Measuring tape not giving parallel grid lines - snapping to end of axis

Hi guys,

When I select my measuring tape tool, it snaps to the very end of the axis line, giving me an angle line, not a parallel grid line. How do I change this please?

Click on an edge or other guideline to start a parallel guideline. If you click on an end point you’ll get a guide point with a dashed line trailing from it to the reference point.

The Tape Meaure tool won’t snap to the end of a line on its own. You have to put it there.

Thanks for the prompt reply Dave

The blue and red axis are no dramas, however, the green does this…

That guideline is parallel to the green axis. You’re looking at it with the camera set to Perspective so the guideline and green aaxis are running of to a vanishing point. That’s normal for Perspective.

If you don’t want to make your drawings with perspective, switch to Parallel Projection. Since we normally see lines running to vanishing points, though, it’s more natural to leave perspective enabled.

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Ah ha! Thank you so much for this :slight_smile:

Another quick one… how do I easily change the perspective camera views please?

What do you mean? Do you want to orbit the camera or switch out of Perspective mode? If it’s Orbiting, press the center mouse wheel and move the mouse. If the latter, go to the Camera menu. It should be obvious.

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Great, thanks so much. I’m on day #2 of learning this program :slight_smile:

You should spend the rest of the day watching the basic video tutorials at SketchUp.com

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Thanks, I have been given a task to produce a steel truss for a concept. So I’m trying to just focus as much as I can on tutorials as closely related to that as possible… but yep, I will certainly be throwing in a few of the other foundation tutorials :slight_smile:

It’s a quirk of the kind of perspective SketchUp uses ("three point, meaning there are three vanishing points, one out each axis). You can orbit the view so that one of the vanishing points is actually inside the view window, and this produces a visually strange variety of foreshortening. The “end” of the green axis is actually infinitely far into the background, but it doesn’t look that way!

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@Ammo, little wonder you’re a bit disoriented given the ethereal all-white Style of the Template you’ve selected.

You’ll find SketchUp’s 3D model space makes a whole lot more sense if you choose a Style that resembles the real world you’re accustomed to.

That is, a Style with a light blue sky and contrasting earthy background such that there’s a horizon.

Here’s an example:
A Better 3D World.skp (97.3 KB)

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Oh Thanks! I have no idea how I ended up with the one that I am currently using instead of my “real world” one :slight_smile:

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Even Chuck Yeager can’t fly without some type of horizon.
Neither can we mere mortals in SU. :wink:

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