Oh, I see. Thanks!

Ok, thanks. Actually, irfanview is also an editor. But I couldn't get it to work inside SketchUp. Seems like editing it first before importing makes the most sense?

Thanks, Gaieus! Still not quite sure what I should do, tho. I went to Windows/Preferences/Applications. I get a field for "choose," just like your screenshot. But choose what? What am I supposed to navigate to?

eta- oh, ok, I navigate to an image editor. So I go outside SketchUp to edit it.

eta again -Still not working, though. I navigate to Irfanview, which is what I thought I'd edit it with, but nothing happens after I click "ok." I guess I should do any editing before importing it, and just use the four pins to do further editing.

I have another textures question. I've imported a texture, right-clicked on it, and then chose texture>edit texture image. The texture then appears in Windows Photoviewer (see screenshot). What am I supposed to do with that? I understand scaling the texture with the four pins. But not with the Photoviewer.

Thanks for the responses. Yes, the black dots are probably what are shown in the video. Since the endpoint inference dot is a different color, and I'm drawing in parallel projection/top view and not trying to inference anything, I thought the flashing black dot might have been a cardinal point. I guess it's an inference.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j320/DrawMeAPicture/cardinalpoint.png

I see them flashing all the time, and not just on circles. For instance, I was drawing a floor plan in parallel projection/top view, and that black dot would show up sporadically at the end of various lines. What are the capabilities of the line when I see that dot on an endpoint? How would I find that out? I did search but just saw posts about using the move tool on a cardinal point to flare a cylinder (which I couldn't replicate, but that's another story).

Thanks, cotty! Don't know why that didn't occur to me!

Sometimes I'll hide multiple wall faces. To unhide them, I go to Edit/Unhide/All. But what if I want to unhide just one or two? The "selected" option confuses me; how can I select something that is hidden? The Outliner only seems to show hidden groups or components, not faces. Any insights?

Ah, that's the secret. Pulling the slider down. I hadn't even noticed it before! I was just clicking on the color wheel and waiting for great things to happen, lol. Thanks so much!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j320/DrawMeAPicture/Untitled.png

dave -i go to windows/styles and click on edge settings. i get the color wheel, pick red, but it doesn't "take." the preview stays black, just like the lines. what am i doing wrong? thx.

Ok, thx. Still leaves me wondering what happened to my rectangle tool in that file, though!

Thanks cotty. I actually did see that tutorial earlier! Thing is, after going through those steps, my lines (edges) aren't showing up red.

When tracing a floor plan, it would be helpful if I could change the line color that SketchUp draws to make it easier to see. I've tried changing the edge color via edge styles, but the new color doesn't "take" when i draw lines over the plan. Any thoughts as to what I'm doing wrong?

Is it possible to inadvertently change a setting on the rectangle tool so that it just makes narrow rectangles or lines? I was drawing walls using the rectangle tool, and adjusting the rectangles so that they were all 6" thick. shortly thereafter, I could not use my rectangle tool to draw random-size rectangles anymore. i hadn't drawn much on that file to date, so i don't think the issue was hidden or nested items, as i read as a possible reason elsewhere. the only way i could "fix" it was by closing the file unsaved and opening a new one. the rectangle tool now works again. i can't use that as a solution for a more involved file, though ...any insights as to what i did the "ruin" the rectangle tool on that file? thanks!

Got it -thanks, Gaieus!

n/m, i think i got it (i think, lol). I have another question, tho. Sometimes when I "create group from slice" all I get is a blue rectangle, not the shape of the section. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks, ArCAD. The thing is, when I click either of them onto a model, they both display a section. So both icons appear to do the same thing even though one is called plane and the other section.

About the tools that say "display section planes" and "display section cuts." They appear to work the same way; both allow me to place a plane, show section cuts, and even right-click to create group from slice. So what is the difference between them? What does one do that the other doesn't?

Thanks, Dave! Boy, SketchUp can get almost Photoshop-like in the tricks department...

Thanks, yes, it looks like that's the difference (group vs. loose geometry). It continues to shade the model, though, even if it doesn't cast shadows. I would have preferred it to have no shading either, but I will take what I can get!