Does anyone have any clever suggestions as to how to SIMPLY mirror objects. I find this to be one of the most irritating omissions in Sketchup. It is a critical tool, and not having it is a real time waster. I believe I know all the tricks, but maybe I’ve missed one or two. Below is a simple example to work with. A very simple task in AutoCAD, but, at least for me, an irritating multi-step process in Sketchup.
Take this:
I like the TIG mirror plugin - from SketchUcation.
Select your object, define a mirror line or plane with two or three clicks, then press Enter, and finally decide whether to keep or delete the original object.
This is a perfect solution, but I’m trying to keep my extensions to a minimum. So I was wondering if there was something I was missing in the base program. The TIG extension should be a basic tool in and CAD program.
You can use Move/Copy and than Flip Along or you could use Rotate/Copy to do it. Both of those are native options.
Thank you. That is precisely the trick I was missing. Life is Sketchup is now a lot easier.
You’re welcome. There are other options, too that involve only native tools. Scale with -1 as the scale factor, for example. Much faster with keyboard shortcuts.
When scaling an object you can also simply start the scale operation and type -1 to get a quick mirror image of any object.
The copy-scale to minus 1- to paste in place, is a trick I knew, but including a line drawn from the midpoint, and included in the objects being scaled is a really nice enhancement. With your help, I might actually get somewhere … someday.
By the way, it quickly occurred to me that situations where objects are on a different plane than what is being referenced, some extra steps are needed. Duplicating lines, and moving them to the plane of the objects, using inferencing, does the trick.
Much better. I wonder just how long it would have taken me to figure that out.
drawing guidelines can help, too:
I would like to thank all of you who got back to me on this subject. What is most interesting is that the mirror command most certainly does exist is SU … a rose is a rose is a rose. What is also interesting is that when I searched the internet for help on this, not only do many sources claim that there is no mirror command in SU, but all of the videos I found were seriously lacking in the essential advice, for example: . What is important for anyone to understand is that mirroring properly in SU is identical to understanding how to mirror in AutoCAD.
I think it is worth pointing out that some of these methods in this thread are for 2d objects. 3d objects require the move/duplicate and scaling -1 , or the move duplicate and “flip along…” methods.
In general I really enjoy using TIG’s mirror plugin for working on architectural models.
I think it’s important to understand the essence of inferencing when working in 3D. As an AutoCAD user, I can assure you that detail is crucial. When working in 3D, you have to place the axis about which you are mirroring correctly, or it will not come out right.
