how can i draw new entities on a drawing without effecting the existing geometry? is there a way to freeze a layer?
Group the existing geometry before you try to draw over it.
Layers do not provide separation.
Thank you DaveR. I got it.
And generally, use components instead of groups.
As DaveR has said himself, groups are only a special form of component, with one small advantage, and two bigger drawbacks.
The small advantage (for some) is that they don’t appear in the Component Browser.
The drawbacks are that editing a copy of a group doesn’t change any other copies, whereas editing one copy (‘instance’) of a component changes all the copies.
And if you delete a group from the model, it’s gone. If you delete a component, a copy of its definition is retained in the Component Browser until you deliberately ‘purge unused’ or delete the definition.
If you want a slightly different copy or copies of a component as well as keeping the original, R-click on one or more of the copies, and Make Unique. Any edit to one of the selected copies will change all the others to match, but leave the originals unchanged.
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Related question: is there a way to make a component in one file, then insert that component in a different, unrelated file? The only way I can figure is to copy from the first file and paste into the second, but I don’t know if that’ll work.
@vulturenest, your question is interesting.
I was almost sure it was possible but before this post I made a try.
You can do a .skp file with only one component then you can import it or drag the file from your file explorer to your .skp current file, if there is more than one component then a new component including all of them will be imported, if you right clic and choose explode they all will be converted into individual components as in the original file.
Another comment, evaluate to make components as far as you finish a new piece, don’t wait till their geometry get mixed up.
Yes. You can copy from one file and paste into another with no special gymnastics. If you use Paste in place in the destination file, the component or group will be pasted in the same location relative to the origin. This can be very useful in a number of cases. For example I’m working on a project that includes some very complex, highly detailed components. I needed them in place for a little bit of setup but then, to get rid of the file bloat they cause, I removed them. I used Edit>Cut followed by Edit>Paste in place to paste them into a new file. When I’m ready for them later, I’ll just copy them and paste them back into the main project file. Since I’ll use Paste in place, they’ll be automatically located in the right place.
You can right click on any COmponent and choose Save As… to save the component as a new .SKP file which can then be imported into any SketchUp file.
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You can’t freeze a layer as has been said.
But after grouping geometry (to isolate the geometry from the current drawing environment) you can lock it (right click on group or component > select ‘Lock’ in the context menu) to prevent it from being moved or from being manipulated otherwise.
p.s. the reverse is ‘Unlock’, also in the right click context menu of a group or component.
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And also, be aware that a Locked component or group nested inside an Unlocked component or group CAN still be moved with the unlocked parent.
I’ve been bitten by this - thinking something was locked, then accidentally moving its unlocked parent, and finding it unexpectedly out of position.
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Thanks all you guys!. This helps a lot, now I don’t have to make bolt heads for every drawing.
And nested locked group or component will be deleted with the parent
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