# When i trace outside lines of my floor plan it creates a blue face covering the details of my floor plan **URL:** \ **Category:** Pro\ **Created:** [October 21, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928 "2020-10-21T19:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/1 "2020-10-21T19:31:17Z")
I just started having this issue when i trace the outside lines of floor plan it creates a solid blue face on my plan where i cant see the details. I click on reverse face but is not helping, i click on hide but still not going away which makes it hard for me to do my work. Please help and provide a solution. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/2 "2020-10-21T19:32:56Z")
When you complete a planar loop of edges you should get a face filling the inside. You could change the face style to Wire frame so faces aren’t displayed. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/3 "2020-10-21T19:33:56Z")
I never had to do this before. This started happening all of a sudden. Is there a specific default setting i should use ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/4 "2020-10-21T19:34:33Z")
If you weren’t getting it before, likely you were importing the image you are tracing and then exploding it so it became a texture on a face. If you do that, you will be tracing the texture lines but since the face already exists, you don’t get a new one. If you don’t explode the image, you will be drawing a new shape on top of it. Personally I would work in Wireframe and delete the image when I’m finished with it. Then revert to Monochrome face style to continue working. ---
**Author:** ![Cotty](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/cotty/32/251290_2.png) [@Cotty](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Cotty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/5 "2020-10-21T19:34:39Z")
Or - delete the created face directly - use xray mode to be able to see through the new face ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/6 "2020-10-21T19:36:36Z")
I import the image, then explode it and always have been doing this. so i am still using the same method. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/7 "2020-10-21T19:37:30Z")
Upload the SketchUp file so we can see what you’ve got. I assure you nothing has changed in Sketchup in this vain. At least not since SketchUp 3. As I said, my preference would be to not explode it but it’s a way to work. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/8 "2020-10-21T19:38:46Z")
ok thanks. i will try a new plan without exploding and see how it works. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/9 "2020-10-21T19:39:52Z")
You could still share the file that you think isn’t working correctly for you. We should be able to see what’s missing. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/10 "2020-10-21T19:40:53Z")
ok. How would i do that? ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/11 "2020-10-21T19:41:12Z")
Save the .skp file and drag it into a reply here. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/12 "2020-10-21T19:43:55Z")
[lower end interior unit.skp](https://forums.sketchup.com/uploads/short-url/hjzPpeeqmNhLk2pHU501LSQKgsg.skp) (271.9 KB) ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/13 "2020-10-21T19:46:24Z")
The image is in a group and you are drawing outside of it. Same result as if you didn’t explode the image after inserting it. If you don’t want the faces to be formed when you trace it, you’d need to either leave the textured face ungrouped or open the group for editing. ![Screenshot - 10_21_2020 , 2_44_52 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/c/1/c1af5df414a73240c9224fecd7ebaea0323e515e.png) Since you say this didn’t used to happen, you’ve apparently changed your workflow since then. You’ve also locked the group to prevent editing it. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/14 "2020-10-21T19:47:28Z")
ok i will do that and see if that takes care of the issue. Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/15 "2020-10-21T20:01:24Z")
I just did a new floor plan. I didnt explode it and when i traced the outlines i got a solid blue box. please see attached[test plan.skp](https://forums.sketchup.com/uploads/short-url/4EfiGojwYJ1e7zJXu8g0dMH99L6.skp) (230.7 KB) ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/16 "2020-10-21T20:09:08Z")
Yes. Of course. It’s exactly as I described earlier. If you don’t explode the image before you start drawing on it, it’s like drawing on the group as you did in your previous file. That’s why I told you to change to Wireframe and Cotty suggested X-ray so you can see the image underneath. Again, when you are finished tracing the image, you can simply delete it. If you explode the image it becomes a texture applied to a rectangular face. If you trace the image and start extruding the walls, that texture is applied to the geometry. If you don’t want to use that image as a texture, you then need to repaint all the geometry with the default material and purge the unused texture. Simpler to just delete the image. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/17 "2020-10-21T20:11:06Z")
I am not sure we are on the same page. I exploded the image before tracing and received the same results when I didnt explode before tracing . so what is the best WF to do that since i am getting the same exact results with or without exploding??? ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/18 "2020-10-21T20:13:50Z")
You got the same results after exploding because you created a group of the textured face. If you don’t want to use X-ray or Wireframe and you don’t want to get the new faces created, explode the image but don’t group it before tracing the lines. It’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![sendian1965](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@sendian1965](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/sendian1965)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/19 "2020-10-21T20:14:50Z")
Thanks much. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-i-trace-outside-lines-of-my-floor-plan-it-creates-a-blue-face-covering-the-details-of-my-floor-plan/139928/20 "2020-10-21T20:17:34Z")
You’re welcome. Here’s an illustration of what I described with exploding the image. Also notice that when I extrude the walls, they wind up with the image as texture on them as I described. ![trace](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/6/8/682738f1b5236d71dc3216c6e9a8a22b7401e5f6.gif)