Importing and scaling

Hello Everyone,

Super noob here with sketch up and CAD.

I have a 3d model of a part I’m trying to print. However, its to large for my printer so I needed to slice it. When I laid it down and looked good on the program, however it crashed when printing. Looking at the crash it looks like it needs some kind of support while printing. The piece it crashed on there was no support under it.

I imported the image and added the supports needed by making some cylinders. I exported it and when I loaded it in to the slicer it was about 10x to small.

I can probably get the dimensions for whom ever made the part and youtube how to scale but in case I want to do something in the future with scaling where I don’t have the reference measurements I would like to know if/how I can import something and export it and keep the scaling the same. Is this even possible or do i need the reference measurements?

When it comes to scaling, the tape measure tool (T) is your best friend.

I’m not quite sure I follow the issue, but I think I’ve encountered something like this before. For starters, you shouldn’t have to model the support structure in SketchUp. The slicer should have that option. The only reason to make your own supports is if you need something very specific or need to cut back on material used.

As for the reference measurements, this can get dodgy as some people work in US/Imperial units while others work in Metric. In my experience, Metric is easier to scale because it’s factors of 10. If you’re working with a model made in US/Imperial, you’ll have to work out the scaling with some conversion equations (i.e. multiply the decimal value by 25.4 to convert inches to mm).

You’ll also want to be aware of your export options. When you select Export 3D Model, the dialog box will have an Options button. If you select it, you’ll see that you can select the model’s units of measurement:
ExportPRO
I always pick the model units, but sometimes my slicer will still misinterpret the figure. At that point, I just have to use the slicer to make it the proper scale.

It would help if you could share the original .skp file to see what you are working with. I expect there’s an easy solution for what you want to do. Your profile says you are using SketchUp Pro. Which version of SketchUp Pro?

Sketch up pro 2022. Was not a .skp file was a .stl. Uploaded it for reference.

6v.stl (4.9 MB)

You were correct about the slicer having supports in them. I changed the units to MM and that solved the issue. Its scales correctly, appericate that help.

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