Drawing and dimension scale

Just downloaded Sketchup and am trying it out. OK, maybe I’m missing something. I have used other layout software and it was pretty simple drawing to scale. That’s one of the advantages of computers - you can draw directly to scale. So I want 1/8" = 1’. I set the scale under the preferences/scale. If I draw a 1 inch box on my letter size paper, it should dimension to 8 feet. SIMPLE. Intuitive. But no such thing that I can see. The help section has a bunch of explanation about 2D versus 3D space and that layout is 2D therefore…the ■■■■ it says doesn’t even make sense. What’s the point of a layout tool (and having scale options) if you can’t draw to or get dimensions to scale?

That would be very unnecessary indeed. Fortunately Layout is different.

SketchUp is 3D surface modeling application wherein objects are typically modeled full size.
LayOut is a 2D paper space application for annotating and presenting SketchUp 3D models.

LayOut is not a standalone 2D CAD application for creating scale drawings.

I think you are missing some salient points about the software. To offer a slightly more simplistic explanation of points made in the preceding posts:

Layout is designed to work as a companion program to SketchUp (SU). Your base model should be developed at full scale using SU. You save specific scenes in SU that are ultimately exported to Layout where you can set the scale as you wish. You may have any number of viewports (exported scenes) saved in your Layout file.

Layout is not intended to be operated as an independent drafting and design software package.

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