@utiler said: Just revisiting this thread; when converting colours to vector and exploding down to base elements, any colours with opacity levels altered will come in as full colour. You could then just reapply the opacity level, though I'd be inclined to change the mode of the colour editor and add white.

@bmike said: That looks great... Couldn't you create the drop shadows in LO? Copy all the arrows to the side, shift them all, then force them behind the arrows, shade in a transparent color? Or use layers? I know that they aren't as pretty and fuzzy, but with layers its pretty easy. [attachment=0:1d7spjwp]<!-- ia0 -->Screen Shot 2017-03-23 at 3.44.08 PM.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1d7spjwp] For sure mate, I tried this in the past with floor plans - though the hard shadow is a bit harsh, plus it doesn't represent so well as the shadow cant be set as multiply like you can in photoshop or indesign. So in the end it all ends up a bit flat!

Richard should probably tune in here! There are a ton of DWG tree files of this type all over the internet. Download > drag into SU > compile > drag SU file to LayOut page > vector > explode > ungroup > you may need to run the join tool around > set outline and fill > save as scrapbook. Be mindful you can have some really heavy geome'tree in Layout as a result! The beauty is that you have both, a nice set of trees that match for use in both SU and LO.

Managing section cut widths isn't such a terrible thing, setting them up is quite easy, after that just a case of picking the right material, I use the "by layer" method, it is a little easier to manage IMO.

Just a wild guess.......perhaps LO is trying to regenerate a (heavy/complex) model on said page......maybe you could temporarily unlink the model(s) specific to that page in your LO file. If that allows access to that page (after unlink) than............bobs your uncle. Charlie

I just ran across this topic this morning, as I was having this same issue yesterday while drawing some building sections. I thought a hidden line in the plane of the section cut that was missing was causing the issue too. After playing with the model (unhiding the line) and trying, I found that the issue wasn't solved. After reading here, I went back and checked that no groups have textures. Late last night, I came to the same conclusion as others have reached here. Include a third (for me) viewport to stack with my light and dark viewports for only 2d graphics. These would include faces to hide things beyond what I intend to show. Such as something touching the far end of a beam. Or things within a wall. Question about stacking viewports though. If I stack my "2D Graphics" viewport on top, will its edge properties ovverride the properties of the cut edges of my main viewport? Or can you set a style with no edges, so that only faces are shown and the edge properties of a viewport below would be visible?

LOL

Those videos are pretty useful, but not quite what I was looking for. I would like to be able to export auto-text FROM layout to automatically update in an excel spreadsheet. This is the auto-text which is accessible under document setup.

that works.

I usually find that the scale of text and other graphic elements usually relevant for a D size drawing is not going to work for 11x17 or smaller presentation. I also usually find that things are so different by the time I get from small format presentations to the working drawings this is a moot point. Dimensions needed for preliminary presentations are minimal in my approach, and may not even be the same information as wanted as for working drawings (overall height of the building vs. framing heights etc.). What I keep trying to do is create stationary that can be used on new SU models. So ideally a small scale and a large scale stationary will be available, Just reference the new project model.. adjust the model references to the size of the new building etc. Titles are ready, etc. and time is saved this way instead of blowing things up and down.

I get this same problem. My solution is just to turn google drive off while I'm working and then just let it sync at the end of the day. Google drive won't let you save whilst it syncs the file. Dropbox does appear to let you sync though and has a lot less problem. So you could switch over.

Kaas, I took a look at the output from Revit and it was the same - good lines but jagged text. As per your suggestion I took a look at Adobe Reader and indeed there is a setting for "Smooth Text". Voila, text looks good. Problem solved. Thanks for your help. KrisM

You would need to link the particular auto text string to a specific model instance... I often have 2-3 model instances / views on 1 page, sometimes at different scales, sometimes in perspective with no scale. What I do is have custom auto text created that is setup for my typical scales - <s0>, <s1>, <s2>, etc. - then I just type or copy past this in my notations as required.... s0 is NTS, s1 is 1/4" - 1', etc. etc.

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I have a similar issue with Layout 2016 on a Mac - printing directly from Layout or an exported pdf of the same file shows coloured fills as half tones and the bounding boxes of fills reducing the quality of anything within them e.g. lines, text. On screen, the pdf is fine. I have found that if I open the pdf in Adobe Reader and print from that (rather than Apple's Preview) it prints fine, but that’s adding to the workflow.

Mate to me that is making little sense!!! Are all the pages exported from the same Layout file or later combined in Acrobat? You could try printing from the PDF to PDF this might fix it! I'd also try exporting one page at a time and then check the properties of each to ensure they are correct sizing.

@freizeitkraemer said: Hi all, Text can be aligned left right and center but I can't find any option to justify text to form a nice block. Any work arounds for this one? I'm trying to convince my colleagues to use Layout rather than Indesign for SketchUp presentations - but the limited text format options really make it difficult to sell. Layout is great for presentations of models that evolve and need frequent updating or drawings in scale. But the general work flow issues, limited export resolution and missing text features leave Layout behind the competition. Having said that- I personally like it and use it a lot. cheers, Thomas BTW, why would you want to do this? The features in InDesign for EVERYTHING far outweigh those available in Layout! I currently work this way and it's rather seamless!

@mendowill said: In response to Dave R: Thank you for the clarification, and the suggestion of a box behind it with the fill and border to give it some definition, that is a good idea! I meant "illegible", and it's because of the fine black lettering on gray background, which I realize now could not only be changed but also prints clear on your paper (which is probably white) anyways. Question regarding the gray background. Are you putting the text box out in the gray region around the white rectangle? [image: YKVm_Screenshot-12_19_20168_09_56PM.png] If you are, the text will be very difficult to read in the PDF or printed exports since the white region represents the paper space. Anything outside of that area is ignored for exports. In other words, content out in the gray area won't be printed. If the text is difficult to read in in the white paper space, you should probably switch to a large or more easily read font.

I thought I would go through my method for window schedules using components, excel and tables and see if anyone has any tips to streamline the process. The method is similar to the one previously mentioned, however it uses the new table referencing in SU 2017. Build windows as components and place where you want them in the building. Create copy of component windows and place them (nicely lined up) somewhere else in your model. Create scene. Tip: Be sure to place them where they will not obscure other scenes. Tip: You can use a section line to cut out an area of the model in certain scenes. I have done this before when my copy of components was in the way of my elevations of the main building. Add dimensions and information into PHPP (This example was a passive house). Reference cells from PHPP spreadsheet into window schedule spreadsheet. Insert window schedule spreadsheet into LO drawing. (Make auto update as it takes no time to render). Insert SU model and select scene where you set up window copy components.

I assume you are referring to the SketchUp model in a viewport. You can set the model to not be scaled when you change the size of the viewport and then drag the edges of the viewport which will effectively be the same as panning. The best thing to do is change the camera position in SketchUp, update the scene and update the reference. It is possible to double click in the viewport and pan the model but it generally is a bad idea to do so. It disconnects the viewport from the scene in SketchUp.

I've been having the same issue. My work around has been to collapse all other open trays and then toggle the green resize button - top left.