Searching the Knowledge Center in SketchUp Help and here in the forum, I can find no instructions for setting a global default path or file folder for saving and retrieving files. I found references to Layout options, but I have no Layout options in SketchUp Make 16.0.19912 64-bit. Is there no option for setting a default that will be in effect each time I use SketchUp? I can set values in Windows > Preferences > Files but they seem to affect only the current file in use and have no global effect.
I think if you open your default SU template and set the values in the same place you’ve been using, you’ll get the behavior you’re looking for. Each time you open an instance of SU, you are presented with your default template. This, of course, won’t happen if you are opening a previously saved model.
I was able to create a new template file with the pathname I want that I will use as my default template. It took me a bit. I discovered that you cannot edit the pathname in place but must click on the folder icon to the left of the path names and then navigate using the Windows Explorer (I think) panels to find, select, and click enter to make the changes. A lot of clicks, but I think I got there. Now I must go back and change about 50 files so that I won’t have to remember to change the pathname before saving each one.
Seems like that should be a way to set a global default instead of having to enter that kind of information on each file. I understand having the means to change the pathname for each file when you need/want to, but a default would be nice.
In the MS Windows editions, there are a number of default path settings that the various file dialogs use for different kinds of SketchUp resource files.
Set them via Window > Preferences > Files
Most of these paths are brought forward by installers when installing newer SketchUp versions.
So, it often makes sense to set them to version independent folder that you create some where in your User Documents path.
Example, on my machine I created: “%USERPROFILE%/Documents/SketchUp” and in that folder various resource folders like “Materials”, “Textures”, “Components”, “Watermarks”, etc.
(1) The settings do not yet honor replaceable parameters from environment variables, like %USERPROFILE%, and as you noticed it is designed to go through the manual “browse for folder” routine.
I have never seen SketchUp behaving as if the configurable paths were saved in skp files. It always seemed to me that the dialogs followed my global preference settings.
Be aware that on Windows, it itself keeps MRU paths in the registry. (MRU = Most Recently Used.)
So sometimes the default path for a certain file extension comes (via Windows) from the registry’s user settings. (SketchUp uses the Microsoft common dialog library.)
You can see it happen (on Windows) via the Ruby Console:
UI.openpanel("Test Open Dialog","*.txt")
Change the file extension to anything, and you’ll see what is currently stored in your user hive, by Windows.
(I have been finding it easier to just go thru the User Guide’s chapter list and sub-section link lists. The search returns too many matches for too many articles, many of which are for older issues.)