What are these lines & edges?!

So, I have been drawing these pieces that will be cut from stone slabs. I import a photo of the slab, scale it, explode it, then put the pieces on the slab where I want them, select & copy, and I am able to move those pieces and put them together in a final 2D example of what the finished piece would look like.
Lately, my lines are being weird, so that when I go to select certain pieces it will select the remainder of the slab as well. I dont need that. Please help!

It’s hard to tell from just a screen shot but those havier edges look like Profile edges. That would happen there if the edges aren’t entirely on the larger face or if there are gaps so they don’t create closed loops. when you close a loop of edges that divide the larger face into smaller regions, those edges will become normal non-profile edges.

If you share the .skp file, I’ll take a look and identify exactly what the problem is.

Out of curiosity, do you really need to create these separate chunks from the stone? Couldn’t you just use the large image as a texture and select the regions you want to use for the different faces? That’s how I work with wood grain textures.

Applying the stone as a texture is super helpful in certain situations. Sometimes I want to apply directly to the face of each piece. In this case, I want this to move faster, and be able to put together a 2D slab layout quickly by dropping the pieces on the slab, selecting them, and pasting them elsewhere with a white background. As you see here, it worked perfectly for several pieces, but some just wont do it. I have checked all the lines to make sure they are closed…

Jacobsen.skp (3.6 MB)

I agree with @DaveR that an answer based just on the image will be just a guess.

But aside from that, I have a question about workflow. Are the sizes and shapes of the pieces pre-determined, or do they need to be adjusted based on how the portions of the slab’s pattern fit together? If the former, Dave’s way might actually be easier. Draw the pieces first, arrange them as required, apply the texture to them, and then use right-click->texture->position to slide them around to the desired alignment piece by piece. Not quite as visceral as laying them out directly on a single big texture image, but it will work without issues about how the pieces were drawn. Unless they are proper faces, you won’t even be able to apply textures to them!

In 7685 there are some heavy profile edges indicating things aren’t closed properly.

The long horizontal edge counts as an overrun. Erase it and trace one of the other heavy edges with the Line tool.

7686 is still an image so the edges you’ve drawn over it have no effect on it.

Again, there’s an edge that will count as an overrun, this time on the left. Erase it and explode the image to make it a face with a texture.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. I just dont want to spend the time applying texture to each individual piece when I can draw all the pieces, import the slab as an image, copy paste, copy paste and done. I have done it so many times, I dont know what Im doing wrong this time, or, why certain lines/edges show up the way they do and seem to not be a closed object.

Here I’m working on 7684. After exploding the image I’m tracing edges to get the surface divided up. Finding problem areas, though. Over runs and a wedge shape that’s probably not right. Some of these errors are probably due to having Length Snapping enabled in Units.
Screenshot - 10_25_2021 , 4_03_26 PM

I expect there’s more to find, too.

I guess I’m glad I don’t have to work this way with my models. It seems like a lot of unncessary work to me and I’d probably never get any of them done on time.

Length snapping? Like when I use the measure tool to set a line the exact dimensions I need and then draw a line to it or over it?

Length Snapping is a setting in Units. It forces tools like the Line tool to snapt to some incremental distance which very often isn’t where you really need it. Experienced users turn it off and it’s commonly one of the first bits of advice given to new users.

Looking at the model, I see some issues such as shown in the image below, in which you may have fallen victim to the long-standing “butterfly” bug in SketchUp. Depending on how it was drawn, those 4-way interior corners might have triggered the bug. If I click in any of the three regions you can see selected, all three are highlighted and Model Info shows a single face selected. Note that these edges don’t show as thick profiles, so the issue isn’t that there are gaps. I’m not sure how to repair this, short of starting over. Maybe @DaveR knows?

I don’t think it’s fixable without separating the rectangles with a small gap.

Easy enough to add in a small gap.

Probably ought to be allowing for saw kerfs anyway.

1 Like

Although I agree entirely with @DaveR 's advice about length snapping, I don’t think that is the issue here. Even with high precision set in units, your pieces seem to have sensible 1/4 inch sizes, not the slightly-off that usually results from length snapping (shows you were surely typing in the desired dimension - good!). The coordinates themselves are very weird though, but that is probably due to smoothly adjusting where you placed the pieces on the image.

If you plan to send this as a cutting plan to your supplier, they will no doubt go nuts if you tell them you want a cut placed 3.587347" from the edge of the slab! You should place guides at nicer offsets from edges before you start drawing the pieces. And, as Dave pointed out, allow for cutting kerfs between the pieces.

2 Likes

Oh gosh, I have so much more to learn!
I have learned just enough to make my job a little easier, but I have a feeling it could be even easier if I really knew how to use this program.

Did something one of us told you fix the problem?

I agree. You could start with learn.sketchup.com and the SketchUp YouTube channel. Lots of other instructional stuff out there, too.