When you open SketchUp, a Tip of the Day dialog box appears like the example shown in Figure 32.1. Click Previous Tip or Next Tip to read the tips. From the Tip of the Day dialog box, click one of the links to access online resources and the SketchUp sites. Close the dialog box to get into the program itself.
Figure 32.1: Read the Tip of the Day to get acquainted with program features and access other resources.
Tip | If you prefer, deselect the Show tips on startup check box at the lower left of the dialog box. You can access the online resources through the Help menu in the program. |
The SketchUp interface uses two windows, as shown in Figure 32.2. The program window is used to build and manage your models, and the Instructor is a secondary window that provides instruction and guidance for each tool that you select in the program. Both windows can be resized.
Figure 32.2: Build the model in the program window, and read about the tools as you use them in the Instructor.
The Instructor window floats above the program window, regardless of which window is active. To collapse the Instructor window, click anywhere on the upper bar of the window. If you click the Close button at the upper right of the Instructor window, choose Window Instructor to reopen it.
The default organization of the SketchUp window is shown in Figure 32.2. The program includes several main menu items, described briefly in Table 32.1.
Heading | Contains |
---|---|
File | Open, Save, Import/Export, and Print commands are located in the File menu. |
Edit | In addition to the usual types of Edit commands, such as Cut/Copy/Paste, find specific types of editing, such as Make Component and Make Group. |
View | ind the toolbars in the View menu, as well as a number of different ways to view the model. |
Camera | Specify how the model is viewed based on different perspectives, zooms, and camera positions. |
Draw | Find commands for drawing basic elements such as rectangles, polygons, and lines in the Draw menu. |
Tools | Find tools, including many found on the Getting Started toolbar, in the Tools menu. |
Window | Open information dialog boxes, browse and edit materials, open the Instructor dialog box, and the preferences using commands in the Window menu. |
| Find commands for viewing and getting models online. |
Help | Find commands to open SketchUp and Ruby help, as well as a number of online sources. Reopen the Tip of the Day dialog box, and view the Quick Reference card. |
Two toolbars are displayed in SketchUp when you open the program, including the Getting Started and Google toolbars. The Getting Started toolbar combines tools from a number of toolbars to give you the basic tools needed to start and edit a drawing. The Google Toolbar offers several commands for accessing and downloading online information. The contents of the Getting Started toolbar are listed in Table 32.2.
Name of Tool | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
| Select | Use for selecting one or more objects that are then modified by other tools or commands |
| Make Component | Combines two or more objects into a single unit that is a named, separate object |
| Line | Use to draw lines or edges of objects |
| Eraser | Use to erase objects one at a time |
| Tape Measure | Use for measuring distance, scaling a model, or creating construction guidelines for placing objects |
| Paint Bucket | Use for creating and selecting materials and colors, and then applying them to entities |
| Rectangle | Use to draw a rectangular Face entity |
| Circle | Use to draw a circular Face entity |
| Arc | Use to draw an Arc entity |
| Push/Pull | Use to either add or remove volume from a model by pushing or pulling Face entities |
| Move | Use to move, copy, or stretch entities |
| Rotate | Use to rotate, stretch, distort, or copy entities along a curved path |
| Offset | Use to create copies of lines that are at a uniform distance from the original lines |
| Orbit | Use to rotate the camera around the model |
| Pan | Use to move the camera view vertically or horizontally |
| Zoom | Use to move the camera view inward toward you, or outward away from you |
| Zoom Extents | Use to fill the view to a distance where the entity is centered in the drawing window at a magnification that shows the entire content |