I have just figured out how to export a 2D graphic to a certain paper size, Brilliant!
However is there a way to make the view port of your model the same size as the paper size, so that you know for sure that when you export it will look exactly like the view port and nothing is cropped off the edges.
I have a 27" iMac and normally have SketchUp stretched to fill my screen. However this means that when i export to a paper size, the sides are cropped off.
Draw a rectangle with the same proportions as the paper. Then use it as a guide for sizing the window. There’s an extension in the EW called Viewport Resizer that will help but it is a Windows only thing, I think.
Thank you DaveR, shame there isn’t a way to re-size the viewport within sketchup itself.
There are options. First, if your model is entirely visible within the SketchUp window, nothing should be cropped in the print. You can check that with Print Preview. Alternatively and probably better in many cases, you can export a raster image and print that. You have better options for controlling the resolution and other factors. Or you could send the scene to LayOut and print from there. This will give you the best control of how your drawing will look when it is printed since you’ll then be working in paper space instead of model space.
The key is that the pixel aspect ratio (length/width) of the SketchUp view must match that of the paper you targeting. Also SketchUp inserts blank margins, so don’t run your contents all the way out to the edges of the view.
‘Zoom Extents’ adds safe printing margin which can be overridden using a coded zoom factor in Ruby Console…
Sketchup.active_model.active_view.zoom_extents.zoom(1.0525) # on my iMac
the printer settings controls the printed margins, so I always print ‘borderless’ as a default…
The two main reasons for print to scale are for Presentation or for Paper Templates…
for Presentation it is more common to have margins and a ‘not to scale’ type disclaimer…
for Templates it’s important to setup the printer to correctly handle the output…
you can also make a Printer Setup skp file that has measurable elements to check for printer ‘stretch’ in both width and length…
john
Indeed, @DaveR, Eneroth Viewport Resizer is a Windows OS only extension.
It’s a pity EVR doesn’t work with Mac OS X
automating the process on a mac is made complicated by the options available for Custom Toolbar’s height…
I have a cross platform ‘pro’ plugin that simply shows the matches as you manually change the size and shape…
I modified some code from that to make this automatic version, but it only modifies the width…
and a second click reverts to you ‘default’ window…
maybe some mac users are willing to test it…
john
Hi John
love your idea and would love to try it out! I’ve been looking for something like this.
You’ll have to talk me through what to do.
Tilly
hi Tilly,
I’ll PM you a copy, so you should get a green message button up in the menu by your name tag…
You need to load using SU Preferences >> Extensions >> Instal Extension >> select the .rbz file…
It will work best, if you turn off ‘Cascade main window’ in Pref’s >> Workspace, as the plugin uses the same mechanism to store and retrieve window size and position…
I test the Printer after changing by drawing a paper shaped rectangle with cross through the middle…
If printing borderless leaves an unacceptable margin, I adjust the Page Setup and Document Setup in SU File menu…
For Paper Templates I play around with the code snippet I posted above…
john
Hi John,
Sorry for the late reply, only just got around to having a look at it! Not sure how it works though. I just seems to stretch the view port to the size of the screen. Could i have a little more instruction.
Tilly
hi Tilley,
First click on the button [or File menu item] will narrow or stretch your viewport to match the paper ratio…
In some situations this will make the viewport wider than your screen and it may seem not to have changed…
as a test, if you select Portrait it will be noticeably narrower or a custom ratio of 2:1 will be wider…
a second click, ‘reverts’ the size to your ‘default’…
there may be a glitch if you have multiple unsaved models open, I need to check that, so test with just the one model…
if the viewport is the correct ratio, exporting to Paper Size should work…
john
I managed to get the portrait to work, however the landscape doesn’t seem to be going to the correct size. What ratio are you using for the A series?
my printer is A4 so I know the ratio works…
draw a rectangle with the same ratio and ‘Zoom Extents’ to check if the margins look equal…
# #'shipped' ratios with a few international paper sizes...
ratios = { 1.000 => TRANSL8['Square'],\
1.294 => TRANSL8['US Letter'],\
1.333 => TRANSL8['US Architectural'],\
1.414 => TRANSL8['A Series (ISO 216)'],\
1.647 => TRANSL8['US Legal'] }
john
it doesn’t seem to be doing anything with the ratio 1.414.
can you post two screenshots before and after running for A Series…
john
I just tried to use your extension, and after entering in the ratio, it asked me to save the file then closed it.
It worked the second time I did it and its worked. Although the shaped looked a little too square, I checked it against drawing a rectangle and it worked.
Thank you so much for the extension. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
Good luck with it
Tilly Whitwell