Those are the only bike parts that I've found.

I managed to figure out what the problem is and I see you have given me very good advice in your replies. I had some geometry far away from the model I was working on. It appeared when I imported a dwg file into SU and it was so far along the vertical axis I didn't know it was there. When i zoomed out and deleted it the shadows worked perfectly again, no clipping. Obviously focal length had nothing to do with my problems. Thanks very much everyone

I have like four of them here: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=lugio&styp=m&btnG=Search&reps=1 Rather "frontal" however (and one has broken his arm)

This is the result! I'm very happy! Thanks to all, and sorry for my bad english.. [image: 5dscn9.png]

Thanks! That worked.

bmike: Perfect, thanks again. Al

rclub24: I have repeating sub-components that must be identical as I increase the length of the parent. The idea is to have it totally change only key sub-components as the parent is lengthened without having to interact further with the drawing. Even if I can do this with DC Options it would be one step closer to what we are hoping to do. Scaling doesn't seem like the approach I need. It seems to me that I need to have the parent component copy until I have the length required and have the sub-components change out at pre-determined lengths of the parent component. The sample models for a floor joist system or the fence do exactly what I need except change out key sub-components. When I scale the parent component all the sub-components scale also as you indicated, and the model is no longer correct. We don't want to have to pull components out and in to another SU window as that would defeat the whole purpose of the idea. We just want to indicate that we have a 50 ft. length rather than a 40 ft length and have SU do all the replacing of sub-components without any further interaction. I can make the parent copy to the lengths required. What I am unable to do is have the sub-components change as I do this. By the way, there are more than two sub-components that need to change, but if I can figure out how to do two, I can figure out the others as well. Thanks again for your quick response.

Thank you for your answers, @unknownuser said: The contents of a group [raw geometry] stay on the layer they have be made on [or put on] - typically that should be Layer0. Changing a group's [or component-instance's] layer doesn't affect the contents' layer[s]. It really is the best way of working - there are several guides around here if you search... Ill take a look for those guides then. @unknownuser said: You have to adapt to the software you use. I would say the software has got to adapt to the users optimal workflow, not the other way. But maybe this is the better way and i´ve not understood the intension behind this. thx...

Yeah I plan to go into architecture and am currently running off-road karts. You can't beat those. I've gotten a max horsepower of a Toyota hyprid using my Hemi engine. But of course that's counting when the Toyota's breaks are working. Anyway, I've been looking for somebody to do some tracks in SU with and maybe have it converted to 3DS MAX for a NASCAR Sim game. Anybody want to join in?

You just need to extrude one to the correct height (with the PushPull tool ) then keep double clicking (still with the PushPull tool) on each face and they will repeat the same height.

@jakerlund said: Last question.... how do i get rid of that line on the lower part of the bulb? If i select the line and delete it opens a rectangular hole in the bulb, can i weld the two surfaces in some way? Just soften those lines: Eraser + Control key (or Option key if on Mac)

@aesthete.design said: Hi, Just wanted to introduce ourselves. We are Aesthete Designs, LLC. We are a young and vibrant interior design working with residential clients in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. We came across the site while searching for Artlantis Studio 3 reviews/complaints. We are not "new" to SketchUp as we have had it installed for awhile; however, we have not yet played with it and need to go through the tutorials and such. Looks like this site has a lot of great information and we look forward to browsing around as we start to use SketchUp more often. Thanks Welcome to the forum from a fellow Hoosier (Crown Point). You will not regret stumbling on to this group. By all means play with SU and although it is a very intuitive program, the tutorials are great for getting a fast start. Forum topic areas are also a great way to pick up and offer info when your ready. Browse the Gallery too, it is a good way to see how the program is used over many different professions, trades and purely artistic endevors. Again, welcome and look forward to seeing you somewhere in the forum Jim

@tig said: make a component of the smaller one, giving it gluing and 'hole cutting' properties. The easiest and most fool proof way is to draw the smaller rectangle on a face (it can be this final face or any temporary face). Now when you drew the rectangle, double click on it (to select the face and its bounding perimeter), right click on the selection > "Make component" and SU (by default) will already assign the gluing and cutting properties to this new component. As TIG says, since it will "cut" a hole into the face it is placed on (but at the same time fills that cut with its own face/colour), this Z-fighting will not happen.

Thanks Guys! Both methods worked!! I didn't even think about opening the Component by itself in Sketchup. I was working from the Component browser. And yes, once you open it that way, you can see it's not at the right spot on the axis. I assumed it would take the location/position when I 'made it a component' originally. Anyways, great help. For anyone else looking, both adjusting it via the move tool in the component itself, or right clicking and re-aligning the axis works perfectly. Joe

I re-imported it in inches and it worked. I figured since it was a german manufacturer plus the spec sheet I had was metric that the cad drawing would be as well. My bad.