Creating vector image in Layout from Sketch Up Model

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 5:29pm

Hi,

I’m on a mac and been trying out SketchUp Pro trial so I’m not very up on it all. I’ve been trying to find out how to save an image as a vector in Layout from a SketchUp model face. Have sent the flat image “to Layout” but I can’t change the raster in SketchUp model tray to vector - it’s all greyed out.

Advice I have found online is all for PC and I looked in the forum but couldn’t find an answer. Is it a mac thing that you just can’t have can’t change the viewport from Raster to Vector or am I missing something? Advice says to change the viewport to Vector from Raster before you send to Layout but I can’t find that option anywhere in the Mac menus.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Cheers, Jen.

Anssi · October 12, 2020, 5:37pm

This is not in SketchUp. You do it in LayOut by selecting the rendering mode in the SketchUp View tray/window:

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 5:41pm

Thanks so much for your quick reply Anssi. After a bit more fiddling, I’ve discovered now I can get the tray active but when I make the image full size it disappears and has a triangle warning sign. Why is it doing that? Thanks!

DaveR · October 12, 2020, 5:48pm

Share your LO file so we can see exactly what you have going on.

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 5:52pm

Do you have your viewport active when trying to change the rendering?

BTW, it is not mac related.

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 5:55pm

Thanks. I’ve now managed to get the image back at full size 1:1 but the ‘page’ is too small and so the image is only partial. I try to enlarge the page setup and the document setup, and the paper size but it either creates an extra white page rectangle next to the original and/or doesn’t show all the image still. Hope I’m explaining this ok.

I’ve been trying to get this all day to send to a laser cutters as they need a vector image and I just can’t get it to work.

Bug Hotel Layoutx.layout (96.6 KB)

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 5:55pm

Do you mean you are selecting a scale of 1:1? If so, you may be looking at blank space between bits of geometry. You may need to select a scale that is appropriate to both model and paper size.

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 5:56pm

Thanks Simon, I’ve worked out how to get it active, turns out I wasn’t clicking on the right bit. So I’ve got it changed to a vector but it won’t go to the right size page when I put it as full scale 1:1.

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 5:58pm

I changed the page size to A3 portrait and at full scale, your model still won’t fit on the page. You need A2 sized paper.

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 5:59pm

Sorry just seen your new message. I’ve tried to change the page size but it loses most of the picture.

Here’s a screenshot…Though I’m not sure if it has taken properly.

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 6:01pm

This is what it looks like on A2 paper:

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 6:01pm

But how do I get A2 sized paper? I’ve tried changing all the sizes I can find to well big enough but it doesn’t show properly.

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 6:02pm

Yes! That’s what I want. How do I make it do that? I don’t have an A2 option.

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 6:02pm

Choose Manage Custom Sizes.

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 6:03pm

If your printer doesn’t take a large format paper, you won’t find it set up as a default. So you need to add other paper sizes you need.

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 6:07pm

As a point of detail, when you create something flat in SU, it shows the back face by default. that’s why it looks blue. That changes as soon as you start extruding it. But if you just want something 2D, best practice is to reverse the orientation of faces so that it turns white. That is especially important when you send things to 3d printers I believe and may apply to your CNC cutter too (not sure about that).

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 6:13pm

I’ve added and A2 size to the custom page settings and this is what I get on my screen…

I had originally done the line sketch in Sketch Up because I had the free version and thought that would be ok for the laser folk but then got in a pickle because they said they wanted it in vector. I then downloaded the Pro trial as it can export vectors but couldn’t get it working. So frustrating knowing a little but not enough to make things work ok!

simoncbevans · October 12, 2020, 6:18pm

All you need do now is grab the blue edges and drag it until the full image is visible.

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 6:18pm

Thank you so much for your time helping me.

I also then redrew the sketch in Layout from scratch - I sent that to the laser cutters but they had closed before I got a reply so I don’t know if that was right.

Here’s the Layout image of my second sketch. is it a vector?

Bug Hotel Layout redraw.layout (25.7 KB)

It also seems to only have dimensions in metres even though I’ve selected millimetres.

pigsticksp · October 12, 2020, 6:20pm

Nope, it just stays blank in the rest of the image and the scale changes…