Continuing the discussion from Welcome to our forums! Please introduce yourself 
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Welcome John!
A) You can do this sort of stuff with LayOut. There’s also a cool extension called FredoGhost which can do X-ray-like components for part of the model. Quickie example:
Thanks DaveR
A) I couldn’t seem to find the “extension called FredGhost” at the extension warehouse. Am I looking in the right place?
B) I understand LayOut has a much more robust set of tools for dimensioning (and I sometimes use it). However, I find it cumbersome to go back and forth between the two (SU & LO). Not to mention, I find LO not to be very intuitive to use (perhaps that is my lack of experience or familiarity). Maybe some Skill Builders on LO would be helpful.
C) Not sure what woodworking tools exactly: But the extension “OpenCutList” is great (however, it lacks cutting diagrams on solid wood (or parts)); Various line weights in the same model would be useful; texture that look like wood (with end grain and side grain); easier dimensions in SU (things like the ability to start or end a dimension from places other than end points), .
Just a few things off the top of my head.
Thanks for listening.
Newt
Sorry. I originally had a typo. It’s FredoGhost. It’s available from Sketchucation.
I guess it doesn’t need to be cumbersome. Learning to use LayOut will go a long way to making the process easier. You might start with the instructional offerings at learn.sketchup.com
I use CutList 4 and although I don’t find cutting diagrams all that useful for solid wood, it can do them.
Lineweights really are more of a 2D presentation thing. In SketchUp the edges are really intended as edges of faces. That’s another reason for LayOut.
It’s easy enough to make your own textures. I’ve made a collection with a couple of dozen different species. For some I have end grain, flat sawn, and quartersawn textures. For end grain, though, I often modify part of the face grain texture to make a reasonable representation. It’s generally straightforward material editing in SU. You can see a little of that on this model.
I prefer to make my own textures using full length images of real boards so I can have parts like the seats and backrests with non-repeating grain features. The pine boards I used were 10 feet long and more and some of them were more than 12 inches wide and with six different boards to choose from, there’s lots of material to work with when applying textures.
Dimensions do need anchor points. You can make temporary anchors with guide lines or guide points.
Dave, Thanks a bunch.
I was trying to install FredoGhost. Found it a Skectucation. Downloaded it. It appears in the Extension Manager. But I can’t seem to figure out how to launch it. It does not show up under the “Extensions Window” (like other extensions, like OpenCutList and others.) Is it hidden under another tab somewhere?
Thanks if you can help…I am feeling a little stupid right now (If Rutgers found about this I’m sure they would want their degree Electrical Engineering/Computer Design back (of course that was 40 yrs ago)).
Newt
Did you get the other files on which FredoGhost depends? To wit: LibFredo6 and the Sketchucation ExtensionStore?
Best is to have the Sketchucation ExtensionStore installed first and use it to install the other files. Once you’ve done that, a restart of SketchUp will ensure the files are loaded correctly. After that you should find FredoGhost in Tools>Fredo6 Collection.
You can also display its toolbar if you wish.
You can get more information about using it here:
And don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell Rutgers about this. 
