Exporting 2D "non-orthogonal" faces

SketchUp Pro
1

I have a 3D SU model that has faces I want to export so I can cut them on a 3D printer.

For the faces that are parallel to the planes formed by major axes, I can use parallel projection, a standard view, then “export 2D graphic”. But what about faces that are NOT parallel to an axis?

I’ve been rotating those faces so they ARE parallel to an axis, then doing the export. But, I think I could avoid having to do this by getting a correct view set up.

So, I can orbit to get a view that looks about right, but I’d really like to get the view set to at exactly the correct angle–orthogonal to the face… For example, 36.8 degrees off the x axis.

Is there a way to set the viewpoint other than orbiting? Is there a better way to export a 2D face that isn’t parallel to the planes formed by the 3 major axes?

2

Figures, soon as I posted the question I found “Position Camera”.

I’ll delete the post.

3

you can also dig into this Sketchup Unfold Tool

4

That looks interesting! I’ll check it out.

Thanks!

5

also, better than position camera, while in parallel view, right click on a face (inside the group/component if it belongs to one) and pick align view

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6

I really like “align view”! This positions the camera nicely to export a 2D graphic for cutting on my laser.

Is there a way to rotate the camera at the current position? I’d like to create a scene for exporting each face, but while align view gets a good position for the camera, some faces need rotating. I can do it “approximately” using the orbit tool or I could do that in the 2D tool before cutting.

But I thought maybe I’m missing an easy way to do that in SU? Leave camera position fixed, just rotate the camera around the axis between it and the orthogonal face it was just aligned to.

7

Yes, you have the look around tool.
Camera / look around. W key shortcut.
that woud only work for perspective, obviously

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8

Seems to work fine for parallel view too.

Thanks!