How can I set the default tag in SketchUp for Web?

Currently, everything I draw in SketchUp for Web is set as untagged. Please provide me instructions specific to the web version if you can, as this inquiry pertains solely to SketchUp for Web and not the desktop version. Thanks :slightly_smiling_face:

All raw geometry should be drawn and remain untagged, so Untagged is the default tag.
Only groups/components/ dimensions etc should get tags.

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And that’s for a good reason!
All geometry should be created untagged and stay untagged.
Only groups and components should be given a tag!

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I’m quite disappointed. Before the switch from tags to layers, I could set a default layer. The absence of a default tag leads to additional, unnecessary work in the design process and renders the concept of tags almost pointless. Nevertheless, thank you for clarifying this.

The change from Layers to Tags is purely a name change.

That is not correct because I could set a default layer earlier, which means that the functionality also changed when transitioning to tags.

It didn’t happen at the same time.

The correct way to work with tags is to leave all edges and faces untagged. Only groups and components are given tags. When tags were called layers the correct way to use them was to leave Layer 0 associated with all edges and faces. Only groups and components were to get other layers. The proper usage has not changed despite the change from layers to tags. The web version of SketchUp was set up so that you cannot make other tags active. This was done to protect hobbyists such as yourself from screwing up their models because they don’t understand how tags are supposed to be used in SketchUp.

Making other tags active creates the potential for errors and it makes for more work than just leaving Untagged active and leaving all geometry untagged.

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Is the option to set a default layer/tag a missing feature in the desktop version as well?

No, it is still in there in desktop versions. But still not recommended to use, unless you know what you are doing and why…

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And it is NOT setting a default. It’s only setting the currently active tag.

@dezmo is correct. It is possible to change the active tag but still not recommended except in a few select use cases and only for users who know why and how to use it.

Again, changing the active tag just creates more work for the user because one has to chase the active tag as they are working. Using the correct workflow leaving Untagged as active eliminates the need for chasing the active tag. Why do you want to create more work for yourself as well as open yourself up to errors, especially as this must be a hobby thing for you?

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The fact that you can set a default/active tag in the desktop version and in the previous web version when tags were called layers confirms that I am right that this functionality has simply been missed in the web version when the name was changed from layer to tag. This makes the web version unusable for slightly more advanced users. It is a shame that such a simple functionality has been missed.

No it doesn’t. This behavior was changed well after Layers were changed to Tags. It was not missed.

No it doesn’t. Advanced users know how to properly use tags.

Again, it was NOT missed.

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But then, you as an advanced user, please explain why you would want to change the default tag to some other tag. Please explain your use case.

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It is surprising that such a simple and fundamental function, like setting an active tag (layer) during the drawing process, has been overlooked or ignored. Explaining it by pointing to other functionalities in SketchUp doesn’t help. I usually work with other drawing tools like AutoCAD, and it would be interesting to see the reactions if they decided to change the name from layer to tag and then explained that they have also removed the ability to set an active layer. Instead, you have to initially draw everything in layer 0 and then manually change to another layer or start building each drawing detail as a block and then manually change the layer of the block. It feels like a trivial discussion.

I started using the SketchUp web version a few years ago before the name change from tag to layer, and back then, you could set an active layer. I found it a nice little sketching program and used it when creating an architectural base for a residential house. Now, in the same situation, looking for a simpler sketching program, unfortunately, the SketchUp web version no longer meets the most basic requirements for drawing management. I’ll have to continue my search.

But I will come back to SketchUp in the future, hoping that someone responsible at SketchUp reads this and understands how crucial it is to be able to specify active tags (layers). Thank you.

because you’re mistaking 2d layers in autocad and 3d tags in sketchup. This reasoning is why they were renamed tags in the first place, so people like you wouldn’t assume they work as autocad layers.

I’ve seen so many dwg with things on a wrong layer, resulting in skp with lines on a tag, faces on an other, and groups on a third tag, because the users insisted on “drawing on the layer directly” instead of using the tool the way it was intended.

indeed it does, one shouldn’t try to force their way of working with autocad unto other softwares, but instead try to learn the way the softwares are supposed to be used. :upside_down_face: :upside_down_face:




You’re a free user. Sketchup is provided in a simpler version there, to non-paying users like you.
if you want more options, including the possibility to pick what tag you’re working on, you’ll have to go pro.

You say the free version is unusable for slightly advanced users, well then maybe you’ve outgrowned it. maybe it’s a sign to go pro and get the full package + extensions.
because I’m pretty sure there are tags/layers related extensions too that would allow you to draw any way you want, proper or not :wink:

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A lot of words but you still haven’t explained the most crusial part: why would you apply some other tag to new entities while modeling? How do this fit in your workflow.

Consider basic edge- and face- entities as nothing on their own. Once you’ve modelled an object composed out of these basic entities and grouped this geometry you have some meaningful object entity that may be worth to be tagged (TV / car / wall / roof / sink / vegetation or whatever). It’s quite simple to grasp.
And one other thing, layers was a wrong name in SketchUp’s 3D environment, unlike layers in AutoCAD. Hence the name change to tags, not to its functionallity.

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I think you need to be using SketchUp Pro for commercial work… (maybe SketchUp Go is also ok?).

Wow, quite some statement and conclusion.
First of all SketchUp Web Free is not at all unusable, not even for slightly more advanced users.
Second, it’s not tags changed to layers but the other way around. And it’s just a name change, a word to avoid confusion for new users. No change in functionallity.
The ability to change the default tag or set the active tag to some other tag is no longer possible in SketchUp Web Free, also just to avoid confusion for new users. Which you apparently are not. So if you tell me your special use case I can teach you how you could still do the same thing as before with maybe two extra steps. But no guaranty that you don’t mess up your model where it comes to visibility controle.

I tried again, and it works well to draw in the SketchUp web version without specifying layers for each drawing entity. Instead, I group entities and specify layers and materials for the groups. It works because editing grouped information is so easy. I completely missed how easy it is to edit groups. I apologize for my earlier posts and incorrect statements. It’s simply me being unaware and too quick to judge.

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