Ah. Good point TIG. I made a probably erroneous assumption that the template had already been saved as a template using File>Save as template... This is certainly important because it then makes that template selectable from the Templates list when you start a new project and when you use File>Send to Layout in SketchUp.

BUT: is it only me (Mac M1, Layout 2021, and earlier verisions), that in the "Pages" panel, it doesn't allow to rearrange pages in "miniature/thumbnail" view, but only in "list" view?? This is quite awkward! Rearranging pages being able to see the thumbnails would be veeeery useful (and obvious)!

What template did you choose?

You can change the units in the Dimensions inspector. Select the dimension tool and go to the inspector. Change the length to whatever units you like. For most of the projects I do I need to work in Fractional Inches and I always have precision set to 1/64". If you've already placed some dimensions, either place a new one with the correct units or select one and change it. Then get the eye dropper and sample that dimension. Then click on the other dimensions to change them. Or, select all of the dimensions (easier if you put the dimensions all on their own layer) and change them wholesale by changing the settings in the inspector. It doesn't matter if you select other things because only dimensions will be modified when you change the settings in the Dimension Inspector.

@dave r said:

@unknownuser said:

Is there a way to update the title block in the layout project?

💭 💭 💭 💭 💭 💭 💭

Now I get it! Isn't it amazing how one sentence can make all the difference?

OK. Yes. You can update the title block in the project to match the change you made in the template file. Open both the project and a blank copy of the template. Select the updated content in the template and copy it. Ctrl+C, Edit>Copy, etc. Go to the project and select the equivalent content. Hit Ctrl+V, Edit>Paste, etc. The selected content in the project will be replaced by the stuff you copied and it'll appear in the same relative position as the copied content from the template. Make sure you have the appropriate layer set as active in the project before doing this.

By the way, you can leverage this copy and paste thing for more than just these changes. If you want to copy any content from one project to another or from one page to another in the same project, Copy and Paste will do the trick.

Thank you very much Dave R! Now I understand how layout works! Basically, a template file in a layout project is not a file link which can be updated automatically as an xref, but Copy + Paste works pretty well. Thanks so much again!

Yes they should 😄

Thank you thank you thank you.....

@jql said:

You should disable auto rendering on the model tab. Reload reference by clicking on the right button on a scene. Nevermind the yellow warning icons as they don't show on an export. Render the specific scene you need. When you have the time reload the wholed document. A fast way is to click on the auto render again an go take a coffee.

This has quite literally given me back hours of my life and make LO a lot more pleasurable to use! Love when you find a nifty little solution to a vexing problem...
Cheers 😍

@krisidious said:

@kaas said:

I wish SketchUp would have vector hatches instead of LO. I prefer to keep the amount of added elements in layout as low as possible.

we have vectored hatching in sketchup via the hatch plugin.

Limited don't you think? Even those vectors style display are harsh if you thicken profiles...

Simply place the symbols on a page, and go to file/save as scrapbook.

If you want to place them in an existing scrapbook, choose the scrapbook, hit edit. This will open it as a standard layout file. Then paste, save and close and you are good to go.

click on the little cartoon balloon button over on the right under my profile.

@krism said:

Kridious,

The ability to import vector files would be number one on my wish list for Layout.

Kris

Me too!

This is a nice pdf software for free

http://de.pdf24.org/pdf-creator-download.html

makes pdf good quality with low size.

Guys,

I have little difficulty dimensioning what I need to in SketchUp or Layout. Then again my dimensioning is pretty straightforward, plans and sections.

I find one really has to think ahead and plan for dimensioning awkward views. Not ideal I know but thats what we have for the moment.

Hopefully dimensioning ability will improve for LayOut in particular. We have to remember that the application is was called 'LayOut' for good reason, not DraftOut or similar. It was brought out initially as a convenient way to show SketchUp output. In all fairness it has come a long way since version one and I imagine will continue to improve as time goes on.

To be honest, I would have to say that LayOut has had more improvements than SketchUp over the past couple of years, so this gives me hope that it will continue to improve. Maybe to a level that the 'Layout' name does not properly describe the ability on the application.

Mike

You're welcome!

good morning from Germany
I appreciated your comments and suggestions ! ☀ !

Thanks for taking care of the issue Marc 😄
Uli

@tig said:

@Ken

I suspect you are XP.
I believe that all of the newer versions of Windows use the 'C:\ProgramData...' tree for the defaults... or the
'C:\Users\UserName\AppData...' path for the custom templates...

Yes, TIG, cheap company doesn't want to move to another operating system on the laptops. However, I was trying to show the method I used to find the files, by using a unique name and doing a search.

Ken

Glad to hear it... Always remember that it's the fault of the British that we ever used Imperial.

Here's a PDF that you might find helpful as well. The METRIC DESIGN GUIDE...

http://www.ofeo.si.edu/ae_center/docs/gsa%20metric%20design%20guidelines.pdf

It's not exactly the same as Euro style, but it's close and could be very helpful as it's written from our point of view towards theirs instead of just Metric. It has standard sizes the metric builders expect.

Cheers, Marc! 👍

@marcdurant said:

Of course, it'll take some time to get everything done 😄

That's fully understandable... 😄

Can you reveal something about what you're planning to incorporate...?

There is no one button click to do that but it shouldn't really take much time to resize the viewport to suit the model as displayed. If you hold Alt (Command on the Mac) you can resize the viewport diagonally or horizontally from the center. Resize diagonally first and get it close top and bottom. Then switch to a side handle and finish resizing horizontally. Two quick actions is all it takes.

Many thanks Dave. I'll give it a try.