I really appreciate all your help.

I looked for the Java CP, didn't find it, and realized Java wasn't installed on the Windows machine! I installed Java, and ImageTrimmer worked perfectly.

Is there a setting on my wife's Windows machine I can change to allow it to execute .jar files?

I installed SU and SKMTools on my wife's Toshiba laptop running Windows 7. Running ImageTrimmer, I get the same error message in the Ruby Console:

Error; #<Errno;;ENOENT; No such file or directory - I;\imagesToProcess\TrimmedImages\Article_I[Edges].dat>
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `readlines'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `make_edges'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;186;in `process_image'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;163;in `initialize'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;760;in `new'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;760
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `call'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233

As I mentioned, I'm a programmer too (although not in Ruby) and I'm used to working with error messages. Is there anything I can change here?

Okay. I will run it on my wife's Windows computer.

@unknownuser said:

So for some reason you aren't getting the jar file to fire and make the Article_I[Edges].dat file ??? Is there a Article_I[Edges].dpng file getting made ????
Did you check access rights to the ../Plugins/SKMtools folder and its contents were set as I explained ?

Yes - when I run ImageTrimmer from inside SU, it appears the jar file doesn't fire. As I noted in the post before last, there is no [Edges] file in the TrimmedImages folder after running ImageTrimmer. However, if I double-click the EdgeDetector.jar file, it works correctly, and the following two files are created:

C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I[Edges].dat
C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I[Edges].png

I have checked the access rights per your post.

I wanted to see if I could rule out Mac vs. PC issues, so I launched Windows in Parallels, a Windows emulator for Mac. I installed Sketchup on Windows and the SKMTools plugin. I moved the Article_1.skp file to My Documents, and ran ImageTrimmer. Here is the output from the Ruby Console:

Error; #<Errno;;ENOENT; No such file or directory - C;\Users\Administrator\Documents\TrimmedImages\Article_I[Edges].dat>
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `readlines'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `make_edges'
C;/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;186;in `process_image'

I did the following:

• Set permissions for Plugins and all included files and folders to read/write/execute for everyone (had been read/write/execute for my account only)
• Checked for images made about the start of the process - found one - "Article_I.png" - opened it in PhotoShop - it seemed to be identical to the png we are working on.
• Moved all TrimmedImages folders to the trash
• Copied the latest Article I.skip file to its own folder on the desktop and opened it in SU
• Opened Ruby Console
• Clicked the imported .png image in SU
• Started ImageTrimmer
• Waited a bit
• Status bar message: "ImageTrimmer: Making 'Edges' files - please wait..."
• Ruby console messages: aha! There's an error message:

Error; #<Errno;;ENOENT; No such file or directory - /Users/myUserName/Desktop/imagesToProcess/TrimmedImages/C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I[Edges].dat>
/Users/myUserName/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `readlines'
/Users/myUserName/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;233;in `make_edges'
/Users/myUserName/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;186;in `process_image'
/Users/myUserName/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;163;in `initialize'
/Users/myUserName/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;760;in `new'
/Users/myUserName/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SKMtools/ImageTrimmer.rb;760

No file named "C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I[Edges].dat" is found in the TrimmedImages folder. There is one file in there at this time, called "C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I.png".

from.ini contains:

/Users/myUserName/Desktop/imagesToProcess/TrimmedImages/C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I.png

to.ini contains:

/Users/myUserName/Desktop/imagesToProcess/TrimmedImages/C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I

• Ran EdgeDetector.jar - it worked! It added to files to the TrimmedImages folder:
  C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I[Edges].dat
  C__Users_TIG_Desktop_Article_I[Edges].png

I'm a coder myself (although not yet a Ruby coder) - I'm used to working with error messages. What does this tell us? Can I change something?

I clicked on the top image - the all-black imported png - in the "Article 1" .skp file you provided. I ran ImageTrimmer. It's been running for 40 minutes now with no visible results. I'm running on a 2-month-old 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 4GB of ram. Could I be missing something?

I'm using ImageTrimmer on a new image, and it looks like I still have a bit to learn in order to use it correctly. I thought I'd gotten rid of all the non-black pixels, but I guess there must still be some. A few questions:

• You mentioned that you'd looked at the ImageTrimmer Edges files and spotted the bad pixels. Where can I find the ImageTrimmer Edges files?
• Do I need to apply a texture to the .png image in SU before using ImageTrimmer?

The image is attached.

Article I.skp

It worked. Cool!

I tried it with the text intersecting the face (file attached). Here are my results so far using BoolTools on the test file:

• Intersection Tool: deletes cube and the portion of the text that was outside the cube; leaves the text that was inside the cube unchanged.
• Difference Tool: deletes the cube and the portion of the text that was inside the cube; leaves the text that was outside the cube unchanged.
• Union Tool: groups the cube and the text together and otherwise leaves both unchanged.

So far none of the operations seems to produce "intruded" text.

intruded text test 2.skp

I've got some 3D text and a cube, and I'm trying to use BoolTools to get the 3D text to be "intruded" into a face of the cube. But no matter what BoolTools tool I try, one or both objects disappear. A sample file is attached. What is the correct way to get BoolTools to handle this?

intruded text test.skp

I think I'm following the video correctly, but I'm not getting the correct result yet. I've posted the question on the forum maintained by the makers of Booltools.

Okay, great. Thanks very much for coding this great script.

That explained it. I had two letters overlapping. I put a space between them and now SU recognizes the 3D text as being solid.

I've tried all 3 Booltools tools - selecting the tool; selecting the 3D text; then selecting the cube - but in all 3 cases either the text or the cube disappears. What am I missing? A test file is attached.

intruded text test.skp

That worked. I now have the 3D text positioned correctly inside the face of the object. When I use BoolTools, I get a message saying that the 3D text is "not a valid solid." How can I correct this?

Great! I just got Booltools. I'm having trouble moving my text along the green axis. I've read that if I push the left arrow that should enable me to move it on the green axis, but it doesn't seem to work. I've tried it like this:

• Create a cube
• Create 3D text and place it on the face of the cube
• Select 3D text with arrow tool
• Switch to move tool
• Hold down left arrow
• Click anywhere (I think I've tried every option) and drag in the direction my green axis is lined up
• But the 3D text keeps moving along the red axis, across the face of the cube

What is the correct way to do this? I'm using SU 8 free version on Mac OS.

It's easy to get extruded 3D Text using SU's 3D Text tool. Is it possible to push the text into a face so that instead of being extruded, it is "intruded"?

Thanks in advance to all for any info.

Sorry, here's the SU file.

WeThePeople v3.skp