Sketchup

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!

Last modified on 19 April 2017, at 22:06