If you are interested in reading an independant review of 3Dconnexion's SpaceNavigator 3D mouse, including a video, see http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=1181. For anyone who wants to improve drawing efficiency, this device is a must.

@watkins said:

Dear Joe,

A very nice tutorial, but could you save .skp files as V6? I think there are quite a few members still working with that version. I like that you give a word document version of the tutorial, but a .pdf would be much smaller to store. The downloaded word document is around 2.3 MB. Hope you don't mind these comments.

Kind

Kind,

Your wish is my command. I have made the requested changes. For the PDF versions go to http://www.srww.com/google-sketchup.htm . When you click on the links for the .skp files they are now version 6.

I just released An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial – Part 5B (http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=391) , which concludes Part 5. In this installment we completed the cabriole legs we started in Part 5A. As an example of tables that use the cabriole leg I made a quick and dirty modification to the Office Table. It uses the top we drew in Part 3 of this tutorial series. See the picture below. The knee in this example extends entirely between the legs. Often it is just a brace that finishes the look of the leg. I am not proposing this design as an example of period furniture; it is a mock up to show what cabriole legs might look like in a finished piece.

In the next and final installation of An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial we will attempt a carving, that is the drawing of an oft used carving in woodworking. I think you will like it.

Kind,

I appreciate any comment intended to be constructive and this one certainly is. Unfortunately I am not be able to get to this until Wednesday, when i will post Version 6 .skp files. I am not sure that a pdf will help much given the number of .png files in the document. But I will give it a shot. Thanks for the interest.

I just released An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial – Part 5B (http://www.srww.com/blog/?p=391) , which concludes Part 5. In this installment we completed the cabriole legs we started in Part 5A. As an example of tables that use the cabriole leg I made a quick and dirty modification to the Office Table. It uses the top we drew in Part 3 of this tutorial series. See the picture below. The knee in this example extends entirely between the legs. Often it is just a brace that finishes the look of the leg. I am not proposing this design as an example of period furniture; it is a mock up to show what cabriole legs might look like in a finished piece.

In the next and final installation of An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial we will attempt a carving, that is the drawing of an oft used carving in woodworking. I think you will like it.

For those of you interested in Google SketchUp for drawing cabinets and furniture, I have just released Part 5A "An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial". This tutorial teaches you how to draw cabriole legs like those below.

I also have a beginner's tutorial series which you can find on my Google SketchUp page . These tutorials are free and include a MS Word version which can be downloaded.

For those of you interested in Google SketchUp for drawing cabinets and furniture, I have just released Part 5A "An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial". This tutorial teaches you how to draw cabriole legs like those below.

I also have a beginner's tutorial series which you can find on my Google SketchUp page . These tutorials are free and include a MS Word version which can be downloaded.

Hi FenS,

Do you mean in the title of each part? That may be a good idea, but I don't want people to get the idea that these are stand alone tutorials. One should start with part 1 and progress through the parts in order. I'll give that some thought.

I just released Part 4 of An Intermediate Google SketchUp Tutorial. For those of you who have been following and taking these tutorials you are really going to like this one. It is actually two tutorials in one. First you learn to draw curved feet (or legs). For example, if you want to craft bracket ogee feet like these,

you may want to drawn them first in SketchUp like this.

Then you can use life size cutouts for templates.

Second, you learn to use .jpg files (or other supported image files) as templates to trace in SketchUp. You can take pictures of your favorite furniture piece and import them to SketchUp and accurately draw the piece.

These tutorials, while they have a woodworking theme, are useful for anyone wishing to learn SketchUp. There is also a beginners tutorial for those just starting out.

Check out this tutorial series at http://www.srww.com/google-sketchup.htm.

I too have this problem. Both SU 6 & 7. I have hunted it for hours to no avail. If someone has the solution I shure would like to know too.

A minor correction to eeva's response; it context click: Flip Along > blue, red green axis.

Hi folks,

I would add its intuitive interface to my favorite things about SketchUp. Everything from the icons to the no grid background. Having used traditional professional packages for almost 15 years, even now they overwhelm me. SketchUp has an inviting interface.

Hi folks,

I come from the 3D graphics chip world. In my previous life I managed the design of 3D graphics chips for ATI. In those days we called this a tessellated, or faceted or polygonal surface. I like the acronym TIN better.

Zootsuit,

I agree with you completely about this being a bug and one that Google needs to fix. Printing is basic and should not be this difficult whether a simple 3D drawing package or a word editor.

However, you can make it work. I may not have been clear about fitting the model into the window. First zoom to extents as you did. Now if there is too much unused drawing space on the top/bottom or sides, resize the window from either horizontal or vertical direction until there is no wasted drawing space. Sometimes the tool icons make this difficult and you have to rearrange them to allow you to get rid of the wasted space. But stick with it and you will succeed.

I am defending Google. This printing thing is a mess and stumps almost everyone. But you can make it work with patience.

If you want to share the .skp file I will take a look and see what I can do.

ridix,

Yes, SketchUp can print 1:1. I do it all the time for my shop drawings. If printing 1:1 requires a paper size larger than you have in your printer (or your printer can handle) then you have to select "All" in the "Tiled Sheet Print Range" and it will print it on multiple pages which you can then tape together.

Printing to scale requires the following steps:

1. Select Parallel projection (Camera menu)
2. Select one of the standard views (Camera menu or toolbar button)
3. Set your scale in the print dialog and print

The first two are very important. The last step is a little complex so here is a more detailed description.

You can print at a scale of 1:1 or any other scale you desire. However, your paper and printer have to accommodate the end result. Before printing go to File/Print Setup and choose your printer, paper size and paper orientation (portrait or landscape) that best suits your model's aspect ratio. Click OK. Before going any further let me say that the Google SketchUp (Pro) User Guide is misleading, inaccurate and incomplete when it come to printing instructions. Also, there is a printing behavior that I consider a bug when it come to printing to scale. So if you are going to print to any scale, including 1:1, first resize you drawing window so there is a minimum amount of unused drawing area on all sides of your drawing. If you don't you will end up printing on multiple pages when you only need one.

Next, go to File/Print Preview. Uncheck "Fit to page" and "Use model extents". You can figure out if the paper you are using is large enough for a 1:1 printout, or conversely, figure out the scale you need to use to print on one page by putting a 1 in both "In the printout" and "In SketchUp" boxes and the same units in the drop down boxes beside them. If you want to print 1:1 then you need to print on paper at least as large as indicated in the "Width" and Height" boxes under "Page size". If your printer doesn't handle a page that size then use these numbers to figure out a printing scale that works. It’s simply a ratio problem. Place the new scale in the "In the printout" and "In SketchUp" boxes with the correct units in the drop down boxes and check to be sure that new scale will fit on your paper size.

Here is an example. I have a model; it is simply a rectangle 10" x 20". I am using Letter paper (8.5" x 11"). The model is longer in the horizontal direction so I choose to use landscape instead of portrait orientation which I set up under File/Printer Setup. I minimize the blank drawing area all around my model by resizing my drawing window. In File/Print Preview I uncheck "Fit to page" and "Use model extents". Next I place a 1 in each of the "In the printout" and "In SketchUp" boxes with inches selected in the drop down boxes next to them. I momentarily check the "Use model extents" box and notice that the paper size requirements are 30" Width and 20" Height. I know this to be wrong since my model, with no dimensioning, is 20" Wide by 10" High. I uncheck the "Use model extents" box again and now my paper requirements are 21.052632" Width and 11.014592" Height. This is much more reasonable and consistent with the size of my model. By the way, I think there is another bug in the Print Preview menu because this last calculation is not performed by SketchUp unless you check and uncheck "Use model extents" box. Now, with a little calculation (21.052632/11 and 11.014592/8.5) I can come up with a scale factor that will print to one page with the maximum use of that page. I have to use something larger than the larger of these two calculations. I could use 1:2, which is a good scale factor and slightly larger than either result. I plug 1 into "In the printout" and 2 into "In SketchUp" and notice it will fit on my paper. Now I click OK and I have an accurately scaled drawing.

Ahhhh! My bad. Thanks Anssi for adding those first and critical steps. I was too focused on getting the scale right.

pegasus85,

You can print at a scale of 1:1 or any other scale you desire. However, your paper and printer have to accommodate the end result. Before printing go to File/Print Setup and choos your printer, paper size and paper orientation (portrait or landscape) that best suits your model's aspect ratio. Click OK. Before going any further let me say that the Google SketchUp (Pro) User Guide is misleading, inaccurate and incomplete when it come to printing instructions. Also, there is a printing behavior that I consider a bug when it come to printing to scale. So if you are going to print to any scale, including 1:1, first resize you drawing window so there is a minimum amount of unused drawing area on all sides of your drawing. If you don't you will end up printing on multiple pages when you only need one.

Next, go to File/Print Preview. Uncheck "Fit to page" and "Use model extents". You can figure out if the paper you are using is large enough for a 1:1 printout, or conversely, figure out the scale you need to use to print on one page by putting a 1 in both "In the printout" and "In SketchUp" boxes and the same units in the drop down boxes beside them. If you want to print 1:1 then you need to print on paper at least as large as indicated in the "Width" and Height" boxes under "Page size". If your printer doesn't handle a page that size then use these numbers to figure out a printing scale that works. Its simply a ratio problem. Place the new scale in the "In the printout" and "In SketchUp" boxes with the correct units in the drop down boxes and check to be sure that new scale will fit on your paper size.

Here is an example. I have a model, it is simply a rectangle 10" x 20". I am using Letter paper (8.5" x 11"). The model is longer in the horizontal direction so I choose to use landscape instead of portrait orientation which I set up under File/Printer Setup. I minimize the blank drawing area all around my model by resizing my drawing window. In File/Print Preview I uncheck "Fit to page" and "Use model extents". Next I place a 1 in each of the "In the printout" and "In SketchUp" boxes with inches selected in the drop down boxes next to them. I momentarily check the "Use model extents" box and notice that the paper size requirements are 30" Width and 20" Height. I know this to be wrong since my model, with no dimensioning, is 20" Wide by 10" High. I uncheck the "Use model extents" box again and now my paper requirements are 21.052632" Width and 11.014592" Height. This is much more reasonable and consistent with the size of my model. By the way, I think there is another bug in the Print Preview menu because this last calculation is not performed by SketchUp unless you check and uncheck "Use model extents" box. Now, with a little calculation (21.052632/11 and 11.014592/8.5) I can come up with a scale factor that will print to one page with the maximum use of that page. I have to use something larger than the larger of these two calculations. I could use 1:2, which is a good scale factor and slightly larger than either result. I plug 1 into "In the printout" and 2 into "In SketchUp" and notice it will fit on my paper. Now I click OK and I have an accurately scaled drawing.

Sorry,

I answered my own question after rereading the original post. I'm a little slow sometimes.

Hi Folks,

Am I missing something? I was able to use the follow me tool on the file nednarb posted with no problem. I was also able to soften all the edges. Am I missing the point or maybe I don't understand the question?