Ok, thanks for the replies. I will have a look at Cross Reference Organizer.

The softened diagonal lines indicate that the edges art not coplanar and to create the surface, additional edges are required. That comes down to fundamental geometry. In the plywood for your climbing structures, you could induce a bit of twist to compensate. Not in SketchUp however. Follow Push/Pull from Joint Push/Pull Interactive would thicken the geometry and provide the miters along the seams. [image: p0Fh_Screenshot-8_17_20185_03_29AM.png] You would still need to make each panel a group or component. I would make them components with Replace Selection with Component turned off. That will allow you to use the miter faces and edges in each neighboring component. You'll have the components in the In Model library to drag out so you can lay them out for nesting. Your profile indicates you are using SketchUp Make but you need to be using SketchUp Pro for this work.

Hi Shawb, OK, got it. The 'Unique Texture' option doesn't appear if you have the 'Face Style' view set to anything other than 'Shaded with Textures'. I had mine set to monochrome. Makes sense now. Apologies. I can now play around with this Cheers, G_O

It stops working in v2 as well

I found that the easiest way to deal with this is to just bring the CAD file into Sketchup, go to top view, change the camera to parallel projection, export 2D graphic, pick dwg or dxf, then bring that file back into Sketchup, perfectly flat but you do loose your layering. cad model coming flat.skp

I am running the software on my MacBook Air 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Intel HD Graphics 6000, until now, i have no issues, performance is so good.

Here's a nice tutorial/video from Dave about this topic... https://www.finewoodworking.com/2017/12/20/sketchup-details-transitioning-from-square-to-round

thanks! and keep couching

You can also try exporting your DXF file as an older AutoCad version. I export all the way back to AutoCAD R2.5. It's not perfect, but it is much better. Adding extra points to the curves before you export the DXF will also tend to help

@tig said: There's nothing so simple. If you have multiple destination folders available you will be offered the choice for each one installed. Some users have several Plugins folders ! Here's a work around... Close SketchUp. Note that I've listed this for Sketch 2017 - just substitute 2018 etc as needed... Find the secondary Plugins folder: C:\ProgramData\SketchUp\SketchUp 2017\SketchUp\Plugins It'll usually be hidden, but will open in a Windows Explorer window if you paste the appropriate address... Rename that folder "xPlugins". Now open SketchUp [Note: you might get a Vray error as SketchUp starts, if you haven't disabled the Vray loader using the SketchUcation Plugins Manager, before exiting SketchUp !] Use the Bundle Option to do your desired bulk installation - since only the default Plugins folder is available, this time you won't be prompted to choose a folder. However, you will probably still be warned about each RBZ's installation in turn, you can just press enter to accept OK to continue: this warning dialog is hard-coded into the API methods which are needed to install RBZ files, and cannot be got around if they are to be used... When you've finished your Bundle installation you should exit SketchUp. Then rename the ProgramData/.../xPlugins folder back to "Plugins", and then restart SketchUp to get Vray back [if necessary enabling its loader with the SCF Plugins Manager etc]... Thanks!

Great thanks. Will check it out.

@kaas said: Daily backup-ing to an external disk is a must (when doing projects commercially). Having to re-do everything and/or explain to a client the project will have a big delay is a nightmare scenario. Edit: TIG's archiver is also nice for creating backups I agree... was my exact thought after this event. Still, this does not excuse the poor programming behind SketchUp's Save feature. A SAVED file on the disk should NOT be touched before the new saved copy is CONFIRMED to be viable. Overwriting files on-the-fly is a recipe for disaster.

Your main issue here is that you have the wheels changing direction by "mirroring" the cluster/row (of 3 wheels) across it's origin by using a negative length and sliding it over (offsetting). While clever, the wheels' positions aren't fixed, so they seem like they're getting it when they really don't know where to be. There may be a way to effectively use negative length for a component (I avoid it), but I'd suggest keeping it simple while you better your grasp the nuances of DCs. Simplest solution: Add your position to each wheel (or set 1 with 2 copies) and add RotZ=parent!divert_direction. For the wheel group, add a Divert_Direction attribute (=parent!Divert_Direction) so you now have a pass-through attribute from the model to the wheels. You'll probably also have to modify your position X if/then statement to account for the removed negative length formula

TIG, you're eagle eye to spot that, awesome thanks!

@tig said: Your profile says v8. ... Why not get and install SketchUp v2017 Make ? I'm guessing it would be V8 (M0) since that, if memory serves, was the last free version with licencing that you could use for commercial purposes.

profile biulder could be good to you, but it depends on situation

Your Preferences for File locations should include a Materials folder. Don't use the shipped-materials folder, make your own. It could be anywhere - e.g. your 'My Documents' folder, or more normally in: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2017\SketchUp subfolders - same place as your user's Plugins folder... I have all of my custom folders/subfolders of Materials, Components, Styles, Templates. classifications etc in there... Once you have the folder made and linked in Preferences you can see and export any material SKM from the model or a collection of all material SKMs from the model. To show up in the Materials browser they need to be SKMs - image files aren't listed...

@dave r said: @john2 said: But this grid will have to be changed every time my workspace changes. Maybe if I have scene tabs on or not,the width will change etc. Isn't there a plugin that creates grids matching the screensize? What do you mean? Why would it have to be changed? If you set the watermark to be stretched to fit, it'll change if you change size of the model window. Here are three different workspace sizes. Same watermark image. [attachment=2:2nfbqww2]<!-- ia2 -->Screenshot - 8_4_2018 , 7_32_35 AM.png<!-- ia2 -->[/attachment:2nfbqww2] [attachment=1:2nfbqww2]<!-- ia1 -->Screenshot - 8_4_2018 , 7_32_56 AM.png<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment:2nfbqww2] [attachment=0:2nfbqww2]<!-- ia0 -->Screenshot - 8_4_2018 , 7_33_30 AM.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:2nfbqww2] I don't know of any plugins to create a grid but I perhaps you can write one if you still think this won't work. You could at least give it a try. Oh...cool! Sorry, my bad. I was mistaken.