I work with a graphic designer who exports hundreds of graphic panel image files which are to be placed inside of any exhibit I’m designing in Sketchup. It is a complete hassle having to manually insert any or all of the images she exports anytime she changes one of the graphic images and then update the width and heigh dimension the substrate it is placed on. Is there an easier way to create these panels in bulk or is there a way to create a dynamic component which can achieve this described process instead?
Can you upload examples? there are some extensions that may help or build a custom script. DCs may be part of a solution, but hard to confirm without the images and your presentation.
this is the standard text panel look and feel. Behind each of these is a 3/4” substrate with the front face removed and the image inserted in its place. Hopefully that helps explain the sceanrio better!
I’m not quite following what it is like before and after.Before is a 5 sided surface with the front face removed so that the text image that is placed on it doesn’t overlap the front face.
The above image isn’t how it is suppose to look finished I assume?It is how it’s supposed to look finished in elevation.
So the substrate is essential a box with 1 face removed?Correct. The substrate is an x(image x dimension, y(image y dimension), z(substrate depth @ typically 3/4”) surface
What are the images behind, is the grey part of a panel also?This exhibit had a mural behind as well as the wall surface. The mural placed as a vinyl graphic on to the wall is a separate problem I’ll need to tackle after this primary problem is solved.
And you are then placing images in place of the face?Correct. The Images are placed on the face of the 5 sided piece of substrate with the front face removed.
So when you receive new images, what changes for you? They lose any scaling that you’ve done?
Would the physical dimensions of the image be the same?
I’m not sure if this is the answer - but it might help, but if you import your picture as an image you can scale the image on the surface and it will stay “on top” without the normal flickering that you get from placing a texture plane on another - if you pop open advanced attributes you can scale it to the correct dimensions with real world units
I had to do this with a couple of trade show booths I designed… thankfully I had only 50-60 images that needed to be inserted / updated. I created numbered graphics for each panel and then sent the list to the designer who was handling the photos / graphics. Each had a fixed crop ratio so I could simply edit the component, select the image and right click / reload to pick the updated image. I asked that all the images always get exported with the original pixel density.
It is not automated, but maybe it helps. But if the designer is controlling how wide / tall the images are, and they are always changing… I don’t think there is a faster way other then manually making the changes.
All of this makes sense but it’s more ideal to have the batch process scripted in some way. The reason this is ideal is to manage an output of the report so that as the client changes sizes or scale of the panels, there is an easier way to keep track of their changes regularly. Very helpful to know these can be imported as an image but I’d like for the image to somehow be linked to the image name so that when the image is updated in a folder it automagicaly changes the scale or size of the dynamic object. Maybe my wish is to complex an idea to make a reality!
The images are all generated in photoshop or illustrator at full scale and at a 72dpi so the images don’t crash sketchup. I’m unsure how PPI vs DPI works in sketchups real world geometry so to speak but if it is required to have a set PPI, my guess is there is a calulator which can convert these numbers to get what you’re after.
The image pixel density could potentially always change. Meaning, if our graphic designer uploads a graphic file and the real world dimensions change, ideally I wouldn’t have to ask her what the dimensions changed to. Ideally the dynamic component would recognize the change in the size and adjust the substrate accordingly.
