In some 3D items I’ve created, such as a box, I will sometimes want to make it smaller. So I enter “Edit Group” mode, select just the right side of a box, and then use the move tool to slide the right edge toward the left. Sometimes when I do this, there is a small plus sign near where the right side used to be. When the plus sign is there and I close the group, the shell of the selected solid still extends as far to the right as it did to encapsulate the plus sign.
I have not been able to delete the plus sign for those occurrences. I’ve concluded that the plus sign indicates something and is not actually part of the item, but searches online have failed to describe my situation. I’d appreciate anyone’s tip that could give me some insight into what has become a very frustrating problem. TIA!
The plus sign, in the Move and Rotate tools, indicates that you are in Copy mode so that the command results in a copy of the original item. It is a toggle and you turn it on and off by clicking the Control key.
I’m not sure why it can’t be selected, but you have somehow gotten a ConstructionPoint off to the side of the main contents of the group. Here is the file with that CP deleted:
Thanks slbaumgartner! Can you tell me what you did to resolve the problem? I will also research what a ConstructionPoint is. I’ve been using Sketchup for a couple of years on and off, but there’s still lots I haven’t used. Thanks again!
A construction point is an infinitely-small point in 3D space, rendered as a sort of tiny cross, that can be used as a reference for other drawing operations. A simple way to get a construction point is to draw an arc, circle, or polygon, then right-click on the edge and choose Find Center from the pop-up context menu. A construction point will be added to the model at the radial center of the arc or etc. You can then select and move or copy that construction point, if you want to stick some construction points elsewhere.
A related SketchUp object - a guide line - can be created using the Tape Measure tool. Click on an edge, then drag out and either click again where you want the parallel edge to appear or type a distance value and press Enter. In either case a guide line should appear as a dashed entity that can also be used as a reference for future drawing activity.
A sort of hybrid of a construction point and guide line can also be made with the Tape Measure tool, by clicking on an existing end-point of an edge (rather than somewhere along the edge) and then moving and clicking again or moving and then typing a dimension value. In this case a construction point will be created at the terminating position, with a dashed tail extending from the starting position. In the case of this hybrid, the dashed line cannot be used as a reference for inferencing (as I recall), but the visible tail can be handy to indicate the nature or purpose of the construction point at the end of the tail.
I’m using Sketchup for solid modeling of machine drawings feeding into a 3D printer and it works well. But I haven’t yet used a Construction Point, which appears to have most application on architectural drawings (though I can think of ways I might use it in the future). No matter, I like that Sketchup is deep enough to address many different applications.
