How to draw a scale like this

Hello,
I am looking for to draw a ruler like on the picture. How can I do this ? I need for lighting plot to have a ruler which display 1meter, 2m, 3m etc …

Thanks for your help

Are you using LayOut? When I need something like this I make a Scaled Drawing in LayOut.

It could be drawn in SketchUp, too, and you could use 3D text (without any thickness). Model it full size and create a scene to show it. Then insert the .skp file into LayOut and set the scale to match the scale of the project model viewport.

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Like @DaveR I use LO for that kind of thing. In fact, everything highlighted in blue plus the additional text and title box.

One benefit of creating the scale in SketchUp using 3D text is the text will scale with the viewport. Here I’ve made a sample scale similar to the one you show. The top viewport is at 1:50 and the bottom one is 1:20. Same scene for both.

Once you’ve created the scales, both horizontal and vertical) you could create a Scrapbook page and then bring the viewport in whenever you want it and adjust the scale to suit.

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I’m not sure whether he has published it anywhere yet, but I think @john_mcclenahan was working on something relevant. You might want to PM him to see if you can get a trial version.

Thanks, Steve.

Yes, I wrote an extension Number Rules and Scales, but never published it. I’ll find and upload it here later this evening.

It uses David Penney’s Flat Text extension instead of native 3D text.

Here’s the latest version of my extension - still a beta version but it works, more or less.

Note that it REQUIRES a copy of David Penney’s Flat Text extension to be previously installed from Extension Warehouse - the Free (unlicensed) version now includes the API which my extension uses.

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/6363ea88-3cb4-4801-813b-eb199e2de9b3/flat-text

Install as normal.
JWM_number_rules_and_scalesv1.84.rbz (2.1 MB)

It’s bulky because it includes both Examples… files (.skp and .pdf).

Here are some examples which were numbered using the extension:
Example numbered scales on A4.skp (1.3 MB)
Example numbered scales on A4.pdf (1.1 MB)

After installation, you will find Number Rules and Scales under the Tools menu, with two submenus - Draw Numbers, and Help.

Click on Help to read a description of what the extension does, and how to use it.

You will need to draw the scales themselves, but the sample files show you some examples that I have drawn, in both the original .skp file, and a viewable PDF.

Please note that when I first uploaded the .rbz file I accidentally omitted the Examples files Now added in the 1.84 version above.

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Cool, saved to my scrapbook. Never know when one of these might come in handy on a quick project. Thanks !

@endlessfix. Just after you posted this reply, I updated the .rbz file to include the Examples…pdf.

If you downloaded it before I did that, you’ll find a dead link in the Help file. But if you just linked to my post or this thread, you are still good to go later.

All good, I actually just saved your sample .skp file to a scrapbook folder so I can go and grab any of those scales if I need one quickly. Handy. Thanks!

I found on re-testing this just now that if I change to a Radial array type I can’t change back to the default Linear array. Although it SAYS I’ve chosen a Linear array type, the wrong dialogue is still showing - parameters for a radial array, not a linear one.

LATER: Now fixed

Doesn’t sound like anyone is interested in the one I made. I saved it as an example but maybe it’s not the way anyone would want to go. FWIW, it was trivial to make.

Well, I’ve gone back to an earlier version which is working in SU 2020.
Here it is: some unneeded clutter still included.

JWM_number_rules_and_scales v1.81.rbz (221.9 KB)

Version 1.84 now fixed and included back in an earlier post. For ease of reference, here it is again:
JWM_number_rules_and_scalesv1.84.rbz (2.1 MB)

@DaveR. Interesting to notice that - yours a much more direct answer to the original question, and you’ve included both the scales and the numbering.

My extension is a more general solution to numbering a range of different scales, but not necessarily of interest to the OP, who might silently just have adopted your answer? Though nothing has been marked as the Solution.

Since my reply seemed to have been ignored…