Yes. It willl do that if you haven’t moved the cursor after clicking on the origin.
I’m not seeing how you are switching to the coordinates text box at all in the video. Are you just drawing two lines of length 5?
Sorry to be so thick, I’m having no luck here at all.
I’m not switching to a “coordinates text box”. There is no such thing in SketchUp. I’ve just moved the Measurements box up into the model space so you can see it in the GIF.
I did what I’ve told you to do. With the Tape Measure tool I clicked and released at the origin then moved the cursor away. Then I let go of the mouse and typed in the coordinates as shown.
If I enter -5,0,0 I still get “Invalid Length Entered”.
Think I will look for a CAD package.
Ok, question.
When you type a rectangle, do you type
2,3
or 2;3
?
Dave is giving you the thing to type if you’re using sketchup in a language that uses . for decimal and , for separation.
If you use , as decimal (most european countries), then you have to type ; as a separator.
writing <1,1,1> will return an error, while <1;1;1> will make a point located at 1m xyz
edit :
If so, and you’re american, then your windows is using the european decimal / separator. You can change that on a windows scale, not just sketchup. You can ask to have . and , instead of , and ;
If you’re in a country where , is the decimal symbol, then it’s simply a miscommunication between everyone.
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To use coordinates in SketchUp you need to use < and> or [ and ].
What is it you are actually trying to model? In more than 20 years of using SketchUp I’ve never found a need to model using coordinates. They would just make the work harder and more time consuming.
Whatever tool you use, look at the Measurements box down right to see how X Y and Z values are separated. i.e rectangle shows and needs two values, coordinates shows and needs three values. Do you see a comma or a semi colon between values. Enter values accordingly.
Also see @ateliernab’s post two posts above mine.
Never had to use these co-ords so had a go in Make 2017 following the pointers given above. It worked exactly as it should using both relative and absolute co-ords. I entered the co-ords <-5,0,0> as @doug.kimzey used at the origin and got a line 5 units long in the negative direction along the red axis, as I’d expect.
Seems like data entry issues or a messed up keyboard.
That’s what I expect, not using the semi colon as field separator between X and Y and Z values.
You can even grab/send endpoints of existing geometry where you want them to be, either relative to their current position or to absolute locations.
I have neverseen a need to use coordinares in sketchup. Apparently most of the experts have not either.
I cannot imagine why you would want to burden yourself with coordinares. Simply draw what you want where (or about where) you want it. Then move later if need be.
You are going to need to do all sorts of contorations to define those coordinates. Sikp the nonsense. Get started drawing!
Time and tme again new users try to use sketchup in a way they have been used to in some other program. Sketch up is a different program, works differently. SU yields accurate results to any level you desire.
You seem to have been triggered by my previous post.
I’m not saying that I use coordinates extensively. I’m just pointing out what is possible and where OP may have had issues.
And about SketchUp’s accuracy, I know it can be if you know what you do.
The shortest visible modeling distance between endpoints can be 0.000001mm, modeling scale 1:1
I don’t need to be convinced.
The OP wants to START a line from a specific coordinate.
If he sets a line with those co-ords, or starts a measurement with the tape tool he can snap to its’ end point, draw what he needs and then delete the first drawn line.
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I know, you know. It is equally effective and easier and faster to draw 2 ortho lines of 5 units. But the question is about something else.
Not triggered at all. I was not responding to your post.
I was responding to the original post of this topic.
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Maybe you’re making the same error I did for ages before finally grasping the concept: there’s no input field. You click on the tool and then just type. I wasted ages trying to find a way to input numbers into fields that are display only. 
If it’s difficult for you to understand how the other methods work, just draw a line from the origin, lock the direction you want the line to be drawn with the arrow keys or just move the cursor until the color of the line turns like the color of the axis you want draw, release the mouse, type the measure and hit enter, then do the same to draw a perpendicular line, there you’ll have the point you need on the space. If you need a fixed grid you can use the sandbox tool to make a grid, just select the tool then type the measurements of the squares on the grid, hit enter, move the cursor to the origin click there and drag the mouse to make the grid as big as you want.
If you do go down the CAD route, check out QCAD. It’s simple but capable, and I use it to create 2D masters which I then import into SUP and convert into 3D images for renders.
It’s worth paying the 3 bucks for the Qcad pro version, it has more tools and features like pdf import as vector.
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