Line styles/types
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How do I select different line types eg doted, dashed, broken. These would be for showing hole centres or edges on work piece that would not be visible in 2d.
Is line divide the only option for me?
Thanks -
In SketchUp, there is only one line type, a 1 pixel vector (SketchUp is mainly meant for 3D modelling, not 2D drawing where line types are traditionally used).
There is LayOut (for SU Pro) which can do this kind of traditional, "paper space" things or there are plugins like TIG's 2D Tools which has some tools for this kind of work.
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22091 -
@gaieus said:
In SketchUp, there is only one line type, a 1 pixel vector (SketchUp is mainly meant for 3D modelling, not 2D drawing where line types are traditionally used).
There is LayOut (for SU Pro) which can do this kind of traditional, "paper space" things or there are plugins like TIG's 2D Tools which has some tools for this kind of work.
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22091Was afraid you were going to say that, will just break the lines manually until I find a suitable plugin.
ThanksAlso while I here could I pick your brains re the size of the template.
Are there settings to adjust the size of the drawing area, I'm only drawing small components but the work area would allow me to draw a house. When I zoom out the drawing is hardly visible. Any ideas how to correct this -
You can use the DashedLines plugin if you want.
As to the zoom thing, in SketchUp you normally draw at full size. Of course you can zoom out and make the object appear very tiny. Just keep the camera zoomed in and it shouldn't be a problem.
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There is a plugin from Smustard that gives a pallet of 8 broken line styles. It costs $20, but well worth it if you use dashed/dotted lines a lot. Pays for itself quickly in my opinion. Here is a link to the plugin.
(sorry - just noticed Dave's post - same info, but I second the motion!)
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Regarding zoom:
There is a zoom toolbar. One of the options is zoom extents, that should help you return to the best camera position. -
@jarvis123 said:
...Also while I here could I pick your brains re the size of the template.
Are there settings to adjust the size of the drawing area, I'm only drawing small components but the work area would allow me to draw a house. When I zoom out the drawing is hardly visible. Any ideas how to correct thisAdjust your settings in a file (re: units from another post or style settings like shadow or not shadow etc.) then draw a small piece of thing (I usually use a rectangle) at the size you normally do your models. Zoom in as you wish to this piece so that the model would be something you normally start with. You can adjust camera settings here (like standard view > top setting if you wish, paralel or perspective etc.).
After all these settings, best is to check your style again and update it. There are a bunch of things that are style settings although you may set them elsewhere.
Now in your model, select all you have drawn and delete it. Go to Window > Model info > Statistics to make sure to purge anything (components, materials, styles) that are not currently used in your model. In the process, make sure not to orbit away from that zoomed in model (now empty model).
Finally go to File menu > Save as template. Make sure the chackbox at the bottom left is checked (something like set as default or so).
Next time you open a new SU instance, all your settings (including the camera zoom) will be there in your custom template.
Obviously a landscape designer starts with a different zoom factor than a watchmaker.
One final note however (may have been mentioned above). If you work in extremely small models, you will often bounce into the problem that SU cannot create very small faces (whose edges are around 1 mm). The general workaround is to scale everything up by 10, 100 or even 1000 sometimes, do the modelling job and when finished, scale the thing back.
Now if this is a constant problem (you will see), it may be a good strategy to work with a template whose units are set in metres. Now you do not need to "think": make your model as if you were making it in mm's (i.e. enter 30 for 30 mm but in fact it will be 30 metres) and when you are done, scale the whole thing back to your needs.
Of course, this means that you need to change two things in your template: the units and the zoom factor before saving it as a template.
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Thanks once again for all the input.
I like the suggestion of working in meters then scaling down (I have been having issues with creating radius, 0.75mm, so that should solve that issue)
I will open a new template and experiment for awhile,
Thanks again -
Hold the door! its called Pen Tool +. great plug in for dashed lines.
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Yes. That works, too.
The best way to create dashed line and of course control line weights is to do it in LayOut.
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