How to make separations between objects like tiles more automatic

Hello enyone knows how to control and set separations between tiles which you draw? if i wish to set tiles by copying and moving one by one how do i set this separations for example 0,2 cm what is the process?

Use the move tool and type in an exact distance to move - the width of a tile plus the 0,2cm gap. Activate the Move tool. Click and release on a starter tile. Move the cursor in the desired direction where the copy will end up, which will drag along the selected tile. It does not matter how far you move it - eyeball it halfway, say. Tap the Option or Alt key to enable the “copy” mode of the tool. Now type in the actual exact distance that you want the copy to be moved relative to the starter tile. E.g., type 4,2cm and press Return or Enter.

If you want a few more tiles created at the same spacing, then before you change tools (in other words, while the Move tool is still active), you can type x4 (and press Enter or Return) for four copies to be made, or x100 for a hundred copies to be made - all distributed with the same spacing as was done for the first copy. You can change the number of copies repeatedly until you are satisfied with the result. For example, if you type x4 and realize you wanted two more, then just type x6.

You can quickly produce a two-dimensional grid of similar objects this way. Start with one object in the corner. Use the above technique to create copies spaced in one dimension as desired. Select all the objects in the newly-created row. Now use the Move technique again to create copies of the entire row in the other dimension (with whatever spacing is appropriate).

For a running-bond pattern as you showed, you can create the first row, then a second row which is offset by half a tile. Clean up the end half-tiles. Then select both the first and second rows, and use the Move technique to create additional pairs of rows.

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Copy-Move and making an array as described by @TDahl is the right way to go. I’ll just share one other trick that compliments this, and can be use-full depending on what you are doing. I had a tile-like array problem that I needed to do a lot of manual futzing for and I use this to make it easier. Make your tile, then on the bottom face, make a larger rectangle that represents the width of the grout you want. Erase the face of the extended rectangle and then make the whole kit a component. The open the component and select the wire frame of the grout offset and hide it. This makes a tile with the bounding box set to the size of your grout. It makes it easier to grab the tile by the outer corner of the bounding box and set tiles the correct distance on the fly.

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A few tips:
Hide the edges of the tile itself, to prevent accidental snapping.
Create a face for the underlay, as well, so you know what to build.
Have each element grouped and Tagged separately, so you can design more easily with only the underlay visible.

Check this template:

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Consider using a texture rather than geometry.

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many thanks for your help. it works great!

many thanks guys. it works. i think it would be useful if sketchup would add some option to set distance between 2 objects. like you select 2 suqres type d like distance and 0,2 m and the second selection moves to the first to be 0,2 from it

There are already a number of options for that in SketchUp.