http://www.dummies.com/programming/google-sketchup/sketchup-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/
Cheat sheet
| To Do This Task | Here’s the Best Way |
|---|---|
| Navigate | |
| * Orbit with your mouse | * Hold down scroll wheel |
Zoom with your mouse Roll scroll wheel Pan with your mouse Hold down Shift and the scroll wheel Draw Draw an edge a certain length with the Line tool Type a length and press Enter Snip off an edge at the last place you clicked Press the Esc key Lock your current direction with the Line tool Hold down the Shift key while drawing with the tool Change the number of sides in a circle, arc, or polygon Type a number, then type s, and press Enter Draw a circle or an arc of a certain radius Type a radius and press Enter after you draw a circle Select with the Select tool Add or subtract from what you’ve selected Hold down Shift Select everything that isn’t hidden Press Ctrl+A (Command+A on the Mac) Select everything inside a selection box Click and drag from left to right Select everything touched by a selection box Click and drag from right to left Select all faces with the same material Right-click and choose Select→All with Same Material Move with the Move tool Move a certain distance Type a distance and press Enter after you move Force Auto-Fold (tell SketchUp it’s okay to fold) Press Alt (Command on the Mac) Lock yourself in the blue (up and down) direction Press the up arrow or down arrow key Copy with the Move and Rotate tools Make a copy with the Move or Rotate tools Press Ctrl (Option on the Mac) Make multiple copies in a row Make a copy, type a distance, type x, and press Enter Make multiple copies between Make a copy, type a number, type /, and press Enter Hide and Smooth with the Eraser tool Hide something Hold down Shift and click with the Eraser Smooth something Ctrl+click with the Eraser (Option+click on the Mac) Unsmooth something Hold down Shift+Ctrl and click with the Eraser (Shift+Option on the Mac) Push/Pull and Offset Make a copy of the face you’re push/pulling Press Ctrl (Option on the Mac) and use the Push/Pull tool Repeat the last distance you push/pulled Double-click a face with the Push/Pull tool Repeat the last distance you Offset Double-click a face with the Offset tool Scale with the Scale tool Scale about the center Hold down Ctrl (Option on the Mac) while scaling Scale uniformly (don’t distort) Hold down Shift while scaling Scale by a certain factor Type a number and press Enter Make something a certain size Type the size and the units and then press Enter Apply materials with the Paint Bucket tool Sample a material from a face Hold down Alt (Command on the Mac) and click the face with the tool Paint all faces that match the one you click Hold down Shift while you click Create guides Tell the Tape Measure or Protractor tool to create a guide Press Ctrl (Option on the Mac) and click with the tool Walk around your model with the Walk tool Walk through things Hold down Alt (Command on the Mac) Run instead of walk Hold down Ctrl (Option on the Mac) Get taller or shorter instead of walking Hold down Shift Change your eye height Select the Look Around tool, type a height, and press Enter Change your field of view Select the Zoom tool, type a number, type deg, and press Enter
STL import
When you are in the Import window, click the Options button and check-mark the Merge Coplanar Faces box. This will eliminate a lot of them lines from the start. If you import a tiny object it will have some faces too small for SketchUp and your geometry will not be watertight. To fix that, restart the Import and go back in the Options menu and set the Units to the next bigger digit. Ex: If it's mm than import in cm, you'll know to group and scale down to 0.1 after. Cheers!