Active Tag - Short cut or extension to "Auto-select"

SketchUp Pro
1

I was wondering is there a quicker way to select and “make active” a Tag?

I always get caught up in modeling and then realize I’m adding geometry to the wrong Tag.

It would be cool to be able to select the geometry on screen and have the Tag widow either display that, in relation to the selected geometry, and then as I model further on said geometry it automatically is included on that specific Tag.

One would assume that if we are taught to use Groups or Components for all geometry assigned to “other” Tags…that when we go to add geometry to said Group or Tag, that it would continue that relationship.

ONLY… we have to first make sure that the correct Tag is highlighted with the “pencil” icon…

Seems like a little thing, but sure would make sense (to me at least)

2

The correct workflow is to leave Untagged as active at all times and only give tags to objects (components and groups). This eliminates any need to chase active tags. The edges and faces inside the groups and components remain untagged so when you are editing a group or component, the active Untagged is already selected. Tagging edges and faces just makes your workflow harder and more prone to errors.

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3

Sounds like you are not working the way that is recommended. When drawing, you should always have Untagged active. As soon as you can, make what you are drawing into a Group or Component and only then assign it to an appropriate tag. If you follow this way of working you never need think about what tag you are currently in since you will always be “in” Untagged.

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agreed, but what I mean is further down the design process and I decide to add more geometry to an existing “group” or “Component”, that may be one of many in a complex model…remembering to first active that group or component’s Tag is what catches me out.

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I think I am, its adding new geometry to existing group or component that has been assigned, remembering to first activate that specific TAG is what trips me up

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You don’t have to do that when you edit a group or component because all of the geometry is untagged inside the group or component.

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You won’t get tripped up if you use the correct procedure in the first place. Only the components and groups get tags. The geometry inside those groups and components remain untagged and any additions to that geometry inside the groups is also untagged.

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so DaveR…Should I only assign the Group or Component to a TAG, in effect leaving all the inside geometry still as “untagged” ?

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9

Exactly!

Leave that pencil icon alone at Untagged. When it comes to editing components and groups, you don’t care what tag they have because you are working inside where everything is untagged.

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Think of it a bit like drawing on paper with a pencil. The pencil is the Untagged and the paper is the Group or Component. You can do lots of drawings but you only ever do so with the pencil. The bits of paper can be in a file or folder.

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cheese-sauce!!! that’s taken me sometime to wrap my head around…which now makes sense when everyone says ONLY model in “untagged” space…then group or component the geometry. I always assumed that meant assigning ALL geometry to a group or tag, but its actually just the collective visual of geometry that become assigned to a TAG.

@ simoncbevans your explanation helps too. Thanks guys

12

What you describe sounds like PhotoShop thinking.

In SketchUp you aren’t putting anything on a tag or modeling in “untagged space”. Tags are something you apply to objects mainly so you can control their visibility. Turning off the visibility for a tag is like turning on the Romulan cloaking device.

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13

If you wanted a ‘quicker’ way to assign a tag to a group or component you could try the Put on Layer plugin - [Plugin] Modification to PutOnLayer • sketchUcation • 1

I have keyboard combination shortcuts set (via AHK) to apply my most commonly used tags to groups…

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14

That’s exactly what it is!

30+ years of Photoshop, AI, Quark, Freehand, to name a few, then diving into SKP back when it was version 5.5 with AtLast, and to this day. Old habits die hard, when my old brain tries to keep the “best practices” af all the numerous software that occupies my working day.

15

It used to be that Tags in SketchUp were called Layers. The name got changed because users couldn’t seem to get past the name and tried using them to create separation instead of groups/components which as I’m sure you know, doesn’t work.

Tags are a thing you give to objects. You don’t put anything on a tag like you never put anything on a layer in older versions of SketchUp. That’ll help get the idea in your head. And you should find that your modeling is faster and you are less likely to create errors.

If you have models that are done incorrectly, I would suggest getting TIG’s Default Layer Geometry plugin from Sketchucation and run that on your models to fix them. It works in 2020 with tags just as well.

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