One newbie-friendly way would be to use the tape measure to create a guide line 200mm from the left edge and then use the move tool to drag the edge over until it snaps onto the guide.
Another way: when you start dragging the edge simply type your desired number and hit enter. Keep your eyes on the Measurement Box (lower right corner), the numbers get registered there.
Doesn’t a typed entry at that point set the distance moved, not the remaining size of the rectangle? That is, in the OP’s animation he would have to type 203.6mm to get the rectangle to be 200mm wide.
And for your further education: The scale tool will work well in a simple example like this. However, as its name says, it scales the entire object you have selected, it does not simply move an edge. For a plain rectangle, there is no meaningful difference. But for a more complex shape, every aspect of the entire shape will be scaled proportionally. For example, if your rectangle was the outline of a room and you had an inner rectangle for the walls, the thickness of the walls will also be affected.
Ideally, the solution would be select a surface/rectangle/line and then have the ability to start typing in the dimensions you want that selection to be. I like to make things out of wood, and if I had something 10" long and then noticed I wanted to build it a little taller at 11" I really don’t have an easy way of extending one section of the piece, and then adjusting it…
Hmmm… Why not? I don’t have any difficulty with that sort of thing. I often need to make adjustments to dimensions in furniture projects that I model for plans. Sometimes I modify one piece to make a different one.
The table on the left was made by modifying a copy of the one on the right.
The one on the right was made from a copy of the one on the left.
In both cases the models are complete including joinery. The Move tool makes most dimension changes very simple.
Select the side you want to ‘extend’.
Select the Move tool.
Click anywhere, then drag to the direction you want to ‘extend’.
Use the built in inference tools to ensure it’s perpendicular to the selected edge…
Click again to move it - the exact distance is not important at this step.
Type 1" + enter to move the selected edge by that amount.
Now you have changed the dimension of the Rectangle by 1"
Alternatively offset a guide-line from the desired edge by 1".
Select and Move the desired edge to snap to that guide-line…
I’ve been using this for half an hour and already think it’s ■■■■. I agree with the first statement, making a rectangle the size you want should be a matter of enter length and width and you’re done. I’ve been trying to make a rectangle a particular size for an hour now and no luck. Totally inferior product
Are you clicking in the Measurements window? If so, don’t. Drag out the rectangle, let go of the mouse and just type.
Look at the measurements window and type in exactly the same format. If there’s a comma between the dimensions, use a comma. If there’s a semicolon, use a semi colon between them. Hit Enter after typing in the dimensions.
It is thus.
Activate the Rectangle tool.
Pick a point to set one corner of the shape.
Now stretch out some arbitrary rectangle in the direction you want.
Tip: it’s a good idea to make it elongated so that you can see which SketchUp thinks are the two dimensions.
Click to make the temporary rectangle.
At this point the Measurement box [aka VCB] will show the two dimensions, and from that you can deduce which you want to take as the first and second values.
Without doing anything else you remain within the rectangle tool.
Now type in the desired values and press ‘enter’***
The rectangle should resize to those exact dimensions.
As explained in earlier posts an existing rectangle can be adjusted too.
***Note that you do NOT click on the Measurement box - just type the values and they’ll appear in it.
Also note that how you type in dimension values depends on your ‘locale’.
In the USA, UK and much of the Commonwealth the decimal separator is a . and the list separator [to separate the two values] is a ,
However, in most of the EU and ‘latin’ countries the decimal separator is a , and then the list separator becomes a ;
It seems to be different in the free webapp. There, if I return to an existing rectangle, select an edge, move it, and then type a number the edge is moved by that distance. Rarely what I want.
Maybe there is some way of setting the dimension in stead, but is sure isn´t obvious
