If you want a one sentence summary of the tools, you can just hover them in the toolbar and read the description.
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Am I understanding correctly, the main purpose of Layout is to produce 2D drawings from 3D models, If a drawing created using Sketchup is already in 2D is there any advantage in sending it to Layout ?
In my experience (if Layout is not slow for you) it is much easier to produce 2D documents in Layout than in SketchUp
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It depends upon what you need from that drawing.
The way I look at it, LayOut is mainly for combining 2D views of your SketchUp model with dimensions, text, tables, images, and other assets to create documents for a wide variety of uses. Maybe planning permissions or construction documents. In my work it’s mainly for presenting furniture design concepts to clients and creating plans for woodworking projects but I also use it for communicating with vendors, creating educational materials, and many other things.
If you need to create dimensioned drawings from your SketchUp model and then print those or create PDF docs to send to others, LayOut is a good way to go. Because of the dynamic connection from SketchUp to LayOut, revisions to the plan are much easier to handle. Text including dimensions looks better in LO and you can add other content that you can’t really add in SketchUp.
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Thanks for the answer Dave, i sent file from sketchup to layout but when i zoom in it looks like the resolution changes, presumably, as you explained LO is designed to add dimensions and creating PDF docs, not a modeling application, could you please look at the uploaded screenshot to see if it working as its supposed to ?
It would appear that the model from SU is displayed at a fairly small scale in LO. You are zoomed in by over 500%. As I remember it, your imported CAD file has content spread out over a large area. You can set a larger scale for the viewport assuming you have the camera set to Parallel Projection and, in this case, the Standard Top view. Do this in the SketchUp Model panel on the right side while the viewport is selected. You can also turn off the Background and set rendering to Vector which will give you crisper looking line work.
You should go through the LayOut Essentials here: https://learn.sketchup.com/
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Ahh, that’s exactly what i did, you are correct the original imported CAD file content is spread over a large area. I did wonder if i should have split the imported CAD into smaller sections but presumed it would be better to keep it as one whole file ?
Thanks for your help.
You can do either. I would probably split it up into smaller groups/components. The key thing is to create scenes in SketchUp that show what you want to show in a given viewport in LO. In your case you might create a scene for each floor plan in the model. Then select the desired scene for each viewport in LayOut. BTW, you only send the SketchUp file to LayOut once. That creates the first viewport. To get additional viewports, copy an existing one.
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When I try splitting it using groups it does give me the option to name the group but components opens a box to provide a name ?
When you say only send the file to LayOut only once ? supposing i split the file into say 3 or 4 groups/components presume that means once for each of the now smaller files ?
I meant does not
Moving off topic so I started a new thread.
Thanks, i need to remember very important to keep on topic.