Reconnect to Model Tip

I wanted to share a quick tip I recently discovered regarding disconnected dimension in LayOut and reconnecting them to SketchUp. When a “red” dimension won’t reconnect with the “Reconnect to Model” option on the context menu, I had been deleting it and recreating it from scratch.

I was happy to stumble on how to manually reconnect the existing “red” dimension without having to recreate it. The key is double-clicking the “red” dimension, looking for the red dot(s) and dragging it away and / or back to the correct point in the model. I attempted the screen recording below to illustrate manually reconnecting a “red” dimension in LayOut. (You may need to watch if at fullscreen to see it more clearly.)

I understand that a lot of folks here will already know this method, but I hope this tip may save others some time. I am using Pro 2021 with a classic license. LayOut runs kinda slowly on my computer.

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Awesome tip, thank you!

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You can also select the dot on the end of the dimension extension line, move it a bit then back to the point on the object being dimensioned…

I bring this up because you can do the same with notation leaders that disconnect.

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Its so dumb,

I dont know how many times ive had to do this…

Soon as you update the Sketchup File even if you havent touched the model that your dimensioning in layout it still throws the RED BOX OF DOOM…

This is has been the same for years…

Are you using Scenes???

Hi Mate,

Yeah I am,

Its how I setup my pages in layout?

Is that causing dimensions to unlink?

Once the scene is set and in Layout , are you going back to SketchUp and moving the pieces of it? Are you moving the Items in the view port?

Scenes are the proper way to work in Layout…

Upload the model so it can be examined to find the possible cause.

I learned from @DaveR the reason that dimensions become disconnected and highlighted in red in LayOut:

Understandably, entirely deleting and recreating an entity in SketchUp that a LayOut dimension was connected to will result in a disconnected dimension(s) in LayOut because the new entity has a new Persistent ID (PID) that LayOut doesn’t know about yet.

Less obviously, there are apparently other ways that SketchUp entities can get new PIDs, and thus, disconnected dimensions in LayOut, without having been directly deleted and replaced by the user.

I have read in other posts that some plugins will generate new entity PIDs when they are used to modify existing SketchUp entities … and sometimes just updating and re-saving the SketchUp model will result in those plugins giving some entities new PIDs.

None of which make it any less frustrating when a bunch of red highlighted dimensions appear in LayOut for reasons that are not obvious or intuitive.

Thanks for this tip. I am having a huge problem with dimension disconnecting. No idea why. Odd thing is, I have two versions of the exact same plan from the same model. The reason is the house has porches front and rear, and I need to separate dimensions for walls versus porch columns etc.

The repeat dimensions on the different Layout sheets break on one sheet and not the other. Don’t break one session and do break the next time I open Layout. Very frustrating. I hope this tip helps.

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