Incorrect values while using a scale ruler but correct with dimensions tool

Technical Problems LayOut
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#1

Hey guys :slightly_smiling_face:

I have just realized, after using LayOut for a few years, that there is a huge problem with the scaling.

I set up my scale to 1:50 and when I work with dimensions inside - they are all correct. Meaning, if the wall drawn in SketchUp is 900 mm - it shows correctly in LayOut. However, I’ve noticed it is messed up when using a scale ruler - following an example, if the wall is 900 mm the ruler would show 600 mm or so. I’ve tried changing it to different scales like 1:100 and it’s the same. I went back to previous projects just to find out they have all incorrect dimensions when using a ruler. How is that possible? Once again, while using “dimensions” in the LayOut - all the dimensions are correct. And yes, my scale ruler is fine, I double checked with the floor plans that were sent to me and it shows the dimensions correctly.

Anyone has any idea? If it was all incorrect while measuring by both the ruler and the dimensions tool, I would say it’s some kind of a bug. But this way… Please help, I don’t know how to explain this to my customer who is awaiting an explanation why his ruler is showing incorrect values. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I’m using SketchUp 2017 and LayOut 2017

Thanks :blush:

#2

are you using a physical scale rule up against the monitor screen…?

#3

Yes, however, I make sure the view is at 100%. Moreover, I have exported the file to PDF and the customer is in possession of a physical drawing printed on A3 paper, just like I set on LayOut. And he’s got his very own ruler…

#4

Monitor 100% has nothing to do with the physical size of the image on your monitor. I have two FullHD screens in my possession. On my desk I have a 23" Samsung monitor and the screen on my notebook is 13". They both show the same image at 100% but one is almost two times larger then the other.

If your customer is not getting his/her paper printouts from your exported PDF files correctly to scale, he/she is probably printing with the default Acrobat “Shrink to fit” print scaling enabled. This adds the printer’s margins around your A3 page, creating extra blank space, typically shrinking the print by about 5%. Bad foer scaled drawings.