I work for a charity that provides drawings for design of disability bathrooms. We generally provide a plan view of the bathroom and elevations of each wall for builders and clients. We need to provide detailed dimension of the location of each item to ensure correct placement for the client with disability.
Each view is created from the SketchUp drawing and set as a scene ie, plan, wall a, wall b. To provide measurements I have tried to use the dimension tool in SketchUp however find that there is a lack of customisation of the text, text location and editing the lines of the dimension.
I have tried exporting to Layout, creating pages for each scene. Whilst the dimension tool in Layout has much more customisation, the process of Layout setup is tedious. Also, we have need to change our plans after client review and making slight changes (e.g. moving a basin 40mm higher). This very frustrating as we need to complete the change in Sketchup, save, go to layout, update model reference and add new dimensions.
My question is, is there any extensions in Sketch Up that allows for more customisation of the dimension tool (similar to how Layout works) and its presentation of dimensions. I feel that using Sketchup with the scenes and tagging each dimension to a scene/view would be faster and easier all round.
Sketchup Version – Pro 2022
Image of our current output in Layout, how dimensions are presented. We would like to replicate this in Sketchup.
Thank you for any help. Please ask for any clarifications required.
I don’t know of anything to custimize the Dimensions in SketchUp. I expect, though, with a proper template in LayOut you would find it’s the best option.
Is it? Sounds like you work with the same kinds of drawings repeatedly. Could you not set up templates that would minimise reinvention of the wheel each time?
That kind of thing can be a bit tedious. However, dimensions in LO do update automatically when the SU drawing changes. The main problem is finding a “handle” to lock the dimension onto, especially if you have organic shapes like sanitaryware. But could you create artificial handles within the component specifically for dimensioning purposes (especially is you use the same fittings often)? They might be visible initially in the LO drawing but, if suitably tagged, could then be turned off inside LO for output.
When I am in the document production phase I open the SketchUp model directly from Layout - on the viewport right-click > Open with SketchUp.
This way, whenever you make a change in the SketchUp model it automatically updates in SketchUp.
I have F1 remapped to Save and will have SketchUp and Layout on different virtual desktops -
make the change in SketchUp, hit F1, ctrl + windows + left or right to get to Layout and voilĂ , the viewport updates - quick ( ctrl + windows + left or right to get back to SketchUp )
